Current and former students of Lone Star College-CyFair’s Professor Heidi Jo Green recently traveled to Huntsville to face off in a battle with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) incarcerated men, who are members of the Lee College Debate Team.

While LSC-CyFair students did not claim victory in the prison debate competition this time - a summer rematch is already in the works - they all agreed the experience was “a unique opportunity they could not pass up.”

“It was an exciting day of hard fought matches that not only helped improve the students’ communication skills and confidence, but provided a lifechanging perspective into the lives of inmate learners in the prison system as they engaged in conversations and collaboration while having lunch together,” said Professor Green. “It was priceless and I felt like I was in my own college classroom instead of inside a maximum-security prison. This was the first time most of my students ever debated. To stand on the stage inside of a prison and debate inmate learners says something about my students’ academic character.”

LSC-CyFair was the first community college in the last five years to take on the inmate learners from the Lee College Huntsville Center, who have competed and defeated award-winning university debate student teams over the years such as Prairie View, Sam Houston, Texas A&M and Wiley College.

Kellen Wilson, with three years on his high school debate team and in pursuit of serving in a local or state government position, said “Win or lose, participation in events like these showcases one's skill, willingness, and enthusiasm for the art form that is debate - an art, I hope more people can recognize and learn.”

Tara Murphy, who hopes to become a civil/human rights attorney or be involved in international politics, said “Engaging with individuals with firsthand experience with the justice system provides a perspective that textbooks and lectures can’t offer. As a political science student with aspirations for law school, I value opportunities to challenge my viewpoints, refine my argumentation skills, and engage in discussions that push me outside my comfort zone.”

Other LSC-CyFair student debaters participating in this unique opportunity included Alison Barrera, Mmesoma Ezebube, Agustin Gonzalez, Carl Penick, Leen Nimer, Sana Siddiqi and Hunter Wilson.

Professor Green has been taking her students in her classes on tours to the prison for a decade now, first with only 15 students and now more than 100 students each semester. It was on a tour that she learned about the Huntsville Prison’s Inmate Learner Debates and she’s been working for LSC-CyFair to be scheduled for this prison debate competition since 2022-23. 

“Imagine how a trip at a maximum-security prison - the Huntsville Unit aka Walls Unit, the state of Texas execution chamber – will look on these students’ transcripts,” said Professor Green. “Another reason we continue to tour the prison are the stories shared from inmates (who have also earned their bachelor’s and master’s degrees while incarcerated) resonate in some way with the students. They all come away seeing a human being first.”

The behind-the-bars debate competition, now in its fifth year, benefits the inmate learners as well.

“The benefits of debate are critical thinking, enhancing communication skills, research skills and two critical skills that they will need as they move forward in their lives are conflict resolution and leadership. Debating allows them to practice and hone those skills,” Warden Kelly Strong said. “Then, interacting with students that are doing the same thing allows the inmates to see their full potential and what they can do.”

Lee College began a program of courses in 1966 in cooperation with the Texas Department of Corrections, under the leadership of Dean Rundell and George Beto. Lee College Huntsville Center (LCHC) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the Associate of Applied Science degree. Certificates of Completion are also awarded in several technical programs.

The program has grown from 182 students the first year to more than 1,200 students. A wide range of LCHC academic and technical education courses is taught at the TDCJ – Institutional Division.

For information on political science classes as well as degree and certificate programs available at LSC-CyFair, attend the April 8 Open House or go to LoneStar.edu/cyfair.