SHAR-RON BUIE ON MARQUETTE’S PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY INCARCERATION SHAR-RON BUIE ON MARQUETTE’S PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY INCARCERATION

BY TOM JENZ

Approximately one in eight Black men in Wisconsin are currently incarcerated. For Milwaukee’s inner-city community, over 50% of Black men are likely to be incarcerated at some point in their lives. Most incarcerated individuals are eventually released back into their original neighborhoods, but too many have no job skills or education to fall back on.

Enter the Marquette University Education Preparedness Program (EPP), which provides higher education classes free of charge to people impacted by incarceration. The EPP Program offers tuition-free college courses at the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center (formerly the House of Correction), the Racine Correctional Institution and on the Marquette campus. The Director of EPP, Dr. Theresa Tobin, told me, “Last year, we taught six classes—two in history, and one each in English, social welfare & justice, eeducation and criminology & law studies. This year, there will be 12 classes—one each in English, philosophy, psychology, social welfare and justice, sociology, and a business class. Also, two classes each in history, education, criminology and law studies. Our on-campus classes are open to legal-system-impacted people including those who were formerly incarcerated.”

She suggested I talk to the EPP Associate Director SharRon Buie, who had once been incarcerated and also worked inside the Wisconsin prison system. We met at a restaurant on the West Side. With extensive knowledge on the prison culture, Shar-Ron seemed eager to talk about EPP. Over the course of our conversation, I got the impression that if you needed a person to handle stressful situations, Shar-Ron should lead the challenge.

From what I understand, you’ve had a grueling background, the stuff movies are made about. Please tell me your story.

I have a multi-varied beginning. I never lived in the same city for consecutive years until I was about 15. I come from a challenging family structure. My mother was 15 when she got pregnant with me in Natchez Mississippi. In that community, if a girl got pregnant that young, the family up and moved to save face.

My family moved to Madison, Wisconsin where I was born in 1967. My grandmother took custody of me and became my guardian. I was raised to believe my grandmother was my biological mother, that my aunts and uncles were my brothers and sisters, and my biological brothers and sisters were my nieces and nephews. I called my real grandmother, “Mama,” while my real mother was my sister. Over time, “Mama” moved us all over the place, Kentucky, Nashville, Michigan, Madison and back again. We were poor, and she’d take us wherever there was the best opportunity. Everybody in my family kept the lie going that “Mama” was my mom. Finally, when I was around 13, I found out the truth about my real mother, but the lie still went on. That year, I was sent back and forth from Nashville to Madison four times.

What was it like for you, having to go to so many different schools and make friends, find stability?

Well, I was somewhat intelligent and also small for my age. I skipped two grades. So when I was in Nashville at 14, I was in the 10th grade, and the older guys would sometimes beat me up. I never got the chance to establish long term friendships. When I was 16, I was going to Madison East High School, and I refused to go back to Nashville because my uncle and “Mama” had been physically and verbally abusing me there. I still have the scars all over my body. (Shar-Ron showed me some of his scars.)

At 16, I moved out of the family house and struck out on my own in Madison. For a while, I lived on the streets or at friends’ homes. But I got a job at Oscar Mayer for $11 an hour, then got my own apartment. I’ve been on my own ever since. In 1986 when I had just turned 19, I joined the Marines and spent four years in the service. Throughout that time, I was married and had some issues with my wife. So I left the Marines, and we came back to Madison, and that is when I got in trouble. I was arrested for homicide.

This unfortunate tragedy had to be an enormous turning point in your life.

Absolutely. I spent the next 25 years in various prisons in Wisconsin. I earned 63 diplomas and degrees including a bachelor’s degree and a paralegal license. I founded the

American Legion Post 1998. I was a Veteran’s Service representative. I won several claims for fellow inmates. On the downside, I was denied parole 19 times.

When you got out of prison, you earned a master’s degree from UW-Platteville. Yes, in criminal justice. It took me 14 months, and I am presently working on my doctorate in criminal justice.

You are Associate Director of the Educational Preparedness Program at Marquette University (EPP). This program helps the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and legal-system-impacted folks, who take college classes for credit. Describe the EPP program and how it works, and how did you get involved?

In prison, I was a tutor, helping inmates earn their high school diplomas and also take college classes. In my research, I discovered the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant, the WHEG grant. It pays the tuition and fees for qualified inmates for two college classes, the books, and $65 extra. I wrote a program based on my experiences helping those students. As a result, the prison in Red Granite adopted my program.

To read the rest of this article, visit shepherdexpress.com