Following a year of uncertainty regarding the program’s future, the 5Cs’ Justice Education Center (JEC) appointed a new interim director, Tessa Hicks Peterson, last month. Peterson has since initiated plans to pilot multiple new partnership models next fall for Inside-Out, as the program navigates reconstruction following its partner institution’s, the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) — also known as Norco prison — closure in the fall.
Inside students currently participating in Pitzer’s Pathway-to-BA program are set to graduate on May 19 after fulfilling the 32-credit course requirement. They will then be relocated to other prisons in California, but they haven’t been told which facilities they’ll be transferred to, according to Peterson.
Tag: CRC
Inside-Out program faces uncertainty due to CRC closure
The California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) in will close in October 2026, bringing uncertainty for the future of Pitzer College’s Inside-Out program.
Pitzer’s fourth cohort reflects on their journey with the Inside-Out B.A. Program
This May, the fourth cohort of Pitzer College’s Inside-Out Pathway-to-BA program will graduate with degrees in Organizational Studies, having completed their education in the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco. As incarcerated students, they have built a community of learning, care and transformation, bridging the distance between inside and outside through meaningful relationships and shared purpose.


