(L-R) James Hardin, Amanda Hescht and Dorse Sears
Unexpected and highly prized awards found their way back to the campus of West Virginia State University in the hands of three surprised and elated Criminal Justice students the first week of November.
Students James Hardin, Amanda Hescht and Dorse Sears attended the Region IV Conference of the American Criminal Justice Association in West Chester, Pennsylvania November 2 - 5, 2006.
Sears is a Calhoun native.
The students were accompanied by Criminal Justice Club Advisor and WVSU Criminal Justice Instructor W. R. Whyte.
The theme of the regional conference was "Victimology". Professional presentations were conducted by FBI Agent Ray Carr, who spoke on serial offender characteristics and degrees of risk for potential victims, and Debra Puglisi Sharp, a published victims' advocate who had herself suffered extended captivity and brutalization at the hands of a felon.
The Regional Conference also scheduled various competitions for those in attendance, consisting of rigorous academic testing in a number of criminal justice sub-fields, firearms competition, a timed physical agility obstacle course, and a team crime scene investigation challenge.
Although the students from West Virginia State University had originally hoped to compete in the firearms competition, coordinating practice times and classes proved to be too much of a challenge in the weeks leading up to the Conference.
Dorse Sears, Student President of the WVSU Criminal Justice Club, reports that he is determined, with the help of members of the WVSU Public Safety and Criminal Justice Departments, to be fully prepared for future Regional and National firearms competitions, as long as there is student interest to support the effort.
Following up on their individual successes, the three students teamed up to enter the Crime Scene Investigation Challenge.
Approximately 20 teams were entered in the competition and several of them consisted of professional ACJA members, criminal justice instructors and police officers.
At the end of a hectic day, filled with other competitions, the West Virginia State University team of James Hardin, Amanda Hescht and Dorse Sears "crammed" for the competition in the hour before their scheduled exercise.
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