In many ways, Lyle C. May is an ordinary Ohio University alumnus and a member of the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. He’s also a convicted felon, awaiting the death penalty for a double homicide committed in 1997.

May says higher education is a basic human need—and the opportunity should be available to anyone who pursues it. He writes about life as an incarcerated student—and the impact of prison education programs—in this essay. 

By now, COVID-19 has upended the lives of countless college students. For some, the situation is far more dire. Many students depend on normal campus operations for their basic needs, from housing to access to food. As schools shut down, these students are left scrambling to find alternatives that may not exist.

Even when things return to normal, students in precarious positions may not come back to finish their educations. Anastasia Lee, a 23-year-old senior at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, is now facing this reality. Lee depends on a scholarship, but it only covers eight semesters. If she falls behind, she may never finish.