UC Irvine's third cohort of LIFTED graduates to receive degrees at in-prison ceremony

“EVENT: Twenty-five graduates from the third cohort of the University of California’s in-prison bachelor’s degree program – UC Irvine Leveraging Inspiring Futures Through Educational Degrees – will be honored at a commencement ceremony at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, 480 Alta Road, San Diego, CA 92179. Attendees must arrive by 8:30 a.m. to participate in the security clearance process. INFORMATION: Media interested in attending should contact Keramet Reiter, director of UC Irvine LIFTED, at 949-824-9201 or reiterk@uci.edu . All attendees will be required to submit security clearance information by Friday, May 22. This includes completed California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Forms 181 and 2301, verification of Social Security number, and a photocopy of each attendee’s driver’s license. The forms will be provided after initial contact with Reiter, who’s a professor of criminology, law and society. All camera and additional recording equipment must be cleared in advance by submitting the exact make, model and serial number of each device. Failure to follow the CDCR’s approval process will result in a denial of entry to this event. HIGHLIGHTS: The formal commencement ceremony will include a processional and a welcome address by UC Irvine Provost Hal Stern. Following will be remarks from California Assembly member David Alvarez and Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. Other UC Irvine attendees will include Michael Dennin, vice provost for teaching and learning and dean of undergraduate education; Bill Maurer, dean of the School of Social Sciences; Ian O. Williamson, dean of The Paul Merage School of Business; Austen Parrish, dean of the School of Law; and various faculty members who have taught in the LIFTED program. Two LIFTED graduates are also scheduled to speak. BACKGROUND: Launched in 2020 through a partnership between UC Irvine and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, UC Irvine LIFTED is the first in-prison bachelor’s degree program offered by the University of California system. LIFTED students apply for admission as junior-level transfer students after meeting UC transfer requirements. Upon the successful completion of junior- and senior-level coursework, students are awarded bachelor’s degrees in sociology from UC Irvine. The program’s first admitted cohort began taking UC Irvine faculty-led courses in fall 2022 at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. That same year, the state of California – through an agreement between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature – allocated $1.8 million over five years for the program’s growth. LIFTED has partnered with UC San Diego faculty to support more course offerings at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. In addition, it has expanded to UC Riverside, which is graduating its inaugural class on June 18 at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco. UC Santa Barbara is launching its program this fall at Corcoran State Prison. ### For UC Irvine breaking news, visit news.uci.edu.

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