As part of our effort to increase awareness about the prison programs, we have spoken to program alumni about why their experience was meaningful to them.

"I took the Green Haven prison program during my freshman year at Vassar and will never forget how those experiences shaped my development as a student and advocate for social justice.  From an academic standpoint, the program allowed me to critically examine an area of our society that is in need of massive reforms.  Visiting Green Haven each week gave me and my fellow students a rare opportunity to see prison with our own eyes, outside the confines of academia.  Books can only do so much to educate students on the criminal justice system, whereas our trips gave us an invaluable perspective on the inhumanities of prison.  From a personal standpoint, the program forced me to grapple with the concept of freedom as I never had before.  As the core value and overarching principle of our nation, freedom cannot be truly understood without an appreciation for its fragility.  My time at Green Haven reminded me of this most basic right, and gave me the confidence to fight for it in my own life."
 -Nathan Mandel, class of '10