Advocacy at FCI Oxford

Visit to FCI Oxford: Nourishing Skills, Building Futures

When I visited FCI Oxford in Wisconsin, I was welcomed warmly by Warden Keyes and his executive staff. Their hospitality stood out, and I remain grateful for the chance to connect with both staff and the people serving time there.

Culinary Arts as a Pathway

One of the unique features of FCI Oxford is its culinary arts program, which requires more than 1,000 hours of instruction. This program provides participants with real skills that translate directly into meaningful careers after release. Many graduates of Oxford’s program go on to work in restaurants, catering, and the food service industry, carving out stable livelihoods for themselves and their families.

I had the privilege of tasting one of the meals prepared by participants in this program—it was one of the best meals I’ve ever enjoyed in a prison setting. The quality of the food reflected the quality of the program: professional, rigorous, and practical.

Linking Skills to Advocacy

During my presentation, I reminded the men at Oxford that vocational programs like culinary arts are invaluable, but they are only part of the journey. Equally important is the documentation of progress. By memorializing their daily efforts—through biographies, journals, book reports, and release plans—they create a record that shows they are preparing for success.

Those records become powerful tools in our advocacy. They demonstrate that people in prison are not merely serving time—they are striving for excellence, positioning themselves to return as contributing members of society. When we collect these stories on PrisonProfessors.org, and when they appear on our leaderboards, they give us evidence to push for reforms that create new pathways to liberty through merit.

Gratitude and Hope

I left Oxford grateful to Warden Keyes and his team for fostering an environment where people can learn tangible skills and for allowing me to share the message of self-directed reentry. The culinary program provides nourishment in more ways than one: it feeds not only the body but also the hope of a better future.

By combining vocational training with personal accountability, people at Oxford—and across the Bureau of Prisons—can prepare to thrive. Together, we can prove that preparation, resilience, and documentation of progress are the true ingredients for success after prison.

Would you like me to also draft a shorter spotlight piece (around 200–250 words) focusing just on Oxford’s culinary arts program, so you can highlight it as a model of vocational training worth replicating in other prisons?

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