First-Ever Class Graduates From Ensign College Prison Education Program

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By Kaitlyn Bancroft, Church New

Editor’s note: Out of respect for victims of crime, the Utah Department of Corrections has requested that media not identify incarcerated individuals by their full names. 

Elder James R. Rasband looked into the faces of incarcerated men and saw light. 

“I believe with all my heart that it is possible to bring light, because even in ... the darkest times of my life, the most important light in the world is that which comes from Jesus Christ,” he said. 

Elder Rasband, a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of education for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke Wednesday, April 15, at the Utah State Correctional Facility in the northwestern corner of Salt Lake City. He was the commencement speaker for the first-ever class of graduates from the Ensign College Prison Education Program. 

Launched in 2024 through a partnership between Ensign College and the Utah Department of Corrections, the prison education program helps students develop “faith, discipline, integrity, renewed sense of purpose and a path forward, grounded in purpose and personal responsibility,” a news release states. To date, over 500 students — who qualify for the program through recommendations from ecclesiastical leaders and Utah Department of Corrections personnel — have participated in courses focused on developing career-ready skills and strengthening faith. 

And on Wednesday, over 50 of those students graduated with certificates in fields such as small-business management and entrepreneurship or project management. Ensign College President Bruce C. Kusch also said that, starting this fall, the prison education program will offer both associate and bachelor’s degrees in applied science. 

“There are no limits and there are no boundaries to what graduates from Ensign College can achieve,” President Kusch said. 

‘The Truth Shall Make You Free’ 

The prison held separate events on Wednesday for men and women, with around 40 men participating in the morning graduation ceremony and around 10 women participating in the afternoon event. They were joined by President Kusch and other Ensign College personnel as well as friends, family members and spiritual leaders. 

In his commencement speech, Elder Rasband said incarcerated individuals understand in “a very real, personal way” that choices have consequences, such as limits on personal freedoms. But education expands agency, which in turn expands freedom. 

The graduates’ education is now another source of light and truth in their lives, he said — and as the Savior once taught in John 8:32, “the truth shall make you free.” 

The desire to learn and change is “deeply, deeply Christian,” Elder Rasband also said, and the source of true and lasting freedom is Jesus Christ. 

“He is the one who can free us from bondage,” Elder Rasband said. “He is the one who can fix what we cannot fix. … Your potential is not lost.” 

‘You Are Defined by Your Redeemer’ 

In addition to Elder Rasband and President Kusch, the morning graduation ceremony featured a variety of student and community speakers. It also included spiritual music, including “I Believe in Christ” (“Hymns” No. 134), which states, “I believe in Christ; he ransoms me / From Satan’s grasp he sets me free”. 

Dennis W., a graduate in project management, shared in his speech that he’s spent more of his life in prison than out. For years, he struggled with drug addiction and gang violence, then “the Lord found me,” he said. 

It wasn’t what he’d call a “soft conversion,” Dennis said. he Lord held him accountable for his actions, requiring him to make real changes. “True repentance ripped me open.” 

Today, however, “I am an unstoppable son of God,” he said. 

He noted that, even resurrected, the Savior chose to keep the marks in His hands, feet and side. Rather than erasing His wounds, He glorified them. 

Dennis added that when he struggles to understand why the Lord would want someone like him, he remembers that whom the Lord calls, He qualifies. 

“Let your scars be your qualification. … You are not defined by your past. You are defined by your Redeemer,” Dennis said. 

Sgt. J. Robert Lee of the Utah Department of Corrections called the graduates “pioneers,” “history makers” and “the proof of concept” for the prison education program. 

Education, he continued, is the one thing that no one can take from them. 

“Don’t let the things you lack define the man you are. … I want you to see [the] professional, the scholar and the graduate that you have become,” Lee said. 

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