Four CCJS students received the Graduate With Distinction honor from the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies. The honor is bestowed by the department on graduating CCJS students who have exhibited academic excellence and outstanding service to the department, the university, or the community. It will be noted on the students' official SSU transcript of records and diploma and will appear in the commencement ceremony program. The students are also entitled to wear a special Graduate With Distinction honor cord as part of their graduation regalia.
The following are the CCJS students who received the Graduate With Distinction honor in Fall 2021:
- Caballero, Iszael
- Chavez, Paloma
- Hamner, Jessica
- Lopez, Julian Antonio
Iszael plans to apply to the police academy in Windsor and start a career in law enforcement by the end of 2022. Paloma wants to pursue graduate studies in social work and become a licensed clinical social worker to help formerly incarcerated individuals. Jessica discovered during her internship that she likes working with children and making a difference in the lives of young people. She plans to keep working at Chop’s Teens Club for now as she enjoys being able to give kids a space to go and have fun safely. Julian wants to become an ATF agent and, later on, pursue graduate studies.
When asked about what they will remember the most from their CCJS program, the honorees gave the following answers:
- “the in depth discussions we would have in our classes through Zoom”
- “professors like Professor Henry and Professor Tosouni [who were] truly amazing.. [they] make students excited to learn and become inspired to take on the world”
- “doing an internship… [which] helped me discover [what] I might want to [do]…”
- “working with Professor Burton and my peers on Myths That Cause Crime over the summer… which has sparked my interest in becoming a professor at Sonoma State University”