Another semester is almost over. That means that we are finishing up Spring Semester 2025 enrollment for OPEEP courses across three prison facilities. Two classes have remaining seats, so please visit the OPEEP Enroll webpage to see details for English 2260: Introduction to Poetry - Ohio Poets with Columbus Professor Dr. Molly Farrell (London Correctional Institution), and Art 5890: Drawing with Columbus Professor George Rush (Southeastern Correctional Institution). We’re excited to have so many new classes next semester!
We welcome a new staff member to OPEEP’s team, Tori Lewis. Tori will be onsite at the Ohio Reformatory for Women and is also working to connect with campus students who are motivated by social justice initiatives and who may be looking for more opportunities to be involved with OPEEP. Please meet her in this newsletter and visit our Facebook page to say hello to her.
We are also sad to bid farewell to Nicole Edgerton, who was a Program Coordinator for OPEEP for the past two years. In fact, Nicole was OPEEP’s first full-time staff member. She was an OPEEP campus student in 2019 in Mary’s first course at the Franklin Medical Center’s women’s unit, so her experience as an OPEEP alum helped her to connect to students at student organization fairs, class visits, and facility recruitment sessions. Her enthusiasm for OPEEP was always catching, and her careful work as OPEEP grew helped us become what we are now. She was also a member of LAM Collective at ORW, and her strong commitment to the study of Black feminisms, grounded in her MA in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, will be missed by all of us. Nicole has decided to move on to new adventures, and we send her the best of wishes for her bright future.
The end of the semester is always bittersweet for OPEEP students, who must say goodbye to each other. OPEEP rules strictly prohibit campus and incarcerated students from being in touch outside of class, even after the semester’s end, so the last day of class for each class usually includes a celebration with special treats (like cake!) and a review of how much everyone has learned and experienced over the course of just 16 weeks.
We hope all of you finish up your class work strong and enjoy the holiday breaks’ opportunities for rest and recharge. See you in January for another semester of OPEEP, with some upcoming events and even more class announcements for Autumn 2025. Stay tuned at @opeep_osu, on Facebook, and our website.
Dr. Mary Thomas and Dr. Tiyi Morris
