Free and Open to All

May 30, 2019: 9 a.m.–3:10 p.m.
Highline’s main campus

Two Highline College student clubs have organized Decarceration Day, a daylong event scheduled for May 30. Speakers from within the Highline College community, as well as the surrounding communities, will present lectures and workshops.

Find the full event schedule below and read President Mosby’s May 28 message to the Highline College community.

May 28, 2019

Dear Highline College,

Our campus will hold Decarceration Day on May 30. I appreciate the efforts of students in two Highline clubs — Phi Theta Kappa and Justice Scholars Society of Change — to give our community the chance to participate in several workshops and lectures.

While many students and staff support this day and the speakers, I recognize others may not.

If we are to truly live up to our ideals of an inclusive campus, then providing a safe space for all to share their voices is critical, and I would argue, absolutely necessary.

College, perhaps more than any other time in our life, is a time for learning and exploring, not only in those areas that draw our interest, but equally important, in those areas where we are uncomfortable. This is where our true growth will come.

Please join me in support of the May 30 event.

Thank you,
John

John R. Mosby, Ph.D.
President
Highline College

Event Schedule

Organized by clubs Phi Theta Kappa and Justice Scholars Society of Change, Decarceration Day seeks to bring awareness on social justice issues around incarceration, prisons, detention centers and immigration policy. The clubs want to bring healing and restoration to communities while recognizing the damaging impacts that our justice system and immigration policies have on families and communities.

9–9:50 a.m.: “The Remaking of a Man”
Speaker: Chet Hunter
Location: Building 7
Chet Hunter, a former Highline College student, presents his journey as a black male who has spent 31 years of his life in America’s prison systems. He speaks to shed light on Decarceration and our goal to bring about change.

10–11:20 a.m.: “Bridges To Life”
Speaker: Judy Dutcher
Location: Building 7
Judy Dutcher is the Washington Regional Coordinator for Bridges To Life. This restorative justice program brings crime victims and incarcerated individuals together to understand each other, instill hope for the future and promote safer communities. She coordinates projects in six Western Washington prisons.

11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.: “From Prison to Lawyer: A Quest to End Mass Incarceration”
Speaker: Tarra Simmons
Location: Building 25 (Library), Room 513 (5th floor Boardroom)
Tarra Simmons, an attorney and Skadden Fellow at the Public Defender Association in Seattle, presents her journey from prison to law school and beyond. She currently leads the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which seeks to eliminate barriers to reentry through direct representation and policy advocacy.

12:30–1:15 p.m.: Lunch
Location: Building 3, Room 102

1:15–2 p.m.: “History of Education Inside Prison”
Speaker: Mary Weir
Location: Building 2
This session will include a brief history of education inside prison and a panel discussion with formerly incarcerated students.

2:10–3:10 p.m.: “From Slave System to Prison System”
Speaker: Villainus
Location: Building 2
An interactive workshop that will break down the history of the evolution of American slavery, tracking it from indentured servitude, chattel slavery, chain gains all the way to an industrialized form slavery known as the prison industrial complex.