Journalism student partners with Education Justice Project as Humanities in Action scholar
We CU Community Engaged Scholars and the Humanities Research Institute at Illinois selected Courtney Dillon, a senior earning a dual degree in journalism and in sociology, as one of five Humanities in Action scholars to work with community partners throughout the Fall 2024 semester.
The Humanities in Action program, now in its third year, aims to eliminate financial barriers that prevent undergraduate humanities students an opportunity to engage in community projects.
Dillon, who is on the pre-law track, learned about the program from a friend who was previously a Humanities in Action scholar. After doing some research on the program, she found that it aligned with her career goals of community engagement work through criminal or civil rights law.
The School of Social Work’s Community Learning Lab matched Dillon with the Education Justice Project, or EJP, a college-in-prison program that organizes educational programming at Danville Correctional Center through the University of Illinois.
“I wanted to work with them because I wanted to be a part of helping people beyond serving their sentence, and that’s what I want to do in my career as well,” Dillon said. “No matter how little my task might be, I love the fact that I’m in a position where I can help somebody else. I think that’s amazing, especially to put my areas of study into work.”
Dillon has been able to assist EJP remotely with research to help produce their annual reentry guide, which provides information on housing, employment, healthcare, finances, and other resources for incarcerated individuals, their families, and service agencies across Illinois. Dillon rewrites information to be accessible for people of all backgrounds to comprehend the guide.
As a Humanities in Action scholar, Dillon also enjoys interacting with the other students in her cohort and learning about the importance of ethical service.
“We really focus on the importance of grounding ourselves in the work that we’re doing and understanding that we are in a state of privilege that we’re able to help somebody else and [we learn] not to take those opportunities for granted,” she said.
Dillon hopes that her work with the Education Justice Project will impact individuals that read the reentry guide.
“If the guide helps just one person, that’s a win for me,” Dillon said. “There are so many people that might be reentering society and just have no idea where to start, and I think this guide is an amazing resource. I love that there’s an organization that dedicates so much time to creating it every year.”
—Faith Lee, Communications Intern