Marleigh Hayes ’25 will spend summer
analyzing incarceration demographics and patterns
CONWAY, Arkansas (July 21, 2023)—The
Hendrix College Office of Religious Life has announced Marleigh Hayes ’25 as
the recipient of the $2,600 Elizabeth T. and John S. Workman Summer Project
Grant.
Hayes, a Fayetteville native,
will focus on incarceration within her home of Washington County, with an
emphasis on the demographics of prisoners, substance abuse, mental health, and
other information surrounding arrests. This information and analysis will be
used by detention officials and nonprofits to gain a better understanding of
their inmate populations, in the context of informing new positions that deal
with prisoner recidivism. Hayes’s work will be guided by Dr. Delphia Shanks, an
assistant professor of politics at Hendrix, and carried out in conjunction with
the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition.
“The United Methodist Church
calls for restorative justice,” said Hayes, who is a United Methodist Youth
Fellowship Scholar at Hendrix, “so I am particularly interested in also
investigating how the church is a proponent of social change concerning incarceration
in the secular world.”
“Ms. Hayes’ project—with Dr.
Shanks and the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition—is just the sort of thing our
family was hoping to promote when we established the Grant,” said John Workman
Jr. ’75, for whose parents the Workman Grant is named. “The project also
reflects the same spirit my mother showed beginning back in the 1960s in her
work in the Civil Rights Movement, the fight for equal rights for women, and in
helping feed those who were down on their luck.”
The grant honors the late John
S. Workman ’50, who died in 2014. As a Hendrix student, Workman founded Campus
Kitty, the student philanthropic organization that still exists today, and was
student body president. A United Methodist minister and journalist, he was the
fifth in a line of Methodist ministers in the Workman family stretching back to
the earliest days of Methodism in America.
Workman served in the U.S. Army
in the Pacific, Japan, and Korea. He earned degrees from Hendrix and Southern
Methodist University and received honorary doctorate degrees from Hendrix and
Philander Smith College. He served on the Hendrix Board of Trustees from 1987
to 1993. In 1992, he received Hendrix’s Ethel K. Millar Award for Religion and
Social Awareness. He served as religion editor for the Arkansas Gazette and was
one of Arkansas’ most respected and influential voices on religion and its
importance in American life.
The grant is made possible by a
gift from Workman’s wife, Elizabeth T. Workman ’50 (1928-2022) and her
family. Read more about the Workman Grant
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college
in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of
the country’s leading liberal arts institutions and is featured in Colleges
That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges.
Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix
as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876,
Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To
learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.