Mission
Committed to social transformation, UPEP advances educational justice through on-site higher education, empirical research, and advocacy.
About UPEP
History: In 2016-2017, the University of Utah Honors College sponsored a yearlong Praxis Lab
course titled, Education, Incarceration, and Justice. The undergraduate course was designed to examine university affiliated college-in-prison
programs throughout the country, prison-university partnerships, and best practices
in the field. We consulted with the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) and various
administrative leaders at the University of Utah. We attended the 6th Annual Higher Education in Prison Conference in Nashville, TN and met with directors
of some of the most well respected college-in-prison programs throughout the country.
The final project of the Praxis Lab was the development and launch of the UPEP in
Spring 2017. Dr. Castro and the students in the Praxis Lab are Co-Founders of UPEP.
We are indebted to the Honors College at the University of Utah for its early and
ongoing support.
What we do: Organize, manage, and plan for-credit and non-credit bearing educational programs such as classes,
workshops, and guest lectures at the Utah State Correctional Facility. Faculty from
the University of Utah, as well as faculty from our partner schools such as Brigham
Young University, Southern Utah University, and Utah Valley University have all offered
an array of programming in art, history, law, music, and philosophy.
Ways to Give
Support a Student
We are actively fundraising to cover costs associated with enrollment. Students are not asked to financially pay for participation in UPEP. Support a UPEP student by donating today. Your donations help fund books, supplies, and faculty instruction costs.
In preparation for the upcoming semester, we're stocking up on supplies for students, including legal pads, pens, notebooks, etc. Please consider supporting our on-site programming by purchasing an item from our Amazon Wishlist.