August 5, 2019 Announcing essay and video contest Calling all high school students! Our annual essay contest is now open, and we have an exciting change to announce. In addition to essays, we are now accepting short (2-3 minute) videos as well. Prizes of $750 will be awarded for the top essay and the top video. Students are…
In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the crime bill, in an attempt to be tough on crime. The bill included an amendment to ban Pell Grants for incarcerated students. As a result the number of education programs within prisons fell from over 350 in 1990 to only…
July 2, 2019 Restoring Pell Grants to incarcerated students In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, also known as the crime bill, in an attempt to be tough on crime. The bill included an amendment to ban Pell Grants for incarcerated students. As a result the number of education programs within…
Rachel Leininger, a senior at Bethany Christian High School in Goshen, Indiana, has won the $750 top prize in the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office 2018-19 annual essay contest. Leininger’s essay, “Communication in Place of Isolation,” calls for the U.S. government to engage with the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea…
Read more Contest winner calls for engagement with North Korea
Toward an end to the Korean War The second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) took place in Hanoi last week. Many were hoping for more concrete action steps and details on the initial agreement that was signed at the Singapore summit in…
After years of work by advocates, including many constituents of Mennonite Central Committee, criminal justice reform legislation was signed into law by President Trump on December 21. The law is called the First Step Act and it is just that—a first step. Additional reforms are still needed to address mass incarceration in the U.S., which…
Shutdown ends – for now On January 25, portions of the federal government that had been without funding for 35 days reopened under a continuing resolution through February 15. The deal came one day after a proposal to pair border wall funding with protections for DACA and TPS recipients failed in the Senate. The bill would have…
