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9/11 Memorial Unveiled
 On September 10, John Jay saluted the members of the college community who died in the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, with the dedication of a 9/11 Memorial Sculpture.
The sculpture was created from one of the twisted steel beams salvaged from the wreckage of the twin towers. The beam, which had been stored until recently in a hangar at Kennedy Airport, is mounted on a granite pedestal on which are inscribed the names of 67 of the fallen from John Jay, along with the inscription, “Dedicated in Memory of Those from the John Jay College Community Who Lost Their Lives on September 11, 2001.”
To learn more, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/911memorial.
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Welcome (Back) to John Jay
Kicking off the new academic year, more than 1,800 freshmen, more than 1,600 transfer students, including 450 graduates of the CUNY Justice Academy, and 525 new graduate students joined the John Jay community in a series of festive and informative orientation sessions in mid-August.
President Jeremy Travis, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Jane Bowers and Vice President for Student Affairs Lynette Cook-Francis headed an A-list welcoming committee for the incoming students, who were introduced to the academic journey lying before them, and the variety of services at their disposal.
The newest entering class also includes the first-ever John Jay cohort of 20 students in CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College.
The College also launched a new tradition on September 3 with the first-ever New Student Convocation. The event, meant to serve as a bookend to Commencement, featured a pinning ceremony and remarks from distinguished John Jay alumna Leticia Theodore-Greene (BA ’95), Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs of the New York State Division of Human Rights.
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Biennial Conference to Visit Birthplace of Western Democracy in 2014
The 11th biennial international conference on justice, security and human rights that has been held by John Jay since 1992 will be heading to the cradle of democracy – Athens, Greece – from June 11-14, 2014.
The conference will be co-sponsored by the Center for Security Studies (KEMEA) in the Greek Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation, which has previously worked with John Jay on the “Policing Across Borders” project, has awarded a generous grant to support the conference. “With KEMEA and the Niarchos Foundation, we could not have better partners,” said President Jeremy Travis.
Last held in 2012 on John Jay’s newly expanded campus, the biennial conference is designed to promote international and interdisciplinary understanding of justice issues in their broadest sense, bringing together the world’s scholars, practitioners, government leaders, justice advocates and representatives of international organizations. The theme for the 2014 conference will be “The Rule of Law in an Era of Change: Security, Social Justice and Inclusive Governance.”
Professor George Andreopoulos of the Department of Political Science chairs the conference planning committee. Andreopoulos, who is also director of the College’s Center for International Human Rights, has been the director of the “Policing Across Borders” project and has extensive personal and professional connections in Greece. A Call for Papers has been issued, and abstracts for proposed presentations will be accepted through October 1.
For more information, click here.
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John Jay Co-Sponsors Conference on Criminal Justice Reform in Beijing
 President Jeremy Travis and eight members of John Jay College faculty attended the Fifth International Forum on Contemporary Criminal Law: Contemporary Punishment Reform co-hosted by John Jay College and Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China, from August 17-18.
The conference is a product of the alliance between the two institutions to cultivate collaboration, programs and an exchange of ideas and research among faculty and students. The relationship was formalized last year with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by President Travis and representatives from Beijing Normal University. This partnership is supported by an Open Society Foundation (OSF) grant that helps John Jay develop partnerships with educational institutions in China, specifically Public Security University and Beijing Normal University, to advance criminal justice education reform. These partnerships include faculty and student exchanges, joint conferences, and translation of key criminal justice texts into Chinese.
This year’s international conference was devoted to contemporary punishment reform and to challenging and redefining conventional theories and practices surrounding criminal punishment and law. Areas discussed throughout the conference’s lectures and workshops included severity of criminal sanctions, the death penalty, and the role of community corrections, prisoner reentry programs, and support of victims of crimes.
“The purpose of this grant is to begin discussion on criminal justice reform in China,” said Professor Karen Terry of the Department of Criminal Justice, who is Principal Investigator of the OSF grant and acted as administrator for the conference. “This conference was one component of that. The talks our faculty gave were very well received. We presented many new concepts that others had not heard about or implemented yet. Our faculty has such a depth and breadth of expertise related to crime and justice, we can play a significant role in these issues related to criminal justice reform in China. It’s very exciting to have a significant influence in how criminal justice policy develops in China.”
President Travis delivered one of the keynote addresses, titled “Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration.”
Faculty members presenting papers at the conference included:
Joshua Freilich (Criminal Justice) and Amy Adamczyk (Sociology), “Disorganization, Diversity and Deadly Far-Right Ideological Far Right Violence: A County Level Analysis”;
Debbie Koetzle (Public Management), “Making Drug Courts More Affective: Lessons from Literature”:
Richard Li (Science), “A Case Study of the Application of DNA Evidence to Avert Justice”;
Baz Dreisinger (English), “Education Inside Outside: Communities, Corrections and the Prison to College Pipeline”;
Mike Fondacaro (Psychology), “The Death of Retribution: Behavioral and Neuroscience in Pursuit of Justice.”
“I think the conference was very successful,” said Terry. “There have been recent criminal law reforms in China, and the discussion around criminal justice policy was much more open than it has been in the past, as scholars in China are thinking more progressively than they have in the past.”
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Peer Ambassadors Earn National Recognition
John Jay’s Peer Ambassador Leadership Program has been formally recognized as a national “best practice,” following its recent selection as a recipient of the Spotlight Series Award for Influences on Student Learning by NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
The program will automatically be considered for the association’s Spotlight Program of the Year Award, to be presented at NASPA’s annual conference next March in Baltimore, MD.
The NASPA award recognizes those “who are transforming higher education through outstanding and innovative leadership programs and services,” according to the organization’s Web site. John Jay’s Peer Ambassador program seeks to instill leadership, personal and cognitive development, civic responsibility and practical skill-building.
From August 5-8, the newest cohort of 30 Peer Ambassadors — 8 returnees and 22 new members — underwent four full days of intensive training and orientation that focused on everything from proper dress and behavior to the College’s history and organization. Students learned how to interact with current and prospective students as well as VIPs and other friends of the College, and engaged in a variety of team-building and group dynamics exercises.
Peer Ambassadors typically serve throughout the John Jay campus, including such functions as student orientation, commencement, special events and community outreach. Interested undergraduate students must be enrolled full-time and have at least a 3.0 GPA, among other criteria.
“Our ambassadors are role models for the new students, and they are examples of the good that the institution does,” said Rosann Santos-Elliott, Associate Director of the Office of Student Transition Programs, which oversees the Peer Ambassador program.
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John Jay Students Accepted to Law Schools Across the Country
More than $4.3 Million in Scholarships Received!
 Students who participated in John Jay’s Pre Law Institute are being accepted at law schools across the country. From Georgetown Law School to Berkeley Law School in California, 25 John Jay’s Pre Law Institute (PLI) graduates have been accepted at 45 law schools. “Many students received several offers and are now exploring their options,” said Vielka V. Holness, Director of PLI. “In fact,” she added, “John Jay’s students have received more than $4.3 million dollars in scholarship awards including many full tuition scholarships to well-regarded law schools in the metropolitan New York City area such as Fordham University School of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Brooklyn Law School.
Students also received offers of admission and large scholarships to top-ranked law schools throughout the country including the University of California at Berkeley – Boalt Hall, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Emory Law School, the University of Maryland, Northeastern, American, Chicago Kent, and Loyola-Chicago, as well as Pace Law School’s top-three ranked Environmental Law Program and New York’s own public law schools, SUNY Buffalo and CUNY Law.
The mission of John Jay’s Pre Law Institute, which was established in 2005 by President Jeremy Travis, is to "identify, motivate and prepare John Jay students and alumni who are interested in preparing for a career in law." The rigorous program, which includes Pre Law Boot Camps, focuses on building the types of skills that support and strengthen students' undergraduate academic achievement and enhance their performance on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT).
“The Pre Law Institute’s initiatives, which involve faculty, help students develop the kind of writing, reading and critical thinking skills that law schools seek,” explained Ms. Holness. “For instance, through the Pre Law Boot Camp, students are exposed to the Socratic method and the other styles of law school learning, including how to build strong legal arguments and identify weaker ones,” added Ms. Holness, an experienced attorney who also directed law school career development centers and served on law school admission committees.
Acceptances
1. Albany Law School
2. American University Washington College of Law
3. Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School
4. University of Baltimore School of Law
5. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
6. Boston University School of Law
7. Brooklyn Law School
8. University of California at Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law
9. University of California Los Angeles School of Law
10. California Western School of Law
11. The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
12. Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology
13. University of Cincinnati School of Law
14. City University of New York Law School
15. University of Dayton School of Law
16. DePaul University College of Law
17. Drexel University School of Law
18. Emory University School of Law
19. Florida Coastal School of Law
20. Fordham University School of Law
21. George Washington University School of Law
22. Georgetown University School of Law
23. Hofstra University School of Law
24. Indiana University Maurer School of Law—Bloomington
25. The John Marshall Law School
26. Loyola Chicago University School of Law
27. University of Miami School of Law
28. University of Michigan School of Law
29. Michigan State University School of Law
30. University of Minnesota Law School
31. New York Law School
32. Northeastern University School of Law
33. Pace University School of Law
34. Quinnipiac University School of Law
35. Rutgers University School of Law at Newark
36. San Diego University School of Law
37. Seton Hall University School of Law
38. St. John’s University School of Law
39. Stetson University College of Law
40. Suffolk University Law School
41. SUNY Buffalo School of Law
42. Syracuse University College of Law
43. Thomas Cooley Law School
44. Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
45. Valparaiso University Law School
John Jay’s pre-law students achieved these admissions through their diligent efforts including their participation in several PLI programs among them the Pre Law Boot Camps, the LSAT Prep Program, and many other of the forty opportunities coordinated by the PLI each academic year. While many students were enjoying seasonal breaks, over 150 of John Jay’s pre-law students participated in the intensive week-long academic-skill building Pre Law Boot Camps. Students worked with Professors John Staines (English), Jacoby Carter (Philosophy), Victoria Bond (English) and Dainius Remeza (English) and instructor Carolyn Nelson (LSAT) in one or more of these four programs to improve their writing and critical thinking skills.
The Pre Law Institute looks forward to furthering the academic opportunities available to John Jay pre-law students in collaboration with faculty and other on and off-campus partners during the 2013-2014 academic year. To learn more about the Pre-Law Institute at John Jay, click here.
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Immigration & Deportation Initiative to Be Launched on September 16
Immigration and deportation remain hot-button issues at all levels of government and society, and this fall John Jay College will address the twin topics in a semester-long interdisciplinary series, the Immigration and Deportation Initiative.
The initiative gets underway on September 16 with a panel discussion on “Deportation Laws and Their Local Impact,” which will explore the role of immigrant communities in the cultural and economic life of New York City and, more importantly, the impact of deportation on these communities and how that could change in light of immigration legislation now being considered by Congress. The panel will feature New York City Correction Commissioner Dora Schriro; Alina Das of New York University Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic; Marianna Yang of Brooklyn Defender Services, and Angela Fernandez of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights.
The schedule of events includes lectures, discussions, performing and visual art projects, screenings and book talks.
“The initiative is intended to bring the continuing legislative efforts around immigration — and the discourse that surrounds them— into the community life and curriculum of the College, to generate debate and conversation, and to engage our students (nearly half of whom are themselves immigrants or the children of immigrants) intellectually with issues that will likely have direct and profound effects on their own lives and those of their loved ones,” reads an introductory statement of purpose for the initiative.
Visit the Initiative’s Web site, www.jjay.cuny.edu/ID2013, for a complete schedule of events.
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Stop & Frisk Panel Discussion Draws a Crowd
As the city waited for a judge’s ruling in a controversial stop-and-frisk lawsuit, John Jay’s Center on Race, Crime and Justice on August 7 hosted a panel discussion that coincided with the introduction of its new Web site, www.stopandfriskinfo.org, and publication of its revised handbook, Stop, Question and Frisk Policing Practices in New York City: A Primer.
Moderated by President Jeremy Travis, the panel discussion filled John Jay’s new moot courtroom, with a cross-section of concerned stakeholders from the College and the broader community on hand to hear (l.-r. in photo): Professor Maria Haberfeld of the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration; Monifa Bandele, author and activist with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; Joo-Hyun Kang, Director of Communities United for Police Reform; Monami Maulik, founder and Executive Director of DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), and New York City Councilman Brad Lander of Brooklyn.
The Web site, which combines cutting-edge research, provocative videos and thought-provoking articles and reports, was developed and is being overseen by Professors Delores Jones-Brown of the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration and Brett Stoudt of the Department of Psychology. Jones-Brown and Stoudt also coordinated the panel discussion and were among the presenters.
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NY1’s Errol Louis Urges Next NYC Mayor: Tap into
John Jay Faculty Expertise on Public Safety Issues
John Jay College’s Master of Public Administration–Inspector General program has received a resounding endorsement from veteran New York City newsman and commentator Errol Louis, who wrote in the New York Daily News that the city’s next mayor should tap into the expertise of John Jay faculty.
Focusing on the contentious issue of an inspector general for the New York City Police Department, Louis points out that John Jay has been training inspectors general from all around the world for more than 20 years. “Instead of going to court to continue the back-and-forth about the inspector general idea,” Louis writes, “the next mayor should tap the professors at John Jay…and dig deeply into what they’ve learned after two decades of educating and placing inspectors general.”
Click here to read Louis’s column.
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FACULTY & STAFF NOTES
On Board
Allison Pease (English) has been named interim Dean of Undergraduate Studies. Pease is a former Chair of the English department, and led the effort to reintroduce a newly conceived English major. She succeeds Anne Lopes, who has been appointed Dean of Graduate Studies.
Presenting…
Ann A. Huse (English) was an invited speaker at "The Politics and Print Culture of Seventeenth-Century England: A Colloquium in Honor of Steven N. Zwicker" at Washington University in St. Louis on June 8. Her talk was titled "Marvell at Eton: Imagining Bermuda from `Island Farm.'"
Jon Shane (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) trained members of the Army’s 89th Military Police Brigade and their support staff at Fort Hood, TX, on July 29 and 30 in the development of outcome-based performance management capabilities. Shane was invited to conduct the training based on his 2010 paper on improving police performance. He is scheduled to train other military police personnel at Fort Campbell, KY, and Fort Bliss, TX, later this year.
The Printed Page
Staci Strobl (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) has a new book, Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice and the American Way, just published by NYU Press. The book, co-written with Nickie D. Phillips of St. Francis College, examines such iconic characters as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to provide a comprehensive understanding of crime and justice in contemporary American comic books.
Gloria Browne-Marshall (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) authored the commentary “In the Name of Trayvon: Turn Grieving Into Action,” which was published in The Crime Report, the online criminal justice news digest produced by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice. In it, Browne-Marshall takes a historical perspective on the issues raised in the case surrounding the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, and offers suggestions for turning anger into constructive action.
Jonathan Gray (English) recently interviewed Representative John Lewis (D.-GA) for Entertainment Weekly about the new graphic novel, March: Book One, which chronicles the Congressman’s experiences as a leading Civil Rights activist. Written by Lewis and his staffer, Andrew Aydin, and illustrated by Nate Powell, the book is the first part of a trilogy from Top Shelf Productions. Gray’s own first book, Civil Rights in the White Literary Imagination, was published this year by University Press of Mississippi.
Kimora (Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration) recently completed the edited volume Ethnic Profiling: A Modern Framework. The book will be released October 1 by IDEBATE Press.
Recognition
Patricia Zapf (Psychology) has been elected President of the American Psychological Association’s Division 41, the American Psychology-Law Society. The organization comprises mental health and legal professionals who conduct research or practice on issues relating to the interface of psychology and law. In June, Zapf delivered the keynote address on “Best Practices in the Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial” at the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services conference in Maastricht, Netherlands.
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