Alumnus Jahvar Duffus ’17, a Bronx, New York
native, has worked hard to accept himself as he advocates for
those more vulnerable during his long journey to happiness and
fulfillment. “My parents are immigrants from Jamaica, and being
of Jamaican descent and gay, it can be difficult to explore and
affirm your identity,” says Duffus. In his lifetime he’s come
across bigots and judgmental people, but he now believes that
they’re entitled to their opinions, so long as they don’t impose
those views on him. “For me, Pride is the ability to express who
I am without fear or the care of judgment.” Read More
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When you’re speaking with Captain Jamiel
Altaheri ’09 of the New York Police Department (NYPD), two
things quickly become clear: He’s remarkably humble about his own
personal achievements, yet intensely proud of the service the
NYPD provides to New York City. Altaheri is an immigrant, one of
the highest-ranking Muslim officers in the NYPD, and the first
Yemeni-American to earn the rank of Captain in the department. Read More
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The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has
awarded Criminal Justice Professors Deborah Koetzle, Ph.D. and
Jeff Mellow, Ph.D., along with Political Science Associate
Professor Verónica Michel, Ph.D., $2.5 million to survey
prisoners in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama.
They’re focusing on the prisoners’ perceptions and experiences
regarding due process, the rule of law, and life in prison. Read More
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Mateo Saenz ’22, a Queens, New York resident, has
found great success at John Jay. He’s a PRISM student,
Cell and Molecular Biology major, a SASP Peer Success
Coach, and a medical school hopeful. But despite
growing up in Queens, Saenz’s native Ecuador is never far from
his heart. “I was born in Quito, Ecuador and lived there for the
first few years of my life,” he says. We connected with Saenz to learn
more about his journey to the U.S. and the exciting research
he’s
conducting at John Jay. Read More
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Sam Ascencio ’23 changed his major to a CUNY BA
for Queer Education Reform for a very specific reason. “My dream
is to come back to John Jay and work in the LGBTQ+ Resource Center. I love
John Jay so much. I love the queer community at John Jay so
much,” he says with an infectious smile. “I just want to work
there forever.” We sat down with Ascencio, who has been the Vice
President of John Jay’s LGBTQ+ Allies Club (now known as Spectra) and
the Founder/Director of Q’onnections, to
learn more about his pride in the queer community, his excitement
for Pride Month, and his hopes for the future. Read More
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Criminal Justice Professor Mangai Natarajan, Ph.D.
received one of the most notable awards in the field of
Comparative International Criminal Justice—an honor that was also
awarded to former John Jay President Jeremy Travis—when the
International Division of the Academy of Criminal
Justice Sciences (ACJS) named her the 2021 recipient of the
Gerhard O.W. Mueller Award. The award was especially meaningful
to Natarajan because she studied under Mueller as a doctoral
student. Read More
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We interviewed retired NYPD Lieutenant
Filipp Khosh ’19, whose civil service career spans across
the U.S. Army, the Coast Guard Reserves, and the New York Police Department
(NYPD) to learn more about his dedication to the safety of our
City, his commitment to the education of our students, and his
forward-thinking perspective on law enforcement. Read More
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Since 2007 Sociology Professor Susan Opotow, Ph.D.
has been educating scholars at John Jay College, but her
extensive examination of justice issues dates back much further.
“All of my work throughout my career is on one construct. It’s
called the scope of justice,” Opotow explains. “When the scope of
justice widens, more groups of people are included as deserving
fair treatment. I think of the three Civil War amendments to the
U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery and conferred
citizenship and voting rights. They enlarged the scope of
justice. But the scope of justice can shrink too, as we saw in
Jim Crow.” Read More
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The Department of
Online Education and Support has
recognized three outstanding professors who have incorporated the
use of innovative technology tools and platforms to help increase
student engagement, create a sense of community, foster critical
thinking, and promote active learning. Al
Coppola, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, received
the John Jay Digital Humanities Award for
his innovative and creative use of Slack to promote student
engagement. Madhura Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., Doctoral
Lecturer in the English Department, has received the John Jay Digital Humanities Award for
her innovative and creative use of Zoom breakout rooms and
wikis. And, Marie-Michelle Strah, Ph.D., Adjunct
Professor in the Department of International Criminal Justice, has
been named a winner of the John Jay Digital Innovation
Teaching Award for her innovative and creative use of
Milanote.
Michelle Holder, Ph.D., Assistant
Professor of Economics, has been named the new President
and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. The
organization “works to build a strong bridge between academics
and policymakers to ensure that research on equitable growth and
inequality is relevant, accessible, and informative to the
policymaking process.”
The book Migration and Mortality: Social Death,
Dispossession, and Survival in the Americas, edited by Jamie
Longazel, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Law and Society at
John Jay, and Miranda Cady Hallett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of
Cultural Anthropology at the University of Dayton, was recently
published by Temple University Press. The collection “documents
and denounces the violent impacts of restrictive migration
policies in the Americas, linking this institutional violence to
broader forces of racial capitalism.” The volume also features
chapters written by members of the John Jay community, including Daniel
Stageman, Ph.D., Director of Research, and alumna Shirley
P. Leyro, Ph.D. ’04.
John Matteson, Ph.D.,
Distinguished Professor in the English Department, has published
his book A Worse Place Than Hell: How the Civil War
Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation, with W. W. Norton
and Company. Matteson’s work has received positive reviews from
Booklist and Kirkus Reviews, and it was selected
by Amazon.com as one of the best history books to be
released in February.
Adjunct Associate Professor Karen
Malpede’s impact on social justice extends well beyond her
courses in the Communication and Theatre Arts and Environmental
Justice programs at the College. As co-founder of Theater Three
Collaborative, Inc., she’s developing and producing plays
centered around pressing social issues. In May, Malpede’s new
play, “Blue Valiant,” which she wrote and directed, made its
world premiere. The story centers around a wild, untamable horse,
the woman who risks her own life to discover the horse’s secret,
the wily stable owner Sam Brown, and Maya Zelaya, a young
refugee. Each has lost what they loved the most and must find a
way to heal.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Zahid
Quraishi (B.A. ’97) to the U.S. District Court for the District of
New Jersey. The appointment is historic. Quraishi is the first
Muslim American federal judge in U.S. history.
Reva G. Moten (B.S. ’84), a
Supervising Probation Officer for the New York City Department of
Probation, has been included in Marquis Who’s Who for her
dedication to the field of Criminal Justice. Moten’s passion for
penal law has driven her to become an expert in the field. She
hopes to one day earn her doctorate degree and return to John Jay
College as a professor.
Superior Court Judge William
A. Daniel (B.S. ’78) has been nominated to be the Union County
prosecutor by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. Daniel has served
as a Superior Court Judge in Union County since 2005. Before
that, he served as a Municipal Court judge.
With great sadness, we share the news of the
sudden passing of alumna Elizabeth Yasmin Delacruz (B.S. ’16). She
will be remembered as a devoted mother and protector of the
community, serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a police
officer with the Harrison Police Department in New Jersey. We
offer our heartfelt condolences to Officer Delacruz’s family,
friends, and colleagues.
Alumnus Joseph “Joe” George Wolfe (B.S.
’78) passed
away last month at the age of 81. A Brooklyn, New York native,
Wolfe had an accomplished career in law enforcement, reaching the
rank of Detective with the New York Police Department (NYPD)
before retiring from the force after 20 years of service. He then
moved to Ocala, Florida, where he worked for the Marion County
Sheriff’s Department and retired after two decades as a
Detective. Our condolences go out to his family and friends
during this difficult time.
Earlier this month, alumnus Cornelius
Blackshear (B.S. ’71) passed away. An advocate for justice and a
dedicated public servant, Blackshear worked with the NYPD for 16
years as a patrolman and a detective sergeant. He then became a
judge in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court in
1985, sitting on the bench for 20 years. During his noteworthy
career, he received numerous accolades, including the Special
Achievement Award from the Department of Justice, the Lloyd
George Sealy Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the New
York Institute of Credit’s Leadership in Education Award. We send
our heartfelt condolences to Judge Blackshear’s family and
friends.
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Thursday,
July 1 to Friday, July 30
Anya and
Andrew Shiva Gallery Viewing Room
This virtual exhibition explores how modern art
has always stood against social injustice, communal exploitation,
and political corruption—from the Dadaists to feminist art of the
’70s and from the early 20th century Russian avant-garde to the
Situationists of the ’60s. For more information, contact: gallery@jjay.cuny.edu.
8:00
a.m. to 10:00 a.m. | Zoom
This presentation will focus on the competing
interests of advocates, on the one side wanting to win for their
clients and on the other recognizing their professional
responsibility to promote diversity and inclusion. A central part
of the discussion will be the Ray Corollary Initiative as a plan
of action to change the paradigm in ADR neutral selection.
Special guest: Homer C. La Rue, Professor of Law at Howard
University School of Law, and founder and co-director of the
Howard Law School ADR Program and ADR Certificate Program.
11:00
a.m. to 12:00 p.m. | Zoom
Learn how to use different resources to make the
most out of professional networking. Register in advance.
2:00
p.m. to 3:00 p.m. | Zoom
Each week, an agency will provide a 30- to
45-minute virtual workout designed to prepare you for what to
expect on the physical agility test should you choose to pursue a
career in law enforcement. Open to all students and alumni.
7:00 p.m.
to 8:00 p.m. | Microsoft Teams
Students, alumni, and professors are welcome to
participate virtually. For more information, contact careers@jjay.cuny.edu.
10:00 a.m.
to 11:00 a.m. | Zoom
Executives in Residence presents NYPD Deputy Chief
Thomas Taffe, who has been with the department for over 25 years.
1:45 p.m.
to 2:45 p.m. | Zoom
Looking to build your professional network? This
workshop will help you build a LinkedIn profile and teach you how
to use the platform to connect with professionals and companies,
and search for employment opportunities.
5:00 p.m.
to 6:00 p.m. | Zoom
Special guest: John Jay alumna Sharon Devonish Leid,
CEO of NetStruc PR, publicity strategist, speaker, TV host, and
author. Register in advance.
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