Penn State’s Restorative Justice Initiative will host several events next week as part of its Justice Education Week. The week will be highlighted by a guest lecture from political activist Angela Davis on Monday, April 19.

The week kicks off with Davis’ keynote speech at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 19. The next day, there are several lectures about topics such as “How to Start and Run a Justice-Impacted Organization” and “College Behind Bars.”

The big event on April 21 is the Centre County Expungement Clinic. This is where a past crime can be “erased” from the public record. A group will help walk you through the process. Expungement is important because it eliminates a potential bias in areas like employment and housing, as people with a criminal record are disadvantaged in those areas.

April 22 has some more interesting lectures, such as “Past, Present, and Future of Building a Movement for Black Lives in Central Pennsylvania,” and “Taking Prisons out of the Shadow.”

On April 23, the RJI will host a re-entry simulation. The purpose of the simulation is to give people an idea of what it is like for people who are released from prison, including the obstacles that they go through once they are free.

Over the weekend of April 24 and 25, the RJI will host Restorative Circles Training. The training is one that is becoming more and more popular in the world of education, so if you’d like to get a spot, this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

The RJI, which is running the programming for the week, focuses on using education as a tool toward rehabilitation and advocacy. The group works on several projects to reach these goals, such as teaching people who are incarcerated and providing counselor education.

“We believe in the power of trauma-informed practice, liberatory pedagogy and transformative education, and are dedicated to leveraging Penn State’s size, scope, reach and resources to help make education accessible to all sectors of society,” said Efraín Marimon, assistant professor of education and director of the Restorative Justice Initiative.