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Kinzel said he spent most of his time
moving heavy panels working in the pris-
on industries program, which caused
some physical problems that linger to
this day. He realized that behind prison
walls, no one cared about his well-being.
“When you get in the system, regard-
less of what you did, you become a slave
to the system,” he said.
Instead of fighting the system, Kinzel
made a decision to learn about it.
“I learned about law. I learned about
public policy,” he said. “I learned about
the importance of education and policy
and change.”
When he decided to take a correspon-
dence course in psychology through the
University of Maine-Augusta, he realized
“maybe this is something I can do.”
He spent nearly 10 years in prison
before he was paroled in March 2007.
The Long Road Back
After being released from prison,
Kinzel said he knew his best opportunity
for a fresh start was returning to Michi-
gan. Although his mother was not some-
one he could rely on, his grandparents
were. They offered him a place to stay
and helped him pursue his education.
“If I didn’t have them, I would have
been back on the streets,” Kinzel said.
Enrolling at Monroe County Commu-
nity College, he completed an associate
degree, graduating with honors. He then
applied to a couple of different colleges.
One was Siena Heights.
“A lot of institutions are discrimina-
tory against people with records,” Kinzel
said. “I applied at another school and
was given a scholarship, but then it was
rescinded. Then I received a nice trans-
fer scholarship at Siena Heights Univer-
sity. I’m glad I made that choice, because
I made some really great relationships.”
18 | Reflections Summer ’17
Above: Aaron uses his experience to teach criminal justice classes at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
He said former McNair Program
Director Dr. Patricia Wallace and for-
mer English faculty member Sister Pat
Schnapp (now both retired) really en-
couraged him to continue his education.
“(Sister Pat) was one of the first peo-
ple I divulged about my history,” Kinzel
said of Schnapp, who has a long history
in prison ministry. “She encouraged me
to be more open.”
After completing his bachelor’s de-
gree from SHU’s criminal justice pro-
gram, Kinzel continued on to earn a mas-
ter’s degree. But he still had a problem:
As an ex-con, no one would hire him.
Honesty Is the Best Policy
On an employment application, there
is a box asking the applicant if he or
she has ever been convicted of a felony.
Checking that box was often his biggest
obstacle to employment, which Kinzel
painfully—and repeatedly—learned.
“I thought (education) was going to
help me, but in the end, I couldn’t get
work,” he said. “I understand the severity
of what I did, but there has to be a point
where we give people an opportunity.”
That opportunity finally came via
Western Michigan University’s doctorate
program. In 2013 he was asked to take
over a sociology class for a guest lecturer,
and taught part-time for three years.
However, he was more interested in
teaching about criminal justice, specifi-
cally in the corrections area. He even-
tually met retired Washtenaw County
Circuit Court Judge Donald Shelton,
who was now the director of the crimi-
nal justice program at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn.
“He asked, ‘Why don’t you come
work for me?’” Kinzel said. “He didn’t
care about my record. He thinks it’s ac-
tually an asset, because I can talk about
corrections in a point-of-view that very
few people have.”
For the past two years, Kinzel has
taught two courses in the program, and
is on a continuing renewal contract.
It’s a start.
“I love my job,” he said. “I have great
relationships with my students.”
“He knows first-hand experience on
corrections, and that’s my interest,” said
Dominique Giraud, a senior psychology
major at UM-Dearborn and a student in
Kinzel’s corrections class. “My first reac-
tion was ‘Holy cow, my professor is an
ex-con!’ But then I thought about it and
said, ‘Eh, he seems like a cool dude.’ Who
better to teach than someone who’s been
through it?”
Junior criminal justice major James
Hague agrees.