What Our Volunteers Are Saying

"They are women, mothers and daughters, nurses and store clerks. The members of the prison population who choose to spend their free time reading Kierkegaard and Aristotle do so because they are naturally inquisitive. My two hours a week with the women are always joyful and surprising. Never have I felt so appreciated in a teaching situation. Never have I been so missed when I had to skip a session. They are the reason I keep coming."

— Rebecca Hardin-Thrift, professor at Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi

"In these prisoners, you will find . . . devotion to intellectual and spiritual pursuits that dwarf what I have experienced in university life. There is an urgency there that I have never seen in graduate seminars. It's a question of survival for them whether they understand these texts. That's the meat for the week to sustain them."

— Peter Butross Jr., poet and publisher, Natchez, Mississippi

"In groups that talk about popular literature, it ends up being more about the pleasure of reading and about feelings. But Great Books have a focus on ideas, so you're not talking about whether or not you liked it, but on the thoughts behind it."

— Sharmila Patel, education director for the Tennesee Department of Correction

"One inmate told me that the discussion sessions are the high point of his week. Another inmate always thanks me after each session for coming and spending time with them. He says the discussions make him think about things he'd never thought about before. I can't claim that we're rehabilitating anyone very quickly, but I think the program does make life better in a pretty harsh environment."

— Ron Perry, librarian, Nashville, Tennessee