Extracurriculars
Image: bookshelf in FEPPS classroom.
FEPPS is dedicated to providing opportunities for enrichment outside of the college classroom.
Image: FEPPS students and volunteers in study hall.
Study Hall
Students are supported by three weekly study halls where they work alongside volunteer tutors and co-learners, many of whom are students from University of Puget Sound. Study hall is a space for students to use computers with word processing, confer with classmates, or participate in language conversation hours.
Image: Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society seal.
Phi Theta Kappa
In 2020, FEPPS and TCC began a chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for two-year institutions, inside WCCW. This effort will be led by students from FEPPS classes and students enrolled in other vocational higher education at the prison, and will involve research and service learning opportunities for members. We look forward to this partnership!
Image: Selections viewed by film series participants.
Film Series
In Fall 2018, FEPPS began a monthly film series at WCCW. Organized by longtime FEPPS volunteer Logan Lyles-Miller, students gather to watch and discuss a film. Selections have included Quest (2017), Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (2012), Moonlight (2016), The Seventh Fire (2015), and Gummo (1997).
Image: Books read by Critical Inquiry participants.
Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry is a small group of professors and students who meet monthly to discuss shared readings and topics in the spirit of open debate. This group provides a space to discuss topics like power, discipline, race, gender, and pedagogy, and relate them back to the experience of attending college in prison. In the spirit of collaboration, conversations evolve based on the interests of students and professors. We are currently working to expand this program to include a group for students after they leave WCCW.
Image: FEPPS competes with UPS Ethics Bowl team.
Ethics Bowl Debate
Ethics Bowl is a form of debate that explores moral questions in a rigorous, reasoned, and civil manner. The FEPPS Ethics Bowl team formed in 2019 and has competed in regional events against local college teams. To the best of our knowledge it’s the first collegiate team inside a women’s prison!
Image: FEPPS staff (left) with poet Dwayne Betts.
Lecture Series
The FEPPS lecture series is a monthly extracurricular program designed to enrich and diversify the academic community at FEPPS and WCCW. Each month, FEPPS brings in a guest speaker for an evening lecture that is open to all of the incarcerated population at WCCW and all WCCW staff members. Lecturers are often academics, politicians or activists, and have spoken on a wide range of topics, from neuroscience to civic engagement.
Many of these in-person extracurriculars have been on hold due to the pandemic. We have instead expanded our self-directed and individual extracurricular materials. These have included book clubs/community reads, meditation resources, puzzle and problem solving packets, drawing and art instruction and more. These materials are available to all FEPPS students - current, graduates, and prospective.
“Being in FEPPS has brightened my days here and has given me an optimistic outlook. I have something to fall back on, and I’ll have that when I get out. It gives me something positive to look forward to every day. We’re making our time work for us, we’re not just staying stagnant.”
—FEPPS Student