�պ�����

The Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility is located on a quiet street in South Burlington, across from a cryogenic spa and a bakery with carefully decorated sugar cookies. �պ����� campus is just two miles away but may as well be in a different universe. That’s one reason �պ����� first-year student Gavin Alberts is here on a rainy afternoon in May—to teach inmates debate skills they can use as they transition back to their communities.

“Debate is not just this thing we do on weekends,” he says before stepping through a metal detector. “It has a real impact on people.”

Two weeks earlier he teamed up with two inmates in a debate against �պ����� students over whether or not neurodivergent students should attend specialized or public schools—a topic selected by the CRCF debaters. (The inmates beat the �պ����� team.) This afternoon’s meeting is to debrief the event and select topics for the next iteration of the class.

The SPEAK Prison Debate Initiative was founded in 2014 by Jessica Bullock ’12 while attending Vermont Law School. She contacted Alfred “Tuna” Snider, her former coach at Lawrence Debate Union (LDU), about partnering on a program teaching inmates advocacy and public speaking skills. The goal is to help people find their voices. And it’s something Bullock understands intimately from her time as a LDU debater.

She remembers “blushing furiously” through her first debate speech at �պ�����. “I can still remember the anxiety that I felt about getting up in front of folks to give a speech for the first time,” she says. “I worried, ‘What if I make a mistake? What if I don’t express myself clearly?’”

“Education is such a powerful tool, and providing folks with greater access to classrooms and the skills to represent themselves is critical. We try to create that type of environment through SPEAK. As ‘Tuna’ Snider used to say, ‘The answer is more debate.’”

SPEAK partners with the university’s Liberal Arts in Prison program in which students participate in classes with inmates at CRCF. It was thriving before COVID-19, but the pandemic disrupted programming. Last year was the first time �պ����� students were back inside the prison. Justin Morgan-Parmett, a faculty member in the English department and co-director of the LDU, is working to create a year-round SPEAK program at CRCF.

“They are a population in the United States that we make so many assumptions about,” he says. “Most people don’t get a chance to interact with them. You don’t just wander into a facility.”

That is, unless you have a loved one inside, work for the Department of Corrections, or a class or volunteer experience brings you into a prison, he explains. Being inside can initially be unsettling for students. The windowless rooms. The jarring sound of the doors locking behind you. But interacting with inmates, students are reminded that, “they are still people,” Morgan-Parmett says. “And they still have humanity.”

An inmate named G (full name protected for privacy), who uses he/him pronouns, arrives with flair, wearing a bright green t-shirt, wide smile, and cackling as he introduces a friend—Ashley—who he wants to convince to join the debate team.

“You don’t need any training to be able to argue with people,” Morgan-Parmett reassures Ashley as they sit at a long wooden conference table.

G wheels over a whiteboard to take notes about future debate topics. He came with a list of ideas—should minors be prescribed opiates by doctors? Should college education be free? Is it ethical to test products on animals?

He reflects on the recent competition that his team won and admits it was nerve wracking, and hard not to read from his notes in front of the judges.

“Having a conversation with you is one thing,” G says. “That is different.”

“I wish I could have gone off script more,” G says, adding that he wanted to tell more of his story.

Morgan-Parmett tells the group they should feel free to tell their stories, particularly when it’s relevant to the argument.

One wall of the room is painted with profiles of famous women including Rosa Parks, Harper Lee, JK Rowling, Susan B. Anthony, and Eleanor Roosevelt. A sheet of paper with SPEAK norms lines another: Respect different ideas/perspectives; No interrupting; You don’t have to participate; Listen to each other; Have fun; Debate ideas, not people; and Assume positive intent.

Class concludes with a speed debate over the question ‘is it better to be feared or loved?’

G takes the side of feared and Ashley picks loved, and both begin jotting down a few notes.

G points to Darth Vader. He isn’t a beloved figure. But he is the most feared and respected, he says. If you are feared, you could have the confidence to do what you believe in. “When you are loved, you fear losing it.”

Ashley, eyes downcast, counters softly. “When people see that you care, you are respected,” she says. “Not when you are feared.”