By: Dr. Kipton E. Jensen, Director of the Higher Education in Prisons Program in the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership.
The Higher Education in Prisons program in the Andrew Young Center at Morehouse College offers college-level classes inside the US Federal Correctional Institution – formerly the US Federal Penitentiary – in Atlanta. But college life at Morehouse is about more than book learning and academic performance: it’s also about sensitizing the heart and strengthening the will, finding one’s voice, building community, and fostering “brotherhood.”
“We’re here to just show love, you know, to hoop, and continue to give our service to the community,” said the team’s student manager, sophomore Francis DeSilva.
Senior guard Omar Rowe said, “The visit was incredibly impactful because it gave hope to the individuals we met – hope that is often missing in their environment. It was clear how much inspiration they drew from seeing people on the outside who still believe in them.”
For him, the biggest “takeaway is that prison is not always what it’s portrayed to be on TV – it’s a real and humbling place. This experience taught me to do everything in my power to avoid that path, and I will carry this lesson with me moving forward.”
One of the incarcerated students, Derrick Wilson, has completed numerous classes taught by faculty from Morehouse. In a promotional video (SEE VIDEO HERE) he said that, “It was a transformative moment” and that in his 20 years of incarceration, he had never seen anything like it before.
“For Morehouse to come up in here and demonstrate their willingness to address America’s prison industrial complex was both powerful and transformative,” Wilson said.
Another standout student in Morehouse’s HEP program, Claborn Colbert, who serves as a peer mentor with a keen interest in Africana Studies, suggested that, “Events like this need to happen more often as part of the process in preparing us for reentry into society.”
Cedric Taylor III, a business administration major and member of the Morehouse basketball team, called the game, “. . . a humbling and powerful experience. It meant stepping outside of my comfort zone to connect with people in a unique environment and finding common ground through basketball.
“My favorite part of the evening was the pure joy and energy during the game. Both sides were highly competitive, but there was also laughter, mutual respect, and a sense of unity that made the experience unforgettable. What surprised me most was how much the game broke down barriers. Basketball created an open space for connection, where titles and circumstances didn’t matter – only teamwork, effort, and the love for the game.”
Kevin Reagan, one of the incarcerated co-editors for the FCI newspaper, The Atlantian, wrote that “the gym went wild as the Morehouse players entered the doors to the gym and those young men played into the energy themselves, jumping, dancing and whooping it up.”
Morehouse players felt the enthusiasm of the incarcerated prisoners just as much.
“It meant everything to the men in the penitentiary, as they expressed how much they enjoyed our company and appreciated the opportunity to interact with us,” Morehouse junior guard Sincere Key said. “For them, it wasn’t just about basketball; it was about sharing a message. They talked to us about the importance of making the right choices and emphasized that jail is not where anyone wants to end up.”
The supervisor of recreation at FCI-ATL, Willie Preston, said that “inclusive recreational activities, such as these, can have a transformative impact on adults in custody by fostering connection, promoting teamwork, and encouraging personal growth.”
Moreover, “These interactions provide AICs with a sense of normalcy, respect, and inclusion,” Preston said. “It helps break down social barriers and combat feelings of isolation. Playing against outside teams like Morehouse College offers opportunities for positive social engagement, skill-building and stress relief, while also reinforcing values like discipline, accountability and sportsmanship. Such experiences can inspire hope, strengthen rehabilitation efforts and support successful reintegration into society.”
Still, at its core basketball is a sport, and the highest form of respect is intense yet friendly competition. Reagan wrote in the FCI newsletter, the Atlantian:
“With three-point shots raining hard and early in the game, fast break dunks and monumental blocked shots, I believe even [the FCI] team was shocked. The taunting started, smack talk ensued, back and forth, and then a timeout was called by the Morehouse coach. That is what they needed, apparently, because from that point on, those guys [i.e., the Morehouse basketball players] put on a show. They found their rhythm and could not be stopped.”
Morehouse won the friendly game, 99-48, and their coach, Doug Whittler, said he’s open to a rematch. His team simultaneously inspired some of their hosts to become more dedicated to educating themselves.
“Hooping with a younger generation and conversing with them afterwards really taught me that intellectualism is not so much about competence and mental capacity as it is attitude,” one incarcerated player said. “They gave me the desire to learn, listen, and apply myself even more. And they gave me a hunger to discover myself and grow with the willingness to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Shout-out to HBCUs and Morehouse. We had fun.”
The connections formed between the Morehouse players and their incarcerated counterparts did not go unnoticed by Executive Assistant Warden Ray Coleman. He called basketball a universal language that breaks down barriers and allowed the game’s participants to embrace each other as teammates.
“For incarcerated individuals, the interaction offers a sense of normalcy, humanization, and hope, reminding them of their value beyond their past mistakes and lighting a path for rehabilitation,” he said. “For college students, it challenges stereotypes, builds empathy, and broadens perspectives about the realities of the justice system and the resilience of those impacted by it. The shared experience of competition, teamwork, and mutual respect cultivates bonds that transcend societal divides, sparking transformative dialogue and opening doors to second chances and social change.”
The kinship among hundreds of black and brown men gathered in solidarity and sportsmanship lifted the spirit of Morehouse Leadership Studies Professor Rodney Walker, one of the college’s five professors at the game.
“In that inspiring moment, I could tell that many of us forgot we were in a correctional institution,” Walker said. “That’s why it is important for institutions like Morehouse to provide experiences of shared humanity within carceral spaces. When we’re there, we have a chance to restore hope and, quite possibly, redeem lives.”