LINCOLN COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — A new seminary program by the Arkansas Department of Correction will give inmates a chance to make a difference while behind bars by earning a college degree.
Inside the highly secure Varner Supermax Unit are men who are locked away and doing time for a crime committed.
"Men, day in and day out, that are in our facility live like men who have no hope," Director of Arkansas Prison Initiative, Mark Thompson, said.
Thompson has been working to help inmates regain trust.
"We're training guys how to take the eyes off yourself and to invest in other inmates and help them," Thompson said.
Most of the work happens in two classrooms inside the unit, and 36 prisoners are a part of the seminary program.
Joshua Mayfield is the chaplaincy director for the prison, and he explained that each person enrolled is taking classes and learning religious studies Monday through Friday.
"It's not a watered-down program at all. It is the same degree, same courses, and same coursework," Mayfield added.
It's a first of its kind and the program is only based inside the maximum security prison.
Prisoners from facilities across the state travel to the Varner Unit to participate in their studies.
Mayfield explained that their primary focus is inmates serving longer sentences.
"They have tremendous influence inside the facility," Mayfield said.
William "Dubs" Byers is on the board of corrections and said that influence could have a major impact on morale inside the prison walls.
"It reduces violence in prisons, it helps inmates to get along better [and] there's less gang activity," Byers said.
To continue to have success with the program and graduate more students, leaders have been raising money to build a bigger teaching facility.
The building will have four classrooms, a computer lab, and an extensive library.
Ultimately, when the students graduate, they will have an opportunity to become field ministers by spreading ministry and helping respond to crises inside prison facilities in Arkansas.
In May, eighteen prisoners are expected to graduate from the seminary program, where they will each earn a Bachelor of Science in Christian Studies.
In all, the Department of Correction will need about $300,000 for construction— so far, they've raised nearly half.