MCI Concord is a medium security prison that serves as a classification center for newly convicted prisoners. Most of the inmates are merely in transit to one institution or another, but there is a permanent population of about 50 to 60, many of whom work in the furniture shop.

"They're a cooperative group, they want to stay, and they've been picked to stay here. There aren't any gangs in this institution, primarily because they don't have a chance to solidify," says Farnkoff. "Consequently, we're relatively free of disciplinary problems. Though many of the inmates here have committee serious, even violent, crimes, they don't constitute a security risk. Those who would go directly to Walpole [the area's only maximum security prison]."

The inmates who become involved in the tutoring program are usually the ones who have resolved to change their lives," says Moeller, adding. "They're some of the better prisoners." "My tutee has been in prison a lot of times, but this time he really doesn't want to come back," adds Andrea Fastenberg '86.

"I know I've screwed up: I want to do my time and not come back here," says one of the inmates. Their own committment to improving themselves is essential. "You're not going to reform someone if he hasn't made the decision," says Moeller.

It is important that the tutoring develop some measure of consistency, participants say. "We've assigned inmates to volunteers on a one to one basis to achieve some regularity. Otherwise its almost a wasted effort," explains Farnkoff.

Farnkoff has played a vital part in organizing the program, colleagues say. "He has take the bureaucratic side of things upon himself. He deals with the prison administration on our behalf and makes sure that we have inmates to tutor. He gives us a lot of support," says Moeller.

Farnkoff went around to the prisoners who worked in the furniture shop, asking them if they would be interested in participating. "I asked them what it was they wanted to learn, and soon the word got around. Now we have a waiting list," says Farnkoff.

"It's very difficult to get a job, especially when you don't have a high school diploma. We help them prepare for the GED, the high school equivalency test," says Moeller. "Education is very important, and it gives the inmates a sense of respect to be able to read and multiply. It's refreshing to see them working hard--it's very unusual for someone to make that effort that late in life. One of our tutees wants to go to college. He must work 10 to 15 hours a week preparing for the sessions."

Many inmates say they find the tutoring quite helpful. "It's real good program I've already received my GED, and I'm just brushing up a little bit before I get on into college," says one.

One of the inmates at Concord graduated from Harvard in 1939. Though he was once an engineer, he is currently helping one of the other inmates write his autobiography. "I'm really enjoying the program. Like the autobiography, it gives me something to do. I'm surprised there aren't more people here," he says.

Volunteers also call the experience rewarding. "More people should be exposed to this. It's the best learning experience that I've had here at Harvard," says Fastenberg. "It's important to have some practical sense of what social reform is all about. I sometimes feel a bit selfish sitting around here for four years in an Ivory Tower this makes me feel a little better."