Programs and scholarships funded by The University of Baltimore Foundation
STRENGTHEN UBALT’S COMMITMENT TO
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

SECOND CHANCE COLLEGE PROGRAM OFFERS ON-CAMPUS SUPPORT

The Second Chance College Program offers access to higher education to incarcerated individuals at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland, with the aim to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for educational and employment success. Incarcerated students can pursue a B.A. in Human Services Administration degree, receiving instruction onsite and virtually from the same professors who teach college courses on campus. Thanks to the generous support of donors, Second Chance is also able to provide reentry support to students in the program in order to positively impact their transition from incarceration back into the community.

Reentry support works with numerous offices on The University of Baltimore’s campus like the Career and Internship Center, as well as community organizations across the state of Maryland, to ensure that each student has the opportunity and support needed to be successful. Second Chance Program staff work alongside these organizations to help our students find support with employment readiness, mental and substance abuse support, housing, healthcare, food, advocacy during court/parole hearings and academic support services once they come to campus.

Second Chance’s Reentry Coordinator Latonya Epps (who won the College of Public Affairs’ Outstanding Staff Member Award for FY2022) works to ensure Second Chance Program participants are valued and respected members of the community, both on- and off-campus.

She says, “The University of Baltimore has long been known for being the University of the community, and in communities, we have a wide variety of people coming from different backgrounds and circumstances. UBalt has been the backbone of support for students in the Second Chance Program. From the time most faculty and staff are introduced to our students, they have taken a significant interest in seeing that they feel supported and welcomed.

Our campus offices have stepped in to offer nonstop help either in person by speaking with the students and offering workshops or working behind the scenes to make the daily operations run smoothly. Our students have been welcomed on the campus by all without feeling the burden of their incarceration weighing down on them. The school has done a great job at making our students feel welcome and included with our on-campus students.”

I support the second chance program because at its core, it’s about grace and forgiveness—grace for humankind and
forgiveness to look beyond imperfection and invest in the power of redemption and transformation.”

–Terri Brown, MBA ‘00
Supporter of the Second Chance Program

MARYLAND EQUITY AND INCLUSION LEADERSHIP PROGRAM GOES ONLINE

The Schaefer Center for Public Policy launched the Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program (MEILP) in 2016 to develop, engage and support current and emerging leaders from private, public and nonprofit sectors who are interested and committed to helping their organizations become more diverse, equitable and inclusive at various levels. “This program offers a unique opportunity for non-diversity professionals to understand equity and inclusion issues and acquire the skills they need to create more inclusive organizations,” said Ann Cotten, B.S. ‘85, M.S. ‘86, Cert. ‘92, D.P.A. ‘03, director of the Schaefer Center.

In an effort to make this vital skills-training accessible, MEILP welcomed its first fully online class in Fall 2021. This cohort included experienced and developing professionals working in organizations across the state, from the Maryland Stadium Authority and Maryland Public Television to Community Crisis Services, Inc. and the University of Maryland SAFE Center for Human Trafficking Survivors at College Park. Learn more about the FY2022 cohort and the program.

The University of Baltimore Foundation proudly supports the Schaefer Center and those who come to MEILP so they can design, lead, and promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in their organizations.

My experience as a student in The University of Baltimore Second Chance Program (SCP) will help me tremendously with my future career endeavors. I have taken grant writing classes, along with a full curriculum, that has prepared me to facilitate, own and operate a transition house that will help ex-felons as they are returning to society. Education through the SCP and the University of Baltimore changed my life. The dedication that the staff has towards our success shows tremendous character. I want to do that for someone else that may need it as badly as I did when I first started this journey. The Program has inspired me to look at life not as I once did all those years ago, but through a new set of lenses, inspiring me to help change lives as well.”

– JAMES RUFFIN III, B.A. ’21
HUMAN SERVICES ADMINISTRATION