Nicholls Inside Out Program Sends Students to Jail

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Nicholls State University’s Inside Out program brings students to jail bridging the gap between “Outside Students” and “Inside Students.”


 

A national program founded in 1995 by Lori Pompa, its mission is to create opportunities for students, both incarcerated and campus-based, to engage in a unique academic experience that promotes dialogue, and leadership skills, and provides avenues of intersectionality. The courses encourage participants to find their unique voice and to consider how they can make a change in the world by bringing together Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex students and Nicholls State Students together to discuss issues related to crime and justice.

 

In the summer of 2019, Kristen Callais, Adjunct Instructor in the Sociology Department, heard about the program at a higher-ed conference, “It really stuck with me,” she said,” We’re in Louisiana and this program is in 46 states… there were none in Louisiana and we are the incarceration capital of the world. I saw a need and I just went into tunnel vision to get it brought to Louisiana.”

 

Callais attended the Inside Out Prison Exchange training institute at Lewis University and Stateville Maximum Security Prison. As a mother of five, her youngest being one at the time, she said it was difficult to be away for seven days, but it was worth it. She also noted it’s important to her that her children see her serve the community and her students. Callais went on to earn her certification as an Inside Out facilitator, and in partnership with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s office, she facilitated Louisiana’s first Inside Out course at the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex in Spring 2020. “I was really surprised since Louisiana is first in incarceration and one of the last in education, that we didn’t have any program like this,” she said. She also gave gratitude to Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre who she said has been supportive and she’s thankful for his constant support.


 

Damien Gaines is a walking testimony when it comes to being given not only a second chance but how the program changed his outlook on life. Gaines grew up where the normal for those around him were drugs, “You just wake up, and when you walk out the door, it was all around you,” he said. It was a part of life, even the people he looked up to were living the lifestyle that ultimately led to Gaines’ incarceration. “It’s what I gravitated to. There were days where it wasn’t in my mind that I was breaking the law, it was a part of my daily movement,” he explained. Despite his mother tearfully telling him, “Choose life or you can choose death,” the lifestyle is what led Gaines to be in and out of jail since he was around 12 and 13 years old. He said it was like a badge of honor walking around in the lifestyle, but priorities changed as he got older. He noticed he was running into brick walls and realized he had a life that he could never get back, “When you get older, you really see life,” he said. What hit him hard was seeing nieces and nephews graduating from high school and realizing life has passed him by. He recalled seeing his family grow through pictures, “They work, and they have their own houses, my nieces and nephews didn’t want to bring it up to me. If I stay stuck on stupid, I’m going to stay left behind, I’m going to stay in jail where I can’t do nothing for myself,” he said. 

Callais and Gaines

At first, Gaines was hesitant about the program. He didn’t want to participate because he didn’t know much about the program in its entirety. He said when the classes first started, he wasn’t talking much, just listening to see what was going on. “As time went by,” he said,” seeing the passion that Ms. Kristen had, seeing how serious she was, and seeing she was really there to help and really interested in getting to know us…the conversations and the different viewpoints coming from young college students that chose to go the right path, just getting their viewpoints and seeing we have similar viewpoints even though we’ve come from extremely different walks of life, but we still come into agreement on certain things… It all opens your eyes to see that everybody is going through some type of struggle in life and it’s about decision making.” He shared that it made him realize he relates to the college students and seeing them make the right decisions despite some obstacles has opened his eyes to a different perspective,” If they can do it, you can do it,” he said,” They didn’t make you feel judged, they made you feel like you were a part of it, even though I’m going through what I’m going through, and they are at where they’re at, we still see things similar, we disagreed on some things, but it all made you feel like you are still a part of society.”

 

Callias noted that Inside Students do get college credit, but they do not get any time off of sentence if they participate in the program. Certain programs do offer time off of the overall sentence, however, the program was careful not to offer the option because they wanted the participants to willingly take part, not because they wanted to get back to the streets faster. 


 

The program not only helps the inside students but the outside students as well, “It’s real-life conversations with justice-involved people, that do have experience within the justice system. We can read all about them, but to put a face to these stories and crimes, it really changes the way these future professionals go out into the workforce and view the different situations and social systems,” she explained.

 

The program is open to all majors. Callais explained they have students across the board; pre-law, pre-med, criminal justice, sociology, psychology, and interdisciplinary studies, “Pretty much anyone who wants to take a 300 level elective, it would count,” she explained, “I do strongly encourage anyone who’s working in Human Services…If you’re dealing with people, this is a good class to take because it forces you to examine your own biases.” Even during COVID, they were able to participate in panels offering students to present their insights and lessons learned. This allows the students to have a voice and to spread awareness. They have spoken to populations in Australia, London, universities in Pittsburgh, and South Carolina, along with local panels at Fletcher and Nicholls. A group of Alumni has formed that aims for community outreach and Callais said their long-term goal is to be able to offer some sort of transitional housing. Anyone interested in panel discussions can reach her at kristen.callais@nicholls.edu.

 

Callais mentioned a valid point that it’s not only decision-making that makes a difference in someone’s path, but also the tools that are available to them. Gaines agreed and said, “There are some I see that came from the same background as I did too, they just went to the right. Going right has some trials and tribulations too, but seeing where they are despite that. I need to do the same thing.” 


 

Callais went on to explain the beauty of the program from her eyes, “Both groups, both inside and outside students, start to see themselves in a different light through this program. So you have your outside students who never really realized that having two parents, or having access to books, or having a grandparent that is involved or transportation, they never realized those were a privilege or they were special to have those things.” She went on to describe those realizations saying her outside students start to realize if they didn’t have the privileges, they might be where the inside students are, and the inside students realize they can keep up with the Nicholls students in a 300 level course. “They [outside students] were born into it, through no fault of their own…sometimes it’s just the matter of what cards you were dealt and where you end up in life.”

 

Callais also called attention to the issues of the world when someone is released, “Think about it, once they’re released, they want to see their friends, their family, it’s all that they know,” she explained. For most being released, the people who once surrounded them are now toxic simply because they are around activities that once held them captive. She said there’s also a stigma upon employers, “I encourage employers to listen to their stories and open your heart.” Although Gaines has a mindset and motivation to push forward, he still hits obstacles. He has been working nonstop trying to provide for his four children, and despite his lifestyle change and motivation, he has been working hard to get a TWIC card where Caillais said she even had to get help to understand the TWIC re-appeal paperwork needed to move forward. It’s obstacles like these that could cause someone to look back in the mirror instead of keeping moving forward to a better future. Thankfully, Gaines has continued to remember the lessons learned through the program, the people he’s connected with, and the realization he belongs to society just as much as anyone else to continue pushing his motivation.

 

“The decisions that I made at 12 and 13, I’m still paying for them at 35,” Gaines said, “When I talk to kids, I always try to get them to understand how important the decisions they make are. One decision can alter your whole life, and people say it was just a mistake, but some mistakes you don’t come back from and you can’t redo or fix. Some experiences, you just have to live out those consequences. I like to uplift people…I’ve been through it all, whatever you’re going through, it’s alright, just don’t focus on your problems, concentrate on your solutions.”