A First Step, A Lasting Legacy: STEP UP Celebrates Its Inaugural Graduates

For years, commencement at Lake Superior State University was a familiar tradition for Marc Boucher, Director of Library & Academic Services. But this year, as he watched 15 students cross the stage to receive their associate degrees through LSSU’s STEP UP program, the ceremony carried a different kind of weight.

“This is by far the most powerful and meaningful commencement I have been to,” Boucher said.

The graduates were members of STEP UP’s inaugural cohort, which began taking classes in fall 2024 at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan. Of the 20 students who started the program, 15 went on to earn associate degrees in small business administration.

14 of the 15 graduates wore honor cords, with GPAs above 3.5.

For Boucher, the academic achievement was only part of what made the day so meaningful.

STEP UP brings the same academic expectations and rigor of an LSSU education into a correctional facility. Students complete the same level of college coursework as their peers on campus, but do so without access to the same technology and resources available to traditional college students.

And they succeeded.

The first cohort called themselves the “Icebreakers,” a name chosen by the students themselves. Over the course of the program, they developed a culture of supporting one another while also challenging each other to succeed.

Boucher described the group as competitive with one another in a positive way. Students who might otherwise never have known one another came to rely on each other, building relationships that helped establish the culture for those who would follow.

“They set the standards now for what it means to be in the program and to take it seriously,” Boucher said.

That impact was visible at commencement.

Students from STEP UP’s second and third cohorts were there to witness the first group graduate. For those students, the ceremony offered a glimpse of what they could achieve themselves.

The first graduates had become examples for those still working toward their degrees.

Boucher has watched students enter the program with low opinions of themselves and gradually build confidence as they accomplish difficult things.

“They build up self-confidence to achieve hard things and make a difference,” he said.

That transformation was evident not only in the graduates themselves, but in the atmosphere surrounding the ceremony. Faculty, staff, students and families gathered to celebrate an accomplishment that meant something different to each of them.

For the graduates, it represented years of work.

For their families, it was a moment of pride.

For the students still working toward their degrees, it was evidence that they could reach the same stage.

For LSSU, it marked the beginning of something much larger.

The university has already grown STEP UP beyond its inaugural cohort of 20 students. Current cohorts include 25 students, and within two years, the program expects to have four cohorts of 25 students.

The university is also exploring opportunities to expand its academic offerings within the facility, including bringing its substance abuse program to students there.

The first cohort has helped establish the culture that will carry those efforts forward: persistence, academic excellence, mutual support and a belief that the work is worth doing.

The Icebreakers have left behind something more lasting than their diplomas. They have shown the students coming behind them what a STEP UP graduate can look like.

For a first commencement, that may be the most meaningful legacy of all.