Commencement Season Comes for Prison Education Participants

Steven Correia (MET’19) is something of a unique variety of Metropolitan College alum—he earned his Bachelor of Liberal Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from BU while at MCI Norfolk, as part of the MET Prison Education Program. After 37 years of incarceration, Mr. Correia takes deep satisfaction from the achievement of his degree, which will be conferred upon him during a small ceremony to be held at the prison’s visiting room this June. “I want my children to be proud finally of something I accomplished that is good,” he told BU Today. “And I’ve stuck with it also to influence my grandchildren to get a college education.”

Associate Professor of the Practice Mary Ellen Mastrorilli oversees the Prison Education Program, is regularly impressed by what she sees students like Mr. Correia achieve, and calls their work “mind-blowing.”

“It’s really transformative to see how these men and women can articulate complex ideas and demonstrate critical thinking,” she said.