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.
Visit the Church News to learn more.
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