APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCEMENT:
MOREHOUSE-BPI FACULTY FELLOW AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION IN PRISONS PROGRAM.
The Higher Education in Prisons Program in the Andrew Young Center [AYC-HEP] at Morehouse College and the Bard Prison Initiative [BPI] are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Shari Mackinson as the Morehouse-BPI Faculty Fellow and Assistant Director of the AYC-HEP. A graduate of Howard University (BS) and Emory University in Atlanta (PhD), Dr. Mackinson presently teaches in the Department of Religion at Texas Christian University. As a graduate student at Emory, Dr. Mackinson taught at Arrendale and was a student chaplain at Metro Transitional Center. Among other responsibilities, Dr. Mackinson will serve as the site supervisor at the US Federal Correctional Institution in Atlanta.
The Director of the AYC-HEP, Dr. Kipton Jensen, says that this appointment is a boon to the AYC-HEP Program: “Dr. Mackinson brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to HBCUs. She has already demonstrated her sustained dedication to prison education. She is an exceptionally good teacher and will serve as an excellent academic advisor to the men inside FCI as well as a mentor to the AYC-HEP student ambassadors.” Dr. Jann Adams, Lead Director of the AYC, adds “we are excited to welcome Dr. Mackinson to Morehouse and to the Andrew Young Center’s Higher Education in Prisons Program. Dr. Mackinson brings expertise and commitment that will help us to grow the AYC-HEP Program and provide outstanding training and educational experiences for our students.” Dr. Mackinson says, “This is a dream opportunity. HBCUs should be at the forefront of higher education in prisons, and I’m elated to be a part of Morehouse’s contribution to this ongoing mission.”
In addition to her work inside the prisons served by the AYC-HEP (i.e., Burruss, Metro, Atlanta Transition Center, and the FCI-ATL), Dr. Mackinson will also teach courses on social justice leadership in the Leadership Studies Program at Morehouse. In July 2025, Dr. Mackinson will participate in the BPI Summer Residency at Bard College. The Bard Prison Initiative has been a leader in college-in-prison for 25 years, is the subject of Ken Burns’ College Behind Bars, which first aired in 2019, and has been home to the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison since 2009. Morehouse joined Bard’s Consortium in 2024 with a seed grant to fund the Morehouse Faculty Fellow position. Max Kenner, BPI’s founder and Executive Director, described Morehouse’s development of a college degree program in prison as “a landmark moment for this field in the region and, in fact, nationwide. We can think of no college better prepared to meaningfully move this effort forward to at once stem the harms of mass incarceration and genuinely democratize access to the kind of college education that is broad, rigorous, and as ambitious as the students it serves.”
