![]() There, he played a critical role in the leadership and statewide expansion of the Underground Scholars Programs, now active on almost every University of California campus. Ryan founded the Gaucho Underground Scholars Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara while completing his bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in education. Ryan has been a part of the Underground Scholars program since his release from New Folsom State Prison in 2015. Ryan uses his lived experience as a formerly incarcerated student to guide his research, developing tangible findings and methods to best serve this demographic’s needs within university and re-entry services across California. Ryan’s research interests center on creating pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals into higher education, and analyzing the evolution of programs that serve formerly incarcerated students within the university system. Ryan’s lived experience as a formerly incarcerated youth and adult deeply informs the work, he does around assisting formerly incarcerated students in their transition into UCI, bringing to the table a unique first-hand perspective. Ryan Flaco Rising, is the Retention Coordinator for the UCI Underground Scholars Program, as well as a PhD candidate in Criminology Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine. She enjoys creating and performing poetry with her daughter Ariel, as a part of restorative justice practice. Both her parents are now college graduates ready to transfer to a university, and she hopes to continue helping formerly incarcerated students accomplish their college and career goals. Through the power of education, she was able to liberate both her parents and end their recidivism. When Diana was a few weeks old, both her parents became incarcerated, and their recidivism lasted throughout her life span. ![]() Her goal is to obtain a doctoral degree so she can continue her research on the children of incarcerated parents, while teaching inside prisons and juvenile halls. ![]() Thereafter, attended USC where she received her Master’s in Educational Counseling. She attended Cal State Fullerton where she received her B.A in English with a minor in Chicano Studies. She is a proud first-generation student who is breaking generational curses in her family and community that have been affected by the school to prison pipeline and mass incarceration. She was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. Most importantly, the group continues to provide a safe space that fosters growth and empowerment amongst formerly incarcerated and system impacted students on campus.ĭiana Greer (she, her, hers) is the Program Coordinator for Underground Scholars. USI at UCI hosts events to raise awareness of formerly incarcerated students, and to provide information for community college students interested in attending UCI. In 2018, Cervantes was part of a group effort to establish the Underground Scholars Initiative at the University of California, Irvine (USI at UCI), a student group for formerly incarcerated and system impacted students. In 2018, this bill was signed into law by former Governor Jerry Brown, ending the practice of sentencing 14 and 15-year-olds as adults. ![]() In 2017, as a Policy Advocacy Fellow with Human Rights Watch, Cervantes participated in a statewide effort to pass California Senate Bill 1391. Raised in nearby Santa Ana, Calif., Cervantes continues to strengthen his ties to UCI and surrounding communities. While completing his undergraduate and graduate studies here at UCI, Cervantes set out to help build a prison-to-school pipeline within his community.Ĭervantes received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Master of Urban and Regional Planning at UCI. Having experienced both incarceration and higher education, Hector uses this unique combination of life experiences to combat the pervasiveness of carceral system effects and to work to increase access to the university for justice-impacted persons. Hector Cervantes’s work focuses on providing services to students directly and indirectly impacted by the justice system and advocating for broader criminal justice reform.
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