Article by JIE Intern Maddox Weckerle-Dietz

When Josh Cohen arrived at Columbia University from Philadelphia, he carried with him not just the usual excitement of a first-year student, but a deep sense of political urgency. Having attended public school in Philadelphia his entire life, he had long been aware of how inequality—particularly in education—shaped young people’s lives. From a young age, he noticed how some students were given more opportunities than others, and how quickly some students, often along racial and class lines, ended up pushed out or left behind. By the time he moved to New York City, his interests in criminal justice reform were already well-developed. Still, nothing quite prepared him for the harsh reality of Rikers Island.

Finding Purpose at Columbia

Many of Josh’s family members are from New York, so he had heard of Rikers Island long before he became involved with the Justice-in-Education Initiative. What struck him once he arrived at Columbia, however, was the disconnect between the city’s elite academic institution and the crisis of mass incarceration that unfolded just a few miles away. When he learned about JIE, which offers educational opportunities to incarcerated students, he saw it not only as a way to act on his political commitments, but also as a means of contributing to the city he would call home for the next four years. 

His involvement with JIE began in the spring of his first year through JIE’s Pre-College Independent Study Program. The Pre-College Independent Study Program is a remote, asynchronous learning initiative that allows incarcerated students to complete academic modules and receive individualized written feedback from volunteers. While the format seems simple, the work involved in maintaining the program is often challenging. As one of the student coordinators, Josh is responsible for ensuring the smooth flow of assignments, correspondence, and volunteer feedback. 

Much of his role happens behind the scenes. He manages communications with JIE’s liaison at Rikers, organizes Google Drive folders, matches submitted student assignments to the appropriate volunteers, and sends out feedback reminders—tasks that seem mundane, but are fundamental to respecting the time and effort of incarcerated students.

Curriculum as Collaboration

In addition to managing logistics, Josh has contributed to curriculum development. While the first two academic modules were already established when he joined, he collaborated with JIE staff to shape the third module, advocating for the incorporation of student feedback and interests into curriculum development. For him, this was a turning point. It was the moment the program shifted from being a one-way transmission of knowledge to a living exchange. The process underscored the importance of listening to incarcerated students not merely as learners, but as people with insight, creativity, and intellectual agency. 

Though his involvement so far has been limited to written interactions, the impact of reading and responding to student writing has been profound. Josh recalls being struck by the sheer enthusiasm many students expressed in their work. Some, he says, are eager to go above and beyond what is asked of them—posing their own questions, connecting materials to personal experiences, and articulating complex ideas with striking clarity. In these moments, the gap between educator and student dissolves into something more reciprocal. “When you have access to education, and it’s something that has been accessible to you for your entire life, you start to take it for granted,” he reflects. “But when it’s been taken from you for so long, there’s this real excitement about learning. You can feel how much it matters to people when education hasn’t always been a given.

Reimagining What Education Can Be

This recognition has shaped how Josh views not only JIE, but education more broadly. For him, education is not just about acquiring skills or credentials — it is about being treated as a full human being. It is about being given the time and space to think, to imagine, and to matter. “Specifically for incarcerated individuals, it’s about affirming the fact that they are also thinkers and creators and worthy of that investment and time,” he says. “Which I think is particularly important in a system that has robbed them of so much of that autonomy and treated them as disposable and unworthy.” 

That insight has also influenced his thinking about public service. While some of his peers are already plotting careers in finance or corporate law, Josh is committed to working in spaces that challenge injustice directly. His current academic interests lie in history and urban policy, and he has already begun to build a track record in advocacy. Outside of JIE, he serves as Advocacy Coordinator for the Columbia Housing Equity Project, works with the Columbia Political Review’s New York City Politics cohort, and is preparing to intern this summer at NYU’s Furman Center on housing policy. These roles, though varied in form, all revolve around the same central theme: building structures that make dignity possible. 

Looking ahead to the summer, Josh hopes to continue refining the Pre-College Independent Study Program, both logistically and pedagogically. He is especially focused on ensuring that the program remains responsible to student interests. 

“I want to make sure that what they are studying is something that they care about and find value in writing and reading about,” he says. He also wants to help build a culture of accountability among volunteers, one that reflects the seriousness of the students’ own investment. 

Advice for Future Volunteers

When asked what advice he would give to future volunteers, Josh pauses for a moment. His answer is simple but sincere. Do not think of this as charity. Do not imagine you are here to fix something. Instead, recognize the depth of what incarcerated students already bring to the table—their commitment, their intellect, their humanity. Respect that. Be open to learning from it. 

He also urges new volunteers to see the work not as a set of tasks to complete, but as a relationship to sustain. “It’s easy,” he says, “to view this as something you just do and get done. But I think having volunteers view their time in the program as just as meaningful as the time that the incarcerated students are putting in will make the experience better for everyone.” 

Josh’s work often takes place behind the scenes, but that does not make it any less essential. Through quiet consistency and a deep respect for students, he helps hold together a program built on trust and care. His belief in the power of education—as affirmation, not instruction—continues to shape not only programs like JIE but the broader vision of justice they point toward.

Article written by Maddox Weckerle-Dietz

Maddox Weckerle-Dietz is a third-year student at Columbia College studying Philosophy and Psychology.
This summer, she will serve as the Volunteer Coordinator for the JIE Pre-College Independent Study Program and lead the editorial board for the forthcoming JIE Journal.