For all of these reasons, our program decided to broaden its focus, from just tutoring to tutoring and planning a conference. From April 17th to 26th the first "Prisons in America" conference will be held on campus, dealing exclusively with prison-related issues. We have scheduled speakers representing a range of perspectives and backgrounds to appeal to a wide audience. Whether you are opposed to wasting money; rampant, systematic abuse; racial bias or just bad, bloated government, prison reform is an issue we all need to face and act upon. We must elevate the level of discussion on these issues, so that we can be tough on crime, not people.
Alex A. Guerrero '01, is a philosophy concentrator in Mather House and co-director of the Harvard University Prisoner Education Program.