Freedom Education Project Puget Sound

GiveBIG is officially around the corner! Centering on the belief that quality higher education is a human right, your donation to FEPPS contributes to classroom and wrap around support networks necessary for our students to thrive. Donate through the link in our bio!

At this year’s National Conference on Higher Education in Prison in Cleveland, WHEP made its debut on the national stage!

Our members presented “From Margin to Center: The Necessity of a Womxn’s HEP Consortium,” and for the first time, we got to introduce ourselves and our work to the broader HEP community. We opened with something that mattered deeply to us: the voices of formerly incarcerated women who earned their college degrees while incarcerated and now lead higher education in prison programs themselves. Their testimonies set the tone for everything that followed.

If you are interested in learning more about WHEP and our experience at the conference, check out our website: https://www.fepps.org/news-updates/whep-presentation-at-the-national-conference-for-higher-education-in-prison-nchep

Our staff and students were so grateful to be a part of the live tour!

🧡💙 Community Connections 2025 💙🧡

On October 21–22, we hosted our third annual Community Connections event, bringing together 180 incarcerated participants and 45+ community organizations for two powerful days of connection, resource-sharing, and relationship-building.

From education and employment to legal advocacy, mental health care, family support, and reentry planning, this event created a vital space for people at WCCW to explore pathways forward as they release from incarceration.

Planned collaboratively by FEPPS staff and incarcerated students, Community Connections is rooted in inside leadership and collective care. As planning committee member Bonnie shared, “Seeing everyone move from booth to booth was worth every minute of work.”

Successful re-entry takes an entire community. We are deeply grateful to every organization, partner, and participant who helped make this space one of hope, relationship, and opportunity.

It’s Giving Tuesday! Today we’re celebrating FEPPS students who are transforming their lives and communities through education, creativity, and collective leadership.

One shining example is Bonnie—FEPPS BA student, clerk, and co-facilitator of our Creative Writing Group. After discovering her love for writing in a FEPPS English class, Bonnie kept nurturing her craft and ultimately proposed and launched her own creative writing workshop. Her passion has grown into a powerful space for imagination, healing, and self-expression, where students are finding their voices and creating work they want the world to see.

Your Giving Tuesday gift helps sustain programs that cultivate leadership, confidence, and belonging for students like Bonnie.

💙 Give today and help our students rewrite what’s possible: bit.ly/FEPPSGivingTuesday

We’re celebrating the launch of our second BA in Liberal Studies cohort with the University of Puget Sound! 🎉

23 incredible students (not all pictured) were admitted and welcomed at our Matriculation ceremony on September 25. This program allows students who’ve completed their A.A. degree in prison to transfer to UPS and earn their B.A. while incarcerated—the first B.A. program in a Washington State prison and only the seventh in a women’s prison nationwide.

YOU can support our students this Giving Tuesday—donate tomorrow or purchase school supplies from our wishlist by visiting the links in our bio!

🎓 On September 13, 2025, FEPPS celebrated our first “normal” AA graduation since 2019! Sixteen graduates completed their AA-DTA degrees, and the day was filled with inspiration, laughter, and hope for the future.
During the ceremony, Valedictorian Nina and co-Salutatorians Teri & Oso shared moving speeches, and we were thrilled to welcome back FEPPS co-founder Tonya Wilson for the keynote, sharing her journey and the power of education during and after incarceration.

Velvety blue robes dotted the gym and yard as graduates mingled, celebrated, and enjoyed the joy and energy of the day. As FEPPS staff Tatiana Baker reflected, “The ambiance of the graduation was one of accomplishment and hope.”
Here’s to our amazing Class of 2025—your perseverance, resilience, and success inspire us all! 🧡💙✨

🐙 In June, FEPPS partnered with the Project to offer a workshop on Octopus Intelligence. 🐙

A team from the MaST Center Aquarium Highline College brought a live octopus into the prison!

The contents of the workshop also prompted an important conversation on the intersections of consciousness, intelligence, education, and social understandings of these three factors.

Welcome the Inaugural Members of the Womxn’s Higher Education in Prison Consortium!

We are thrilled to announce and warmly welcome the inaugural members of the Womxn’s Higher Education in Prison Consortium (WHEP)!

Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS)
Georgetown University Prisons and Justice Initiative
Goucher Prison Education Partnership
MVSU Prison Education Partnership Program
New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP)
Portland State University HEP
Second Chance Prison Education Program at Simmons College of Kentucky
Tennessee Higher Education Initiative (THEI)
The Wesleyan Center for Prison Education
UPWARD (Unlocking Potential With Academic Resources and Development)
Utah Prison Education Project

Our members represent diverse, dedicated, and visionary HEP programs from across the country. Together, we will collaborate to address the unique challenges of providing higher education in women-designated prisons, including improving access, sharing resources, advocating for equity, and fostering leadership among incarcerated students.

This is an exciting beginning. We look forward to shaping our collective mission, vision, and actions together to make a meaningful and sustainable impact.

To follow our activity and join the discussion, please sign up for the FEPPS listserv and join the RCHEP group at the link in our bio!

Expressions of Liberation, Artwork made in Incarceration

This exhibition showcases artwork created by students in the ART 100: Introduction to Art course through the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) at Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW). As an entry-level college course, ART 100 encourages creative exploration and critical thinking, providing students with an introduction to visual arts. For some, this class marks the first time they have ever created artwork, offering both a challenge and a new avenue for self-expression. The pieces displayed reflect individual expression, resilience, and the transformative power of education in prison. By bringing this work into public view, we honor the dedication of these students and recognize the importance of access to higher education for incarcerated individuals.

As a highly visible walk- and drive-by location, Pratt Fine Arts Center offers families of incarcerated students, friends, and the community an opportunity to engage with their artistic achievements. This exhibition not only celebrates the creativity of FEPPS students but also underscores the critical role of arts education in expanding opportunities and inspiring change.

Curated by Professor Megan Gottfried

Show Dates: 3/30/2025 - 6/14/2025