UC Davis program helps formerly incarcerated students ‘rebuild their lives’

By Russell Nichols | Solving Sacramento Burning up on a roof in Rancho Cordova can give one perspective. Marce Bushey, for one, learned 12-hour shifts installing solar panels under the relentless Central Valley sun wasn’t the future he saw for himself. At the time, he was fresh out of California’s state prison system. Bushey was paroled in March 2022 after about nine years of incarceration. The solar job paid well enough, but cost him in other areas. He had a long commute from Davis. He wasn’t eating. He felt crankier when he got home to his 9-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. Plus, he had no time for school. “I really want to graduate, pass my classes,” Bushey says two years later, “show my kids this is possible for all of us.” Possibilities opened up for Bushey when he connected with the Underground Scholars Program at UC Davis less than a week after his release. It was a student-run club back then, but in January, with funding support from the state, USP officially launched on campus. The peer support program, which currently has close to 30 members, helps students who have been incarcerated or negatively impacted by the system, whether through...