The department of languages and literature held the annual Jailbreak for Literature Convention with the nearby Livingston County Jail on Sept. 10. For the last 10 years, this department has taken the second Saturday of September to go to the local correctional facility to introduce the inmates to pieces of powerful literature. The students receive extra credit for their participation in the event, and it has proved to be an incredibly beneficial program that has helped numerous members of the inmate body to rehabilitate themselves.
The dean of the department of languages and literature started this program in 2006 as a way for the university to give back to the community. The program has successfully helped over 100 inmates gain knowledge through reading followed by a discussion with the students.
This year, however, the reputation of the convention was sullied. Due to the amount of extra credit offered for this event, hundreds of students showed up. Eleven of these students signed up for the convention, showed up and then left before the event concluded. They abandoned the task they had taken upon themselves.
One of the eleven students—who asked to remain anonymous—explained that they went for the extra credit, but after they were told there wasn’t enough space for the eleven of them and that they wouldn’t receive credit, they decided to leave.
The dean wasted no time in dispensing her swift and righteous judgment upon the perpetrators. The 11 students in question have already been penalized and placed on probation in response to their abhorrent actions. The student will have a list of tasks to complete to put themselves back in the good graces of the dean.
One task requires the students to write an entirely original story about a character who is justly punished for their arrogance. The story may be no fewer pages than an unabridged copy of War and Peace, and will be due by the end of the semester.
Additionally, the 11 students must spend a week in the Livingston County Jail so that they can experience firsthand the environment of the inmates. Furthermore, the 11 guilty students must stand out on the College Green for a duration of three hours, wearing only their underwear and holding signs that read, “I AM GUILTY OF LEAVING THE JAILBREAK FOR LITERATURE CONVENTION EARLY.” Finally, yet most importantly, the students must each prostrate themselves before the dean and grovel for their right to remain enrolled in the department of languages and literature.
Here at Geneseo, students are taught to act with integrity and honesty. Hopefully this will discourage any future trespasses against the Jailbreak for Literature Convention.