On Wednesday, October 4, the Moreau College Initiative (MCI) at Holy Cross College was awarded one of Indiana Criminal Justice Association’s top honors: Program of the Year Award.
The Indiana Criminal Justice Association (ICJA) is “a vibrant professional member association with the mission of enhancing the continuum of criminal justice in Indiana by focusing on the enrichment of the criminal justice professional and the Criminal Justice System as a whole.” Dr. Marco Clark, president of Holy Cross College, expressed his gratitude for the award saying, “This gesture of recognition and award from the Indiana Criminal Justice Association is an affirmation of the incredible and transformative work of the Moreau College Initiative in its opportunities of a personalized education of both the mind and heart to our students at Westville.”
The Moreau College Initiative (MCI), a liberal arts program within Holy Cross College and made possible through a fruitful decade-long partnership with the University of Notre Dame, provides incarcerated men at Westville Correctional Facility in northwestern Indiana the opportunity to earn college degrees from HCC while serving their sentences. In collaboration with the Indiana Department of Correction, MCI began in 2013 as a one-semester pilot with 15 students and two credit-bearing courses. Recruiting from three Level 2 facilities across Indiana, MCI now offers over 40 classes annually to 85 incarcerated men at Westville.
MCI’s curriculum offers rigorous, collegiate coursework within the context of an education for the whole person, providing the ability to earn Associate and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Liberal Studies. Each degree aligns with the academic requirements for traditional students on Holy Cross College’s main campus. The AA degree integrates academic remediation at all levels of study, and the BA degree offers students the choice among four concentrations: Humanities, Public Policy and the Common Good, Business, and Public Health.