“I am daringly imaginative about the potential of what the South could be for Black people,” Long says. “After high school, I was initially determined to leave, but my time away has deepened my appreciation and increased my desire to contribute to make the South a place where Black people can be whole despite the painful history of racism.” 

Long, Lawyers, Liberation

Long has been a lifelong advocate for Black liberation. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Long grew up in a state with one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, which inspired his interest in criminal justice. 

After coming to Georgetown University, Long declared a dual major in government and African American Studies. which helped to further his understanding of the inequities in our society.  

LaMonda Horton-Stallings, chair of African American Studies, says that a major in African American Studies can “challenge students to see how intersectionality and decolonization inform equality and social justice so as to transform society.” 

“From there, students are prepared to carry out their own vision of how to challenge structural and cultural causes of inequality,” she explains. 

His coursework and prior passion for social justice led Long to enroll in “Ethics of Incarceration” through the Prison and Justice Initiative (PJI) on campus. This course inspired him to apply to “Making an Exoneree” for which he was selected to advocate for Eric Riddick who was wrongly convicted of murder.

Long and his classmates reinvestigated the facts of the case from nearly 30 years ago, poured over files and presented them before the Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit.

“My work with the Making an Exoneree Project prompted me to pursue my role as a paralegal at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, a civil rights impact litigation organization serving Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia, where I supported our work to reform the criminal legal system and enforce fair housing,” Long says. 

Through his experiences advocating for incarcerated individuals and his academic work, Long decided to pursue a law degree and so applied to MMSP. 

About the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program

The Marshall-Motley Scholars Program is named in honor of Supreme Court justice, legendary civil rights attorney and LDF founder Thurgood Marshall as well as iconic civil rights litigator and the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, Constance Baker Motley. The support offered by the MMSP is an intentional effort to address the racial and economic barriers that often deter students from pursuing their dreams of becoming civil rights attorneys, and a targeted effort to support the civil rights ecosystem in the South.

Over the next five years, each cohort of MMSP scholars will be afforded a full law school scholarship for tuition, room and board and incidentals to alleviate the debt burden that can prevent future lawyers from pursuing a career as a civil rights attorney.  Recipients will also receive support getting summer internships focused on racial justice to jumpstart training in civil rights law at national and regional civil rights organizations with offices in the South, as well as a two-year postgraduate fellowship at civil rights law organizations in the South fighting to achieve racial justice. 

Finally, Long and other awardees will have access to special trainings sponsored by LDF and the National Academy of Sciences. After completing their degrees, scholars pledge to devote the first eight years of their career to practicing civil rights law in service of Black communities in the South. Long currently plans to attend Northwestern Pritzker School of Law this fall.

Marc Howard, director of the Prison and Justice Initiative, says that “Despite his calm and thoughtful demeanor, Kendell Long is a ferocious force for justice.”

“I have deep respect for his dedication to making the American legal system more fair and humane, and I look forward to seeing him thrive in law school and beyond,” he continues.

An Active Advocate

Alongside his work for the Prisons and Justice Initiative, Long held many leadership positions in Georgetown’s local chapter of the NAACP, including co-president and co-vice president. He also worked with the Georgetown 272 Advocacy Team to mobilize Georgetown’s undergraduate student body to vote and urge administrators to implement the creation of a fund to provide financial compensation to communities descending from those sold and enslaved by Georgetown. 

As a member of the Black Theatre Ensemble, Long co-wrote and -directed a play entitled The Hand That Feeds You, based on reflections of activism and Black identity at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) like Georgetown. The alumnus was also a co-chair and facilitator for Leaders in Education About Diversity.

Long’s commitment to racial justice stems from the belief that his existence is tied to his community. He believes that the frontier of criminal justice reform is exploring the ways emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, can further racial inequity in the criminal legal system. 

“Practicing the law was a career that I did not see as accessible to me, let alone a career that could positively affect my community’s material reality,” Long says. “I am eager to affirmatively contribute to relieving conditions and structural racism today while creating a better future for coming generations. Wielding the law alongside advocacy at the grassroots level, legislatures and cultural spaces will allow me to do that.” 

The program creates a transformational education experience for highly motivated people during their incarceration. After their release, many returning citizens struggle to find employment due to their criminal record, lack of formal education and large gaps in their resumes. The Prison Scholars Program equips them to overcome these hurdles and creates a pathway to financial stability and socioeconomic mobility.

“We are excited to build upon the success of the Prison Scholars Program and provide an opportunity for students to earn a college degree while incarcerated,” said Marc Howard, director of PJI. “A degree from Georgetown and the interdisciplinary coursework behind it will prepare our graduates to reenter their communities and the workforce with pride in their academic achievements.”

More than 150 people incarcerated at the DC jail have participated in the Prison Scholars Program, both through credit-bearing and non-credit courses. The expansion of the program is funded by a $1 million three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and is further supported by Georgetown alumnus Damien Dwin. As a designated Second Chance Pell Experimental Site, Georgetown can offer Pell Grants to support the education of qualified incarcerated students.

Cecily Burge (C’21), who is a teaching assistant for PJI and made an Award Winning documentary for the course Making an Exoneree, says that her time with the initiative was the most formative part of her undergraduate experience and she is excited that the program is continuing to expand. 

“I met incarcerated role models inside the D.C. jail and I am so grateful for all the opportunities PJI affords outside students and incarcerated scholars alike,” says Burge. “I will always be inspired by the ways the people I have met through the program have converted struggle and disappointment into ambition and change––and continue to use their experiences to build a world more humane.”

Academic excellence in prison classrooms 

The bachelor’s program is modeled after Georgetown’s on-campus undergraduate programs and brings the university’s academic caliber and rich history of liberal arts in the Jesuit tradition to incarcerated students. 

“Our goal is to provide the same rigorous, demanding courses of study inside of the prison that make a Georgetown education world-class,” says Joshua Miller, director of education at PJI. “Incarcerated students have repeatedly shown that they can rise to the challenge. Combined with their talent and unique insight, this degree program will help Prison Scholars become future leaders in criminal justice reform.”

Students will earn a degree in liberal arts with a wide selection of interdisciplinary coursework. After completing the core requirements, students will tailor their degree program to one of three majors: cultural humanities, interdisciplinary social science, and global intellectual history. The degree requires 120 credit hours, and students are expected to complete the program in about five years. To help them throughout their education, they will have access to resources including academic support, library and research assistance and career counseling, as well as comprehensive reentry services. 

Georgetown President John DeGioia said expanding the Prison Scholars Program is the next step in the university’s decades-long history of prison education and outreach.

“As a University, we have a responsibility to advance the common good and empower the members of our community to share in this important work,” says DeGioia. “As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, this commitment has been a long-standing element of Georgetown’s mission, and I’m grateful that this expansion of the Prison Scholars Program will ensure that future leaders who are currently incarcerated will be able to access the Georgetown academic experience as members of our community.”

Admission to the program will be competitive. PJI will accept applicants from across the state prison system and evaluate them based on preparedness, motivation and potential to succeed in the program through both admissions exams and interviews. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED. 

The statewide admissions process is possible thanks to a close partnership with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS), which oversees about 18,000 people. Those selected from other facilities will be transferred to Patuxent Institution to begin classes with the rest of their cohort. 

Equipping students for success 

The Prison Scholars Program seeks to be a model for successful reentry and reintegration, demonstrating that college education in jails and prisons reduces recidivism and costs, creates safer communities and stronger families and greatly enhances the employment prospects of returning citizens. 

In opening its doors to Georgetown faculty and the Prison Scholars Program, DPSCS furthers its own efforts to provide rehabilitative opportunities for incarcerated people. Patuxent Institution has a long history of offering the state prison system’s most robust rehabilitation and treatment programming.

“We welcome the opportunity to offer higher education from a prestigious university within our corrections system,” said Robert Green, Maryland’s Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services. “The Prison Scholars Program opens doors from incarceration to employment and will help its students contribute positively to their communities post-release.”

“The innovation, dedication and commitment of these teachers contribute significantly to advancing the mission of Georgetown College,” says Soyica Colbert, interim dean. 

Patrick Johnson

Johnson is a physicist at the university whose research interests include modeling micromagnetics and calculations of classical and quantum systems. However, the professor’s greatest passion is creating an environment where complex topics like physics are accessible to all. 

Since starting at Georgetown in 2014, Johnson has adapted the introductory course Principles of Physics so that each of the 170 students who come to his class from varied backgrounds and interests leaves with a better understanding of the material. He recently developed virtual reality tools to help convey abstract concepts like vector fields through 3D visualization. 

Johnson also makes sure to learn all of his students’ names within the first few weeks of school so that when students meet with him for office hours, he can better assist them as individuals. 

With the help of the Doyle Fellowship, Johnson was also able to develop his course Physics of Sight and Sound. In this class, students explore the course content and issues of diversity and difference, such as how our biases affect our understanding. Next semester, Johnson will begin co-teaching a course for incarcerated students through the . 

One of his greatest contributions in increasing accessibility to science has been the publication of his book The Physics of Star Wars, which explores complex scientific topics through the popular movie franchise. 

Amy Liu, professor of physics and department chair, says that Johnson “has developed a talent and passion for communicating science to ever broader audiences.”

 “Patrick has established himself as a gifted and innovative teacher who cares deeply about his students,” she continues. “Patrick has made many contributions to our shared mission of encouraging intellectual exploration, cultivating lifelong learning and educating the whole person. He is an exceptional teacher and a delightful colleague.”

Johnson says that he looks forward to continuing to find new ways to educate others about science and hopes to bring even more focus to social justice in his classes. 

“I love teaching physics, says Johnson. “When Georgetown hired me six years ago, I felt like I had gotten my dream job. I still feel that way.”

Chandra Manning

Manning is one of the leading historians of the Civil War and Reconstruction era of her generation. As a long-time member of the history department, Manning has created a unique environment whereby students feel challenged, respected and engaged. 

In her courses like Baseball and American Society from 1840s-1950s, Manning entices students into the subject matter with an engaging topic and uses that to explain deeper undercurrents in United States history. She has led undergraduates in collaborations with the National Parks Service and the Organization of American Historians. 

The professor also created the HIST099 course curriculum, which is now a requirement for all students in the ������Ƶ and Sciences to take as a graduation requirement. 

Most importantly, Manning took time to adapt her courses to the needs of her students as the university switched to a virtual learning environment. 

 “This meant creating space for undergraduates and graduates to honestly examine where they really found themselves and where we as a society found ourselves, with the courage to admit ways in which lived experience fell short of carefully-curated images of success,” says Manning. It meant looking loss squarely in the face rather than cheerily pretending it was not there. And then it meant beginning from that shared experience of loss to consider loss and crisis as elements of human experience that we shared with other humans in the past.”

Bryan McCann, chair of the history department, says that he has “never seen a more compassionate teacher  who brings both a scholarly and a deeply empathetic understanding of neurodiversity to the classroom.”

“Chandra understands why neuro-diverse students are often disadvantaged by traditional assessments, and takes care to recognize the individual approaches of her students, even in large-enrollment courses,” he says. “She is a model teacher in every regard, and is richly deserving of the Dean’s Teaching Award.” 

Libbie Rifkin

Rifkin is a professor in the English department and founding director of the at Georgetown. She began serving as special advisor for disability to the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion this past fall. Rifkin’s approach to her teaching and research spans a variety of fields including African American poetry, modernism, feminist theory and disability studies. 

The professor’s thorough and interdisciplinary approach asks her students to demand accountability, care and mutuality in their work. Notably, Rifkin holds herself to these same standards, deftly balancing pedagogy and personal growth by listening to and learning from her students. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Rifkin noted that engagement in her online class had dropped. She asked her class to engage in an open discussion about their feelings around this new environment and, after hearing their thoughts, decided to adapt her syllabus to reflect the time. She changed their readings from Gertrude Stein to Audre Lorde’s cancer journals and the literature from the HIV/AIDS epidemic and immediately noticed a difference. 

Rifkin says that this re-emphasized the importance of her role as a professor. 

“Classroom teaching is at the heart of my work,” Rifkin says. “Now more than ever, we see that a pedagogy of care can be vitalizing, in ways that extend far beyond the classroom. I’m grateful for the chance to discover this, each time anew, with my students.”

Jennifer Natalya Fink, director of the Disability Studies Program, says that Rifkin’s commitment to individual, institutional and broader cultural transformation and the design of her courses as well as their content reflects her teaching ethic. 
“Most striking is how she engages students’ own experiences and thoughts, leaving room to change and challenge her own ideas and practices at any moment,” she continues. “Rifkin embodies cura personalis more than any other individual I have encountered. She enacts and instructs care for the whole person at every turn, while interrogating the politics and poetics of that very care.”

“Not only did Johnsenia, Cecily, and Austin do a phenomenal job creating and producing an award-winning short documentary about Edward Martinez’s innocence, but they treated this project as if their own lives depended on it,” says , director of the . “Their commitment to depicting the truth and correcting injustice is inspiring. They—along with their classmates who worked on four other wrongful conviction cases—truly embody the Georgetown ethos of “Hoyas for Others.”

Passion for Justice

Burge solidified her interest in criminal justice reform after attending a lecture about college behind bars in her first year, which Howard moderated. 

Through this lecture, Burge became involved with Mission to Mobilization, an organization that works to combat recidivism and end the stigma around people who are returning to society after serving their prison sentences. She was also inspired by the time she spent at the Washington, D.C. jail, with Howard, where she met and , both of whom are no longer incarcerated. 

“Their stories have helped me come to believe that no one deserves to be incarcerated, innocent or guilty,” Burge says. “No one deserves those conditions.”

Burge’s passion for criminal justice reform led her to apply to be a part of the course in the spring of 2020. Out of 100 applicants, only 15 were selected. The then-junior was partnered with seniors Brooks and Riddick and together they began to work to exonerate Martinez by identifying new exculpatory evidence and building a case for his innocence.

Making an Exoneree 

Brooks, Burge and Riddick chose to work on Martinez’s case because it was demonstrative of the indifference that is often commonplace in the criminal justice system, particularly towards people of color. 

“Edward’s is not the type of case that garners sympathy in everyone. In many ways, his case represents American apathy,” says Burge. “No one involved in his conviction actually believes that he is guilty, but he was imprisoned regardless. That should be concerning to everyone.” 

In 2006, Martinez was charged with first-degree murder because he refused to identify the shooter of David Hicks, who threatened Martinez’s family if he gave up his identity in court. Martinez had no prior knowledge that the decedent would be shot, but he was charged with aiding and abetting for his role as the driver of the vehicle the shooter was in to and from the scene of the crime.

The shooter fled to Atlanta, GA, and has never been tried or convicted. Martinez is currently incarcerated at the penitentiary nicknamed “Bloody Beaumont” in Texas, hundreds of miles away from his family in D.C. 

In an effort to prove Martinez’s innocence, the three Georgetown students reinvestigated the crime scene, interviewed individuals who have recanted their trial identifications, obtained proof of police misconduct and uncovered improper witness payments to build Martinez’s case. The team had scheduled a polygraph test for March of 2020, but the day that Burge flew to Beaumont to meet with Martinez, the penitentiary locked down due to COVID-19. 

Despite the obstacles the pandemic brought about, the group pushed on. They conducted the remaining interviews over Zoom for their documentary and continued to work with Martinez’s attorney to fight for his innocence. By sharing Martinez’s story, they hope to garner wide-ranging support, which may ultimately sway a judge’s decision to reopen the case. 

Brooks notes that aside from the class’s goal of sharing and advocating with Martinez on his actual innocence, the case brings to light other aspects of the criminal justice system that are deeply problematic. 

“The state chose to incentivize witnesses that were victims of drug addiction at the time of the trial. Reading through the trial transcripts, we also see a guilt presumptive trial where the judge chooses to characterize Edward and the shooter as one in the same,” she explains. “We hope that in watching our documentary, viewers question the integrity of our criminal legal system, especially as it relates to police misconduct and the handling of vulnerable witnesses in communities of color.”

Fighting Forward

The documentary aired in late May of 2020 after Brooks and Riddick graduated, but all three Hoyas speak with Martinez daily and continue to advocate for his freedom. 

Brooks was able to garner support for Martinez through the Innocence Project, an organization that helps fight wrongful convictions, where she now works full-time as a paralegal. Burge, who was recently accepted into Georgetown Law, continues to advocate for Martinez’s freedom by working with the attorney assigned to his case. She will also serve as the teaching assistant for Making an Exoneree this spring semester. 

Riddick, who is currently earning his JD from Harvard University, says that “Edward Martinez is a brilliant, compassionate father stolen from his family and sentenced to life in prison for a murder he did not commit.”   

Like Brooks and Burge, Riddick has vowed to continue fighting for Martinez’s freedom until he comes home.

“Despite the injustice with which he has been treated, Edward remains committed to returning to his community and improving it, so that young people in D.C. do not have to endure what he did,” he says. “Our community needs him.”

Related News

A select group of students was invited this past Thursday to join a session with Burns, who later spoke to a larger audience at Georgetown.  

Burns is an award-winning documentary filmmaker of numerous works that include and .  

The session, on “Conducting Interviews and Truth in Storytelling,” gave students a rare opportunity to ask an accomplished filmmaker about how to effectively tell stories on film.

Empathetic Storytelling

Riddick, a government major enrolled in Georgetown’s , said the opportunity to ask Burns advice before he and his classmates create their documentary was invaluable.

“The insight Ken Burns gave about being empathetic in the ways in which to both elicit and tell a person’s story, especially in moments when it is painful, was very helpful,” says the undergraduate from Lumberton, New Jersey.

Groups of students in the work on the specific cases of individuals for which there is evidence of wrongful conviction.

Riddick is working alongside two other students on the case of Edward Martinez, a man serving a 45-year sentence. 

Immigration: Views on Liberty

Burns, , spoke to a larger audience later that afternoon that preceded a panel discussion on Immigration: Views on Liberty.

During the talk he showed clips from his documentaries The Statue of Liberty and Unum and spoke about the repetitive nature of issues such as immigrant rights, race and gender in our country. 

“Mark Twain once said ‘History doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes,’” says Burns. “This is no different with the issue of immigration. We see cycles and patterns in our history and by looking at our history we can better understand ourselves and each other.”

The panel discussion included ,,, and College Dean Chris Celenza.

 For students such as Riddick and Céline Berdous, a French exchange student who attended both events, these learning opportunities are part of what makes Georgetown unique.

“These kinds of experiences offered by Georgetown are an honor,” she says. “They made me want to pick this university for my exchange year.”

After getting settled on campus as a first-year student, Berk quickly became involved in service initiatives, including , Best Buddies and the student-run Project Lighthouse. Later, she became involved with Georgetown’s

Jumpstart is a program run by the at Georgetown in partnership with Americorps. Berk and a team of students visit a different preschool every week in under-resourced areas in DC. Their goal is to help improve socioemotional learning and bolster vocabulary in an effort to close the literacy gap. 

“I was really struck by the discrepancies I saw among schools,” Berk explains. “Some schools have so little and others so much, so it was important to me that I continue volunteering for a group that was working to level the playing field.” 

Berk says she reads a book aloud to the young children on Mondays, and returns to the school on Wednesdays to discuss the characters in the book. The preschoolers then participate in small group activities with Georgetown students, helping them expand on the story with art or dramatic play.

Berk spent her first two years as a member of Jumpstart and the next two years as a team leader, organizing and directing teams in larger group activities. 

She also volunteers for Best Buddies, a nonprofit founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver (C’88) whose goal is to create opportunities for one-on-one friendships with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as find them employment and inclusive living arrangements.

Through the nonprofit, Berk maintains a close relationship with her friend Robin, who works at Petco.

“Robin and I stay in touch and text frequently,” says Berk. “We have learned a lot from each other over the years.”

Project Lighthouse

Though helping people outside of Georgetown is important to Berk, she also wanted to assist those in the university community. This is why she joined Project Lighthouse during the fall semester of her first year. 

Project Lighthouse is an anonymous chat service providing peer support to troubled students  during the university’s “off hours.” 

Between the hours of 7 p.m. and 1 a.m., student volunteers like Berk are available to chat with any student who contacts the service. Each volunteer undergoes 40 hours of training to talk with the students and, if appropriate, refer them to a mental health professional. 

Berk started as a volunteer, eventually advanced to a trainer and is now Project Lighthouse’s director of oversight. In this role, she does audits to assess the effectiveness of the service and the work of the volunteers. 

“Everybody struggles from time to time, including me,” the undergraduate says. “I love that I am able help my peers feel a better sense of community, belonging and security.”

Prisons and Justice

At some point during her academic career, Berk began taking courses focused on mass incarceration and the criminal justice system. The more she learned, the more she wanted to get involved.

“I was really struck and overwhelmed by how unjust the system is,” she says. “This is the major civil rights issue of our time.”

Berk later began working as a research assistant for the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown, for which she helped incarcerated individuals conduct internet research for their Georgetown courses. It was this experience along with her courses at Georgetown that has inspired Berk to want to become a correctional psychologist.

Personal Connections

Each of the programs Berk volunteered for during her time at Georgetown involved making personal connections, an aspect Berk hopes will carry over into a future career working in correctional facilities.

“My senior thesis involves interviewing correctional psychologists regarding best practices,” says Berk. “Several of them have said that I should go into public policy if I want to see greater changes in the system, but my skill set lies in making an impact at the one-on-one level. That’s where I see myself making the biggest difference.” 

Berk was one of , six of whom hail from the College. She says her dedication to serving her community began at a young age. 

“My mom has had a really large influence on my view of community service,” says Berk. “My parents were always taking us to various events that helped our community. It was important to them that we learn how to serve others.”