by Kathryn Farris | Aug 8, 2019 | News Slider
Lipscomb alumna Cyntoia Brown — the subject of debate and outcry about the unfairness of her sentence — was released Wednesday morning from Tennessee Prison for Women. Former Gov. Bill Haslam granted Brown clemency at the close of his term in January of this year. In 2015, Brown, now 31, earned an associate’s degree through Lipscomb’s LIFE program, which brings traditional and non-traditional students together for classes at the Tennessee Prison for Women. In May, she graduated with a bachelor of professional studies degree, majoring in organizational leadership. Brown is a Nashville woman whose case sparked national attention to the human sex-trafficking epidemic, due to the controversy surrounding her sentencing. At age 16, she was convicted of aggravated robbery and first-degree murder. Brown’s defense argued that she was forced into prostitution after a life of abuse. In her testimony, Brown described being picked up for sex by Johnny Mitchell Allen, a 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent. In her trial, Brown said she believed he was reaching for a gun and intended to do her harm, so she felt threatened and shot and killed Allen in what she says was an act of self-defense. Her age at the time of the sentencing was a hot topic for activists. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles violate Eighth Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. Brown’s original sentencing was that she will eventually be eligible for parole, but not until she’s 67 years old. Brown has displayed gratitude for the educational opportunity offered by the university and the prison system. “I want to thank those at the Tennessee...
by Jesica Parsley | Jan 30, 2014 | News Slider
Dr. Richard Goode is looking ahead to the next Lipscomb Initiative for Education graduation class while celebrating the accomplishment of the first ever graduating class. Goode is an associate history professor at Lipscomb and founder of the LIFE program, which offers credit classes in the Tennessee Prison for Women to a group of selected inmates. Participants in the LIFE program are not rushed through courses. Instead, they work as long as needed in order to achieve goals to build a better future. The program began in January of 2007, so for the past eight years, the first nine women who graduated had been working to get their associate’s degree. The women participating in the second class will graduate in 2015. They are enrolled in one class a semester in the general education field, and with that class comes interaction with traditional Lipscomb students. These students go to the prison to take the same class with the inmates. “You can tell who’s who by the attire, but everybody is just there studying the same thing – same syllabus, same books and same tests,” Goode said. “We work to take advantage of the situation by getting people together and having a mix of interaction with inside and outside.” Forty women take part in the LIFE program, and these women then mentor the hundreds of other inmates at the Tennessee Prison for Women. Most of the women work to build their transcript to further their education or get jobs when they get out of prison. Some will never get out, but the program helps bring peace to their lives. “[Women] who aren’t getting out...
by Brianne Welch | Apr 11, 2013 | News Slider
Thursday’s breakout chapel in Collins Alumni Auditorium honored Dr. Richard Goode as he received the Mary Morris Award of Exemplary Service to Society. The award is presented to one faculty member every year who displays a high level of service to the community and to the church. The award is named in honor of faculty member Dr. Mary Morris, who passed away due to colon cancer in 2005 at 36 years old. Dr. Morris worked alongside of an organization called Character Counts. The program has chapters in cities all across the country, and its goal is to teach all ages about having good character. Dr. Morris was able to show her love of Jesus Christ through her work with the program, as well as on international mission trips. Past recipients of the award include former student Brett Flener, AGAPE leader Tom Burton and founder of the I.C. White Stone Foundation and university graduate Kim Tucker. The award was presented by the academic director for Lipscomb University’s Institute for Law, Justice and Society, Dr. Randy Spivey. “If there was every a chapel for you to live tweet, I think this is it. Because the stories you are going to hear and the words you are going to hear today are not the kind that need to stay in this room,” Dr. Spivey said as he began the presentation. Dr. Spivey announced Dr. Goode as this year’s winner of the award, and after the applause, went on to commend Dr. Goode’s accomplishments. “Dr. Goode has inspired students well beyond their time at Lipscomb. He played a signigicant role in the lives...
by Leah Raich | Mar 11, 2011 | News Slider
Makeisha Seagraves says Lipscomb students have made a major difference in her life during her 10 years behind bars at the Tennessee Prison for Women (TPW). “The Lipscomb community has shown what true Christian love means,” Seagraves said. “They embraced me with open arms, never with a judging eye.” Seagraves is talking about what she has gained by studying alongside Lipscomb students who attend classes at the prison as a part of LIFE, Lipscomb Initiative for Education. The program gives students a chance to delve into both academics and service learning. Lipscomb history professor Richard Goode started this program with hopes that every student who attends Lipscomb would have the chance to take at least one class at the TPW at some point in his or her collegiate career. This spring semester, two classes are being offered: Society and the Law, as well as Disciplines of Christian Living. “This program and all involved have given me the strength to know that I am good enough to have a future,” says Tabitha, another inmate who believes her life was changed by LIFE. Ricki Adkins, a rising senior at Lipscomb University, spoke highly of the program. “As a student at Lipscomb, I am always looking for ways to better impact the surrounding community of Nashville,” Adkins said. “Prior to taking a class at the TPW this semester, I had no idea the place existed. Being a social work major, I have studied cases in which the U.S. criminal justice system often dehumanizes the incarcerated. “This experience has been life-changing, and I am so grateful to go to a school that provides...
