Six women at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk have earned bachelor’s degrees in general education through the University of Wyoming Pathway from Prison (WPfP) program. The degree recipients — Scharay Drenaena-Burnett, Amy Katherine Doerr, Paulette Kay Iliff, Lorrie Lin Hood, Kelly Kay Turner (Hoover), and Taylor Marie Nicks — are the program’s first graduating cohort.
WPfP, a collaboration between the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Corrections, provides its students with for-credit college courses through support from federal Pell Grants. The availability of Pell Grant funding makes it possible for WPfP to provide courses and degree opportunities without requiring state funding.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these graduates, who have shown great dedication and resilience in completing this degree,” said Rob Colter, executive director of the WPfP program and head of the department of philosophy and religion at the University of Wyoming. “It is an extraordinary accomplishment, and they have shown what can be achieved when people work together, even in difficult circumstances. Hopefully, they are but the first of many.”