Underground Scholars Initiative

Underground Scholars Initiative Building the Prison to University Pipeline through recruitment, retention, and advocacy for currently and formerly incarcerated students.

USI was created in 2013 to develop a prison to school pipeline. The purpose behind its founding is to demystify the university experience and create space.

Did you know that Underground Scholars Ambassador program provides leadership development to formerly incarcerated and s...
02/27/2024

Did you know that Underground Scholars Ambassador program provides leadership development to formerly incarcerated and system impacted students in the California Community Colleges?

As a part of our recruitment pillar we work to build up the prison-to-university pipeline by getting our system-impacted and formerly incarcerated community into some of the best 4 year universities in the country.

Join us on this journey as we shine a light on some of our passionate ambassadors from community colleges, actively spreading USI resources far and wide across California!




Congratulations to   Johnny Smith who earned acceptance to Sociology PhD programs at  and Harvard!! One thing we know is...
02/14/2024

Congratulations to Johnny Smith who earned acceptance to Sociology PhD programs at and Harvard!! One thing we know is that our students have unlimited potential and can make it anywhere! Gratitude to our associate director, Michael Cerda-Jara for his expert grad school advising and support. We're so proud of you Johnny!! Which school should he pick???

***UC Berkeley Underground Scholars members only*** Join us in Stiles Hall this Friday from 3-4pm for our first undergro...
02/01/2024

***UC Berkeley Underground Scholars members only***

Join us in Stiles Hall this Friday from 3-4pm for our first underground scholars student meeting of the semester!

We're celebrating love! ❣️ Pull up with good vibes and community love to share. We'll have stations to make cards and bo...
01/18/2024

We're celebrating love! ❣️ Pull up with good vibes and community love to share. We'll have stations to make cards and bouquets for your loved ones, food, raffle prizes, games, and music. All USI members, advisors, and campus allies are welcome to join ❤️🌹🥰

First week of school at  ! This semester we have 10 youth incarcerated in Santa Clara County who are enrolled in a  clas...
01/17/2024

First week of school at ! This semester we have 10 youth incarcerated in Santa Clara County who are enrolled in a class through our Cross Enrollment Program. Big shout out to Dr. Victoria Robinson for making her class, "An Introduction to Abolitionist Pedagogy and Practice" accessibile to incarcerated youth. We're really grateful to the team that made this happen especially our staff .angelo and !!

We're growing! Celebrate with us as we add a new area of work to serve the needs of our  ! We are adding career services...
01/10/2024

We're growing! Celebrate with us as we add a new area of work to serve the needs of our ! We are adding career services to our program model and our first offering is the Emerging Professionals Program in partnership with . Come hear about the program and meet the first cohort on January 25. RSVP required.


🗣️ Bay Area Community College Students! If you’re formerly incarcerated and plan to transfer to a UC, sign up now to joi...
12/19/2023

🗣️ Bay Area Community College Students! If you’re formerly incarcerated and plan to transfer to a UC, sign up now to join our program and take a class with us at . We pay for your class 📝 and books 📚 and provide one on one tutoring to help you succeed 🎓Application link in bio.

Join us at  Monday for our last in person student org meeting of the semester!  will join us to share info and answer qu...
11/29/2023

Join us at Monday for our last in person student org meeting of the semester! will join us to share info and answer questions about our upcoming career preparation program

The last four days at the National Conference for Higher Education in Prison have been full of insight and innovation fo...
11/16/2023

The last four days at the National Conference for Higher Education in Prison have been full of insight and innovation for our USI representatives. We heard from organizations, incarcerated individuals and more about the work being done across the US to build the road to higher education for our community. It was so incredible to present our own initiative to this incredible group. We are looking forward to following along with these organizations and continuing the innovation. Forever in solidarity!




Our USI student leaders are headed to Atlanta for the  13th annual National Conference on Higher Education in Prison. Ou...
11/09/2023

Our USI student leaders are headed to Atlanta for the 13th annual National Conference on Higher Education in Prison. Our very own are going to present on Closing the Distance from Prison to Campus and Beyond. Follow along for the next few days as we share the highlights from the conference and our presentations.






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Come party with us next weekend as we celebrate 10 YEARS of excellence in higher education 🎉🎉🎉
09/09/2023

Come party with us next weekend as we celebrate 10 YEARS of excellence in higher education 🎉🎉🎉


Took a quick trip to NYC to meet with our people at the  at Columbia University,  , and alums from the  , and of course,...
08/31/2023

Took a quick trip to NYC to meet with our people at the at Columbia University, , and alums from the , and of course, I couldn’t forget the homie
Hice un viaje rápido a Nueva York para reunirme con mi gente en el Centro para la Justicia de la Universidad de Columbia, Incarceration Nation Network y exalumnos de Bard Prison Initiative y, por supuesto, no podía olvidar al compa

Address

2400C Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA
94704

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+15106432226

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