Incarcerated graduates at Lancaster’s state prison receive their bachelor's degree

Eleven students graduated from Cal State L.A. with a bachelor’s degree. The only difference is that these students were at the Lancaster state prison.

The students from the California State Prison, Los Angeles County (CSP-LAC)  received their diplomas on Thursday, December 5. They were part of the third cohort of the university’s Prison Graduation Initiative (PGI), the first in-person bachelor's degree completion program for incarcerated students in California that was founded in 2016. 

The program is designed to provide the opportunity for students who are in state prison to access three or four courses per semester and help them graduate in only two years. 

The PGI at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)I has grown considerably since it began at CSP-LAC. Since 2016, it has served over 118 students, with 50 students receiving their Bachelor of Arts in Communication while incarcerated and 15 students seamlessly transferring and completing their degree on the university’s campus.

Bidhan Chandra Roy, program manager for PGI at CSULA, said the program approach was recently recognized for excellence by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, becoming the first prison education program to achieve this milestone. “PGI prepares our graduates to return to their communities with highly valued degrees, applied skills, and the knowledge and insights to re-enter their communities and serve as agents of change that they have become,” he said. 

One of this year's graduates was Freddie Hernandez, who has spent more than half of his life behind bars. Hernandez, 47, is currently serving a life term without the possibility of parole. 

Hernandez was this cohort’s valedictorian and graduated the day of his 47th birthday, an experience he referred to as “a rebirth.” 

In his speech, he talked about his mistakes and what he has learned from them, as well as his improved relationship with his family and his role as a leader inside and outside the wired fences of the Lancaster prison. Hernandez said his second life began on Thursday's graduation. 

“Mentally and spiritually, I have set myself free,” he said. “I am no longer defined by the murder I committed in 1998 when I was 20 years old. Today I am a scholar.”

Hernandez's hopes of being physically free are inspired by cases like that of Casi Amezcua, whose sentence was commuted in late 2023, and who was released from the Lancaster prison in April of this year. He finished his coursework for his bachelor’s degree in communication on-campus at CSULA over the summer and was also one of the eleven graduates in Thursday's ceremony. 

Despite being released after going through the parole process this past April, Amezcua admits he initially found it pointless to pursue a bachelor's degree if he was in prison. 

“It seemed pointless to pursue a college degree when serving a life sentence,” he said. “However, I’m glad I changed my attitude. A higher education gave my life a purpose, a challenge, a chance to finally be a good role model for my children.”

Amezcua had spent 24 years in prison after being arrested in 1999, convicted of murder, and sentenced to 180 years to life. 

“I needed to have a purpose in life; I needed to have a reason to live,” said 48-year-old Amezcua. “Up to that point, I had been a disappointment to my family. I had been a bad father,” he continued. “So, I asked myself, ‘why not?’ Why not for once be a good example for your children? Why not prove to myself that I am capable of achieving an A.A., a bachelor’s degree, whatever I set my mind to? It was discouraging at first because I was looking at a life sentence. At that time, I had no hope whatsoever of getting out. I was doing it for me; I was doing it for my family.”

Today, Amezcua is working part-time for the Center for Employment Opportunities, a program that provides participants with immediate employment with daily pay, skills training, job placement and ongoing career support. 

Amezcua wants to continue his education and plans to pursue a master’s degree, but first wants to take time to rebuild his relationship with his parents, who are both in their 80s, and his three adult children. 

This year’s cohort began its road to a bachelor's degree during one of the nation's most difficult time, the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the pandemic prohibiting in-person instruction for more than a year, graduates like Hernandez and Amezcua feel incredibly lucky to be part of the 2024 graduating class. 

In 2023, PGI expanded to the California Institution for Women and the California Institution for Men, both in Chino, California. In the coming year, it will serve 139 students in the three prisons. It has recently added a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies, as stated in the program's official website. 

Hernandez hopes to become a counselor specializing in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

For now, he said he will serve as a leader at Lancaster — a leader who has already convinced four other people to enroll in PGI. His wife, Elizabeth Hernandez, said she was very proud of him.

“I always knew he was a special man, but he didn’t always apply himself to positive things. He had to come here to find his true self,” she said. 

Hernandez is still awaiting one more form of release, the release from prison. 

“I know in my heart I will be free,” he said. “Physically free.”