Editor’s note: Out of respect for crime victims, the Utah Department of Corrections has asked the media not to identify incarcerated individuals by their full names.
Elder James R. Rasband looked into the faces of incarcerated men and saw light.
“I truly believe that it is possible to bring light, because even in the darkest times of my life, the most important light in the world is the light that 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 Correctional Facility in the northwest corner of Salt Lake City. He was the commencement speaker for the first graduating class of the Ensign University Prison Education Program.
Launched in 2024 as a partnership between Ensign College and the Utah Department of Corrections, the prison education program will help students develop “faith, discipline, integrity, a renewed sense of purpose and a path forward grounded in purpose and personal responsibility,” a news release said. To date, more than 500 students, who qualified for the program through recommendations from church leaders and Utah Department of Corrections officials, have participated in courses focused on developing career-ready skills and strengthening their faith.
And on Wednesday, more than 50 of those students graduated with certificates in areas such as small business management, entrepreneurship and project management. Ensign College President Bruce C. Kush also said the prison education program will offer both associate and bachelor’s degrees in applied science starting this fall.
“There are no limits and no limits to what Ensign College graduates can accomplish,” President Kush said.
“The truth will set you free.”
Separate events for men and women were held at the prison on Wednesday, with about 40 men attending the morning graduation ceremony and about 10 women attending the afternoon graduation ceremony. They were joined by President Kush and other Ensign College staff, friends, family, and spiritual leaders.
In his commencement speech, the elder Rasband said incarcerated people understand “in very real and personal ways” that choices come with consequences, including restrictions on personal freedom. But education expands agency, which expands freedom.
He said the graduates’ education has now become another source of light and truth in their lives. As the Savior once taught in John 8:32, “The truth will make you free.”
The desire to learn and change is “deeply, deeply Christian,” Elder Rasband said. And the source of true and lasting freedom is Jesus Christ.
“He is the one who will free us from bondage,” Elder Rasband said. “He is someone who can solve what we can’t solve. … Your potential is not lost.”
“You are defined by your Savior”
In addition to Elder Rasband and President Kush, the morning graduation ceremony was attended by various student and community speakers. It also included spiritual music, such as Hymn No. 134, “I Believe in Christ” (“I believe in Christ, he ransoms me / frees me from Satan’s grip”).
Dennis W., a graduate majoring in project management, said in his speech that he has spent more of his life in prison than out. He has struggled with drug addiction and gang violence for years. Then he said, “The Lord has found me.”
Dennis said it was not a so-called “soft conversion.” The Lord was holding him accountable for his actions and asking him to make real changes. “True repentance tore my heart.”
But today, Dennis said, “I am an unstoppable child of God.”
He pointed out that even though the Savior was resurrected, He chose to leave His marks on His hands, feet, and side. Instead of erasing his scars, Jesus glorified them.
Dennis added that when he struggles to understand why the Lord would want someone like him, he remembers that there is a right person for whom the Lord is calling.
“Let your scars qualify you. … You are not defined by your past. You are defined by your Savior,” Dennis said.
Sergeant J. Robert Lee of the Utah Department of Corrections called the graduates “pioneers,” “history makers” and “proof of concept” for prison education programs.
Education is the one thing no one can take away from them, he continued.
“Don’t let what you lack define you as a person. … I want you to see yourself as a professional, a scholar, a graduate,” Lee said.
