No. 21 Vol. 6
My Life Publications • 1-800-691-7549
June 2025
Centenary Grad Through Literature Gives Hope to the Incarcerated
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By Steve Sears or 21-year-old Centenary University graduate, Kayla Diee, being drawn to the concept of justice and to law as a whole began when she was a child. “My favorite game was pretending that I was Judge Judy,” Diee said with a chuckle. “I would walk around with a wooden spoon and pretend that I was sentencing my teddy bear to a time out. There has always been that fascination, and I am very lucky to have parents (James and Lisa Diee) who really nurtured that curiosity and committed themselves to empowering me to chase that dream.” Life is a journey, but Diee is living that dream, and “sentencing” is a key word. Diee is working hard to provide a life for those incarcerated by encouraging reading and writing skills, and utilizing one or both to make a better life. With dual degrees in English and writing, Diee – who also minored in paralegal studies - walked cap and gown with her fellow graduates in May, she already ensconced in a place where she knows she needs to be. In October 2024, she participated in Princeton University’s Prospective Ph.D. Preview (P3) program, which (per https://graddiversity.princeton.edu/prospective-phdpreview-p3) is a nationally recognized program that focuses on engaging scholars from diverse academic, research, and non-traditional experiences around the path to the Ph.D. Diee’s long-term plan is to attend Princeton to earn her PhD.
During her time at Princeton last fall, she also looked into Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI) through which Princeton students provide the incarcerated people with an opportunity for high-quality postsecondary education and chances to earn community college credits. Diee said, “What really inspired me is the opportunity for graduate students to teach at facilities through PTI, and help students who are incarcerated to earn certain certifications and even degrees, which is such a rare opportunity.” When Diee was 15, she joined the New Jersey State Police Explorers program in Atlantic City through Stockton University’s CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) curriculum. Through the program, she entered a jail for the first time. It was an eye opener. “I learned so much about myself,” Diee said, “and the system that really governs our whole lives, and I was able to connect with really incredible people. In doing so, my understanding of the day-to-day executions of law and the bigger picture were really opened up. Many of us have the privilege of not considering the logistics of the correction system. For me, it was an incredibly harrowing experience. I am sure many people who have been involved in that setting could tell you, even just passing through that it is very overwhelming anxiety-wise, and I was just overwhelmed with the sense of needing to get involved.” Decision made, Diee headed to her car in the parking lot, hopped in the driver’s seat, and called her mom, stating definitely, “I am going to work in prisons.”
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Kayla Diee (credit: Jenna O’Connor/Centenary University)
“And she said, ‘No you are not!’” Diee recalled her mom saying. Undeterred, Diee founded The Next Chapter Foundation, where she collected books and started a library reading program for inmates at Warren County Correctional Center. She said, “I had started running book drives when I was in high school, but at that time, it was a very small community effort - collecting books from neighbors and family, friends and local churches were a huge proponent continued on page 6