North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women (NCCIW) has named Duke Divinity School the Volunteer of the Year. The Divinity School was chosen out of more than 500 volunteers for offering its Project TURN courses.

Kaye Ward headshot
Kaye Ward, a Project TURN alumna who took several TURN courses when she was a resident at NCCIW, was ordained in May in the Free Will Baptist Church.

Project TURN, which launched in 2009, creates a learning environment in which incarcerated men and women and Duke Divinity School students learn alongside one another as classmates. Classes balance academic training and personal spiritual development to offer a unique experience in which diverse students stretch their boundaries and enlarge their imaginations.

The award was given May 3 at the institution’s annual volunteer banquet and was accepted on behalf of the school by Bernadine Anthony, M.Div.'18, who served a field education placement at the Interfaith Prison Ministry for Women while she was a student.

Duke Divinity School offers students the opportunity to earn a certificate in Prison Studies within the M.Div. program. In addition to participating in a Project TURN course, students in the certificate program take a course on restorative justice and an additional prison studies elective and complete a field education placement in a prison setting, a local church doing prison ministry, or a nonprofit organization that works with incarcerated persons.