• October 07, 1974
• Vol. 2
• No. 15

Vic Taylor, Convict, Gets His Degree

Vic Taylor chose graduate study in clinical psychology because, he once said, "I wanted to discover what made me tick." For Taylor, now 30, a high school dropout from Dallas, there was perhaps more than average incentive to know. Since late 1963, Taylor has been in prison almost continuously, having amassed close to 100 years in sentences for robberies. First, there was a $125,000 bank job at his naval station in 1963 and then a spree of holdups within weeks of his parole four years later. After escapes from two prisons and subsequent recapture, Taylor was sent to a maximum security federal prison in Marion, Ill., amid rumors he would try again. But he had other plans. He decided to study to take his mind off escape. With help from nearby Southern Illinois University, which waived tuition and sent in taped lectures, and the prison, which paid for book rentals, coordinated visits from professors, and monitored exams, Taylor in late 1972 earned his B.A. magna cum laude in only 21 months. Preferring to sleep through the evening horseplay of his cellmates, Taylor would awaken at midnight and study in silence until daybreak. Last month, Taylor received his M.A. in this tearfully joyous moment (above) inside Marion prison, as he clutched another inmate in cap and gown who was also receiving a degree. Taylor is eligible for parole again in two years, and meanwhile, he, characteristically, won't waste time. By the time he is sprung, he says, he intends to be well on the way to his Ph.D.