Loyal Jones Appalachian Center hosting Dinner on the Grounds

March 12, 2025

By Brooke Donley

BEREA, Ky. - The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center (LJAC) will host a Dinner on the Grounds on March 19 at 5:45 p.m. exploring The Prison Industrial Complex in Appalachia.

This dinner will feature Judah Schept and Sylvia Ryerson, who have extensively studied incarceration in the Appalachian region. Schept is a professor at Eastern Kentucky University in the School of Justice. He examines the relationship between history, political economy and the culture surrounding the carceral status of the United States. Through his book, “Coal, Cages, Crisis,” Schept assesses how building prisons has become an economic boost for Appalachia. However, this has significant implications for the region as he explains that if Kentucky was its own country, it would have the seventh highest incarceration rate in the world. Schept argues against the increase of incarceration in Appalachia as it relates to the region and the United States as a whole. 

Ryerson is a graduate student at Yale. She earned her bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Music from Wesleyan University with high honors. Before becoming a graduate student at Yale, Ryerson worked with Appalshop. She wants to write stories about Appalachia the media does not tell. At Appalshop, Ryerson co-directed “Hip Hop from the Hilltops” and “Calls from Home.” “Calls from Home” broadcasted the phone messages of family and loved ones to people who were incarcerated. 

The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center aims to connect Berea College and the surrounding area’s communities to cultivate or deepen understanding of the Appalachian region. The center features a public gallery open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The space also can be transformed for performances and speakers to talk about the Appalachian region in many different disciplines. 

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend. Dinner will be served on a first-come-first-serve basis.