Dr. Darren Wheelock

MPEC Director

Dr. Darren Wheelock is the Faculty Director for the McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC) at the Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach, and a member of the EPP leadership team. He is also an Associate Professor of Criminology and Law Studies in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences and the Director of the Criminal Justice Data Analytics MS program at Marquette University. Darren's research interests include examining the intersection of racial/ethnic inequality and criminal punishment, survey research methods, evaluating the effectiveness of "rehabilitative" criminal legal interventions in the reentry process, multilevel modeling, and censored and categorical dependent variables. He teaches classes on reentry, race, crime, and punishment, and social statistics. 

Mandy Balek 

MPEC Program Manager 

Mandy Balek-Stephens is the Program Manager for the McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC) at the Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach.  In this role, Mandy helps build degree pathways for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals through MPEC partner institutions in the greater Milwaukee area.  After earning her MSEd in Counselor Education, Mandy worked in academic advising, where she created an exploration program for undecided, pre-law, and pre-health professions students, trained faculty advisors in best-practice advising, and collaborated with academic departments on curriculum development.  Before coming to Marquette, Mandy spent about 5 years working with a college access program, supporting high school students (and their families) in their efforts to apply to and enroll in colleges and universities across the country.

Cherita Rayford

EPP/MPEC Peer Support and Reentry Coordinator

Cherita Rayford is the Peer Support and Reentry Coordinator for the Education Preparedness Program (EPP) and the McNeely Prison Education Consortium (MPEC) at the Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach (CURTO). In her role, Cherita provides mentoring and emotional support to EPP students, guiding them through their academic journey. She also works closely with students impacted by the legal system, offering recruitment and retention support while helping them navigate the admissions process and access community resources.

Cherita is deeply passionate about higher education within both institutional and prison reform contexts. With a bachelor's degree in Community Engagement and Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), she is committed to creating opportunities for individuals who face barriers to education, advocating for transformative change in higher education access and justice reform.