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Oct 19, 2026

EJP's Prison to Gown Pathway program hosted a reentry simulation at the Campus YMCA on October 10.

Our First Reentry Simulation

Frankly, we'd long resisted hosting a reentry simulation.

These events have become popular, in the vein of poverty simulations and homelessness simulations. They involve participants receiving the "profile" of a fictional individual who is impacted by the condition and then needing to navigate multiple structural barriers while trying to accomplish a set of prescribed goals. These events are inevitably well-meaning, but run the risk of becoming schmaltzy and devolving into feel-good games.

However, we were convinced to host a simulation when our long-term colleagues at the Restorative Justice Initiative at Penn State University, a team we respect highly, reported that they had crafted a reentry simulation that was critical and avoided the "gamification" of the genre. They offered to co-host a simulation with us here in Illinois, and we decided to give it a try.

What made the event work, in my opinion, was that it was immediately followed by a sensitively-facilitated panel discussion. Formerly incarcerated individuals reflected not only on their own experiences of reentry, but also on what the simulation got right, what it got wrong, and what it could never hope to reproduce.

For example, Individuals who participated in the simulation did not help one another to the extent that people (thankfully) do in real life, leaning on the advice and practical support of others going through reentry.

Another way in which the simulation failed to reflect reality is that we had included no registries. In real life, individuals on registries have less time to perform all the assigned tasks -- e.g. getting an ID, signing up for SNAP, or enrolling in a job training program -- and must accomplish them with higher levels of restrictions and even more societal stigma.

Given that feedback, we'll incorporate a registry into our next simulation, as we plan to host another next year. If you want to learn more about the particular challenges and harms of registries, especially those for individuals who were convicted of crimes of a sexual nature, please attend our Stigma to Solutions event on Thursday.

Take Care,

Rebecca Ginsburg

EJP Director



Upcoming EJP Events

EJP Accepting Applications

Deadline: Nov 15

Info Tables: Oct 21, Oct 26, Oct 28

Zoom Info Sessions: Oct 27, Nov 11

We're accepting applications until November 15, 2026 from individuals interested in contributing to EJP's college-in-prison program at Danville Correctional Center, our Prison to Gown Pathway, and Policy & Research team in Spring 2027. We are also accepting applications from undergraduate and graduate students who wish to intern with EJP in Spring 2027.

For those interested in teaching a for-credit course at the prison, we are recruiting for instructors for the 2027-28 academic year. For-credit instructors are compensated; other positions are not.

You can learn more from the flyer below, which provides detailed information about upcoming EJP info tables and information sessions held in person or via Zoom. Please RSVP for he info sessions in advance and feel free to stop by the info tables to chat with EJP members at your convenience.

Oct 21 - College of Education, Rm 22, 2 - 3

Oct 26 - Law College foyer, 11:30 - 1:30

Oct 28 - School of Social Work foyer, 11 - 1

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

From Stigma to Solutions

Thurs Oct 22

4-6pm

In person

For decades, mandatory registration laws have been a major source of confusion and stigma towards people who have been charged with sexually-based offenses. EJP continues to invite guest speakers as well as other impacted individuals to discuss this subject.

We are honored to feature Paul Rothschild at our Oct 22 event. Paul's presentation will draw on his lived experience with incarceration, supervision, registration, and permanent punishment, along with his work building directly impacted leadership and statewide policy campaigns through the End Permanent Punishments campaign, at ENDPP.ORG. 

This event is part of the statewide No New Prisons Campaign and Feminist Teach-In.

We'll serve light supper (potato bar) at the event. All are welcome.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

Author Talk: 911, What's Your Emergency?

Mon Oct 26

4:30-6pm

In person

The Education Justice Project is honored to host Rebecca Neusteter, executive director of U Chicago's Urban Labs, for a conversation about her new book 911, What’s Your Emergency?: The Promise and Peril of Crisis Response.

911 is largely promoted as a tool to save lives. Yet, too often it puts people’s safety in jeopardy, especially in communities of color. 

Neusteter’s research is an urgent call to action that challenges us to transform America’s overburdened 911 system and make it safe, just, and equitable for all.

Indivduals planning to attend the event are welcome to pick up a free copy of her book in the EJP office

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

Abolition Discussion

Mon Nov 2

5 - 6pm

Via Zoom

We hold occasional discussions about prison abolition via Zoom. All are welcome to participate, learn, and share.

Our Nov. 2 discussion is intended for individuals who already have a basic understanding of abolition and wish to explore some of its nuances, though those new to the subject are also welcome to attend. We'll consider the arguments that African-American philosopher Tommie Shelby makes in his 2022 book, The Idea of Prison Abolition. In it, he engages Angela Davis' Are Prisons Obsolete? and ultimately finds himself more convinced by the reformist than the abolitionist agenda.

Come to learn more and see where you explore your own commitments.

It's not required, but if you want to read some short excerpts from the book prior to our meeting, see the link below.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

Author Talk: The Deserving

Mon Nov 16

12 -1pm, Law School

4 - 6pm, Campus YMCA

In Person

Elizabeth Vartkessian works with criminal defense teams as a mitigation specialist. She isn't part of the Innocence Project; her clients are often legally guilty, and often of terrible crimes. Rather, her job is to spend hundreds of hours per case talking to the parents, siblings, teachers, and neighbors of a defendant, situating their crimes in context. The hope is to lesson their sentence and possibly avoid the death penalty.

Vartkessian's latest book, The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice, offers sensitive life narratives of individuals who have been convicted of serious crimes. It raises questions about society's responsibilities for its most marginalized members.

EJP is hosting two campus events on Mon Nov. 16 with Liz Vartkessian. The first, at the law college, is co-hosted with the Criminal Law Society and the Public Interest Law Foundation. The second is in Murphy Lounge at the Campus YMCA from 4 - 6 and co-hosted with the Humanities Research Institute. Food served at both. The second event will include a discussion panel featuring the author and EJP alumni. Liz is also speaking to EJP students at Danville prison the following day.

All are welcome to attend and to read The Deserving in advance. It is a powerful and sobering book. Free copies are available at the EJP offices.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

EJP Lunch

Wed Nov 18

12 -1pm

Hybrid

Researchers estimate that about 5% of people held in US prisons are innocent of the charges of which they were convicted.

How can that be? And what can people who have been wrongly incarcerated do to redress the situation?

Many EJP students have claimed innocence. Few have been exonerated and released on those grounds.

Our November lunch will feature Prison to Gown Pathway director Chrissy Ferre, who formerly worked with UIS's Innocence Project. Chrissy, who is not a lawyer, will provide an overview on innocence claims. Please join to learn more, and bring your questions!

At the link below you can also sign up for our last lunch of the year:

Thurs Dec 10 - After lunch we'll host an open house + RIPPLE (Reaching Inside Prisons with Purpose and Love) card-writing session.

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

Alumni Discussion

Monday Nov 30

5 - 6 pm

Via Zoom

Our next alumni discussion is intended for EJP donors, at any level.

Alumni discussions provide sensitive and nuanced insight into the range of prison and reentry experiences. It's a panel format, alumni responding to questions, so feel free to bring your queries about incarceration, EJP's program at DCC, reentry, and related topics.

Our five current alumni fellows are featured above. From L: Emmett Sanders, Steve Scotti, Spankey Davis, Michael Harrell, and Raylan Gilford.

You can RSVP for the Nov. 30 discussion and future ones via the RSVP link below.

Upcoming dates:

Tuesday Dec 8, 5 - 6pm

(more discussions are coming in 2027)

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

Crime & Punishment

Thur Dec 3

4:30 - 6

Hybrid

Save the date!

EJP and the Cline Center are co-hosting a discussion on Lynn Novick's newest documentary. Stay posted on details!

If you have any questions or concerns, or need any accommodations to fully participate, please reach out to events@educationjustice.net.

Paid Positions with EJP

Some EJP positions can be held virtually, some are hybrid, and some (those based at Danville Prison) require that an individual be able to regularly visit the prison. Our preference is always to hire local individuals and we especially seek candidates who have personal experience of incarceration. Click on the links below to see complete job descriptions. Most positions based at the prison are part-time.