Students from Brave Behind Bars, an introductory computer science program for incarcerated people, gather for a portrait after a graduation ceremony at the D.C. jail. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
The last time Rochell Crowder held an office job, he said, it was 1983 and computers were not yet central to everyday life.
But on Thursday, after almost four decades of odd jobs and crimes that landed him in and out of jail, the 57-year-old completed a computer science course taught by PhD candidates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He stared at the certificate in his hands.
“This,” he said, smiling, “is a step in the right direction.”
Crowder, who pleaded guilty to armed robbery in 2020, was one of 16 men who enrolled in the course while detained at the D.C. jail, as part of a new 12-week program from the Educational Justice Institute at MIT. The program, called Brave Behind Bars, brought computer science education to the facility — adding to the suite of educational services that experts hope will better prepare detainees for reentry. The course, taught twice a week over Zoom, also was offered to women incarcerated in Maine.
“The level of 21st century technology skills they just learned, I can’t do those things,” said Amy Lopez, deputy director of college and career readiness for the D.C. Department of Corrections. “They are transferrable, employable skills.”
She added that it is rare for a jail or prison to provide detainees with an opportunity to use the internet or interact with people held in different states.