Criminal Justice students enter new honor society chapter
Jason Hand
Issue date: 11/18/05 Section: News
|
Alpha Phi Sigma, the only national criminal justice honors society for criminal justice students in the country, is headquartered at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. at Nova Southern University. Its members include undergraduates, graduate and J.D. students as well as alumni. "Students must maintain a good character in addition to a grade point average of 3.2 to join the honor society," Julia Hall, advisor for the Chapter, said.
"Good character is consistent of all national honor societies. If a student is accused of plagiarism, they wouldn't be admitted." Hall also said that the induction stimulates academic excellence, and that the Department of Culture and Communication, in which the Criminal Justice program is situated, is service and leadership oriented.
Other individuals involved with the induction ceremony included Douglass Porpora, Professor and Department Head of Culture and Communication and Donna Murasko, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, both of whom were integral in the development of bringing the society to campus. Among the other guests attending the ceremony was the Honorable Judge Renee Hughes of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas.
"I am very excited and proud of seeing this society on our campus," Popora said. "This is the realization of an idea Dr. Hall has had for a long time. As the department head, I am happy that the dream was realized during my tenure. Fourteen students have already been inducted, so this is kind of a celebration of the students, the program and its success."
 |
Hall also claimed that the criminal justice program is an exciting and growing curriculum that is taking in new freshmen and transfer students seeking careers in forensics and cyber crime. Several students within the program have spent the past summer on internships.
"I am very excited about being part of this society," Stephanie Graziosi, one of the newly inducted students, said. "It is an honor to be part of a national organization, but as the first class to be inducted here at Drexel, I feel that we are going to set the pace for those who come after us. It is a great feeling to know that we are all going to be part of Drexel's rich history."
Graziosi further stated that she discussed starting a chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma for the University with Hall after doing research on the Internet. She welcomed the proposal and started to make plans immediately. "I knew that being part of a prestigious society led by the incomparable Dr. Hall would not only be a great experience, but would be lots of fun. The criminal justice program here at Drexel is a very small community and we are all very close. We have almost all of our classes together and we know each other even outside the classroom. We have a unique bond and an interest to take Drexel's Criminal Justice program to a higher level. Starting Alpha Phi Sigma is one of the ways that we can do it."
"I was motivated in joining this group because I am a criminal justice minor and I thought joining a group related to my minor would help increase what I know about criminal justice," Modupe Agunbiade, another newly inducted student, said.
She also claimed that she was inspired by the fact that Alpha Phi Sigma is a national honors society, and that it can better serve to distinguish her from others who are also criminal justice minors.
Beside keeping to academic and moral standards, each of the students aspires to take away from this experience something that will help them in their future endeavors.
"I hope that from this experience I can get a little more exposure in the field of criminal justice," Agunbiade said. "Hopefully I will be able to meet people related to criminal justice and have been working in the field so that I can get some insight about the various careers available."
Be the first to comment on this story