It was the summer of 2020, the COVID-19 era. As a professor at Snow College, I was sitting on a leather couch in meditation. It seemed the college, a preeminent two-year institution, succeeded in bringing associate degrees to towns without a Walmart, let alone a university. This unique education was facilitated by remote, live, and synchronous coursework and university lectures brought into high school classrooms to the Piute and West Desert populations.
Why couldn't we do that for impoverished youth in custody to
expand to even more unreachable youth populations? I contemplated that thought on that hot summer afternoon, during the height of the pandemic.
Adolescents in Utah’s juvenile justice system might be the most in need of new and better ways of perceiving, knowing and being. Higher education is clearly the way to achieve these new vistas.
I tapped into the mind of Lowry Snow—a leading community attorney and education reform leader, who answered my call with his usual baritone and ready-to-serve salutation. “Nate, how are you?”
An hour later, the HEIY program concept was born, and after several months of pitches, negotiations, and bill writing, the HEIY program became a reality in April 2021, with the endorsement of Utah's Governor Spencer Cox and a team of educators and community leaders.
An example of the success of the HEIY program was Andre, who was expected to join his older peers in black market endeavors. Before he was 18, the juvenile court system remanded him to a secure facility run by Utah’s JJYS.
When the HEIY program was offered to Andre, he jumped at the opportunity for more education. Maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA , he earned a scholarship to Utah Tech, started a part-time job, and continued his education journey, even presenting at an international conference, working his way to a bachelor’s degree and eventually the practice of law.
In Utah, more than 40% of in custody youth now enroll in university courses and are being recognized for their successes. HEIY is definitely making a difference.
“I like the part where you think something is hard, and then you get
it. It makes you feel smart.”