Atlanta City Council proclaims ‘Winfield Ward Murray Day,’ spotlights Morehouse prison education

Atlanta City Council members on Oct. 6 presented a proclamation recognizing Judge Winfield Ward Murray and Morehouse College’s work providing accredited college-level courses inside Georgia prisons.

Council member Andrea L. Boone presented the proclamation in a ceremony at City Hall that drew Morehouse alumni, faculty and students and speakers who described Murray’s classes and Morehouse’s Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership program for incarcerated students.

The proclamation, adopted by the council, recognized Murray’s role as a Morehouse professor and as an immigration judge and cited research and local practice the council heard described during the ceremony: speakers said sustained college coursework is associated with markedly lower rates of recidivism among people who are incarcerated and highlighted educational programs run by Common Good Atlanta and Morehouse.

“My name is Winfield Ward Murray” and “as a professor at Morehouse, teaching inside the prison and demanding the same level of work that we demand from our traditional students has been a transformative experience,”…