And then after that, once I got on their radar, it was, you know, any little thing happened. NPR's Elissa Nadworny brings us Kenny's extraordinary story.ĮLISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: The story of how this 48-year-old got from prison to this bike ride through campus actually starts with another bicycle.īUTLER: My first time going to juvenile hall, I was maybe 11 years old. Their stories could influence the future of college in prison and the value of a degree. Hundreds of thousands of people may get the opportunity that Kenny got if Kenny Butler and others like him succeed. Starting next year, the federal government will open up Pell Grants to people in prison. I'm like a walking dictionary around here.ĬHANG: Getting a degree behind bars is a really rare opportunity. And they see me with all these books all the time. A lot of guys see me walking around, know me from my past life. And it was inside a medium facility prison in Norco, Calif., where he and seven other students started their bachelor's degrees.īUTLER: I just been pushing, taking six and seven classes a semester and changed my whole mind frame about life in general. It's part of his internal clock left over from his 15 years inside. Now that he's out, he bikes nearly every morning. Butler was recently released from prison. KENNY BUTLER: Get in the early morning bike riding.ĬHANG: He took a bike ride through the campus of Pitzer College, past the dining hall, the pool, the lecture hall where his first college class on campus would be held several hours later.įUGEES: (Singing) Ready or not, here I come.ĬHANG: He posted a video on Facebook captioned first day of the fall semester, up and ready. On the first day of his senior year last fall, Kenny Butler woke up at 4 a.m.
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