Samuel Quiles

Samuel (Sammy) Quiles is a Criminal Justice major at Rutgers-Newark where he is currently just seven credits shy of graduating. His passion for global and racial justice originates from the fact that he has a multitude of identities that have long been marginalized by the dominant group. He is Puerto Rican, comes from an urban dilapidated community, and is a convicted felon. His existential experiences have allowed him to empathize with the downtrodden and have brought about his fervent commitment to activism in seeking true acceptance, inclusion, justice, equality, peace, progress, and prosperity for all. 

His proudest work in activism and social justice thus far has been through the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ STEP) program. The program operates inside five New Jersey prisons and offers 2-year and 4-year college or graduate programs to incarcerated individuals and then continues to provide support upon their release. He is a product of this transformative education program: he entered the carceral space at the age of 17 as a high school dropout and a living example of the school-to-prison pipeline. Prior to the inception of NJ STEP, he was warehoused in a maximum-security prison where a GED was the extent of his academic ambitions. He is a living example of the possibilities available to the marginalized when equipped with adequate educational resources, and when surrounded by a community of support. He seeks to replicate these opportunities for all and, more importantly, make it the norm rather than the exception.

Publications:

• Disability Studies Faculty Focus on ‘Special Ed to Prison Pipeline’ | Rutgers University-Newark

Media Appearances/Speaking Engagements:

• The connection between 0 tolerance policies in k-12 schools and prisons

• The disconnect between theories of punishment and their actual practice

• Disability Studies, Decarceration, and Collective Liberation

Previous Organizations:

• Center for Justice Innovation

• Latin Action Network Foundation

• Youth Advocate Program

Accomplishments:

• Assisted in planning and organizing ISGRJ 2023 Youth Summit

• Assisted in launching the first disabilities studies program at Rutgers, Newark

• Worked diligently over the summer to help employ young BIPOC from the city of Newark with jobs in various fields around the city.

Upcoming Projects:

• Speaking against Restricted Housing units in Prisons with the Commissioner of Corrections

• Teaching against erasure workshop with the Department of Urban ED. Rutgers, Newark

• Restorative Justice in K-12 schools workshop

BIPOC continue to be disproportionately impacted by incarceration. Zero tolerance policies in schools and diagnosed with learning and behavioral disabilities that allow for them to be ostracized from their peers and targeted for punitive measures.

The Office of Undergraduate Intellectual Life (OUIL) was founded to support students across Rutgers University. Under the leadership of ISGRJ Cross-Campus Director, Carlos Decena, the Office will be spearheading mentorship programs and initiatives to support student leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion across the university. 

The Fellows in Racial Justice Learning Community is a new cross-campus program which aims to identify, accompany and mentor generations of life-long intellectual activists in racial justice across Rutgers University.

This fellowship, launched under the ISGRJ Office of Undergraduate Intellectual Life is an unprecedented program spanning Rutgers University—Newark, Rutgers University—New Brunswick and Rutgers University—Camden which brings together undergraduate students who are passionate about social justice activism and who will pursue projects to renew, enrich, and maximize on-going racial justice efforts on campus to impact social change locally and globally.

https://globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/Racial_Justice_Learning_Community