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Inside the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Southeast Community College’s UPWARD prison education program made history on Monday, Oct. 19, by hosting its inaugural UPWARD Scholars Conference. The landmark event brought faculty, staff, and UPWARD students together for a morning dedicated to academic research, intellectual exchange, and community.

For program organizers, launching the conference provided a vital stage for incarcerated students to step into their identities as researchers and thinkers.

"It was amazing to see so many students in the audience. They were able to experience what an academic conference is actually like," said Tammy Zimmer, administrative director of the UPWARD program. "The conference allowed me to see the total impact of the UPWARD program, not just in terms of academics, but also in terms of professional growth and development. It's not easy to present your ideas to a room full of your peers and professors. I'm proud of the students who embraced that challenge. That experience will stay with them forever."

Presentations explored crucial themes surrounding rehabilitation, instructional environments, focus groups, and intergenerational change. Among them was Bernard Long’s accepted national presentation, co-developed with his son, Jamar Anderson, who is also in the UPWARD program. The father and son will present "Creating Hope: Education, Mentorship, and Transformation Across Generations" on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the national Incarcerated Scholars Conference, marking the first time someone from Nebraska has presented at the prestigious national event. They will share how higher education fosters accountability, family healing, and personal renewal.

Long credited the supportive environment in the room for helping him navigate the vulnerability of public speaking.

"It felt awesome to share my research with my peers because it was an educational moment," Long said. "These people in this room believe in me and encourage me in those moments. The question now is how do we build on these moments and have further conversations about how education impacts a person's life."

The power of that scholarship resonated throughout the room. Co-presenter Chabre' Johnson highlighted the profound link between education and reducing recidivism.

"Education isn’t just an avenue to staying out of prison, it’s the only way,” Johnson said. “Giving people that have committed crimes a way to climb out of their metaphorical hole and better themselves is how we make prison rehabilitation a thing beyond jargon, beyond a label, beyond words."

UPWARD student Eddrick Jones initially attended the conference for extra credit in his philosophy class. By the end of Long’s presentation, he had a different perspective on those serving life sentences.

"When I first enrolled at SCC, I was a little apprehensive at all the lifers enrolled in school and thought how could college be beneficial for them,” Jones explained. “I was narrow minded and thought of it as one less open space and opportunity for a student who is for sure going back into the community. That is until I heard Bernard’s story. It gave me a whole different perspective on lifers in general and especially as a student.”

Malisa Kringle, assistant deputy director – programs for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, noted that creating spaces for intellectual contribution challenges traditional stigmas.

"Too often, individuals who are incarcerated are defined by their circumstances rather than their abilities and potential," Kringle said. "Seeing UPWARD students contribute to broader academic conversations reinforced the importance of creating opportunities for their intellectual work to be recognized and respected."

SCC will host a live campus watch party for Long and Anderson’s national presentation, celebrating an achievement that demonstrates how accessible education can redefine possibilities across Nebraska.

Jennifer Snyder
Communications Specialist
402-323-3393
jsnyder@southeast.edu