Luis Garcia, EDD ’17

Garcia was a high school dropout serving the first of what would be three prison sentences when he began telling his friends and family he hoped to one day get his doctorate. That dream, some 25 years in the making, was fulfilled in the spring when Garcia graduated with his EdD from SOE’s Educational Leadership for Social Justice program. An L.A. County Jail program that allowed inmates to take classes toward a high school diploma placed Garcia on the remarkable path that culminated with the EdD graduation ceremony in front of his friends and family. “It was an amazing feeling, and all the more special to receive the degree from a program that emphasizes social justice,” Garcia says. “Now I want to be a voice for people who are in the position I was in, and to contribute to the transformation of more inclusive and equitable education environments in custody settings.”

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