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Evangel University students earn awards at national criminal justice conference

Published on Apr 13, 2012 by Jennifer Hall

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Twelve criminal justice majors from Evangel University recently attended the national American Criminal Justice Association conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 The conference was held March 11-16 and involved approximately 340 students and criminal justice professionals from coast to coast. The theme of this year’s conference was “Officer Survival: Staying Safe on the Street.”

 The following Evangel students earned awards in various competitive events:

 Criminal Investigation, Upper Division—1st Place

  • Kathleen Cunis, junior criminal justice and psychology double major from Amherst, N.H.
  • Ashley Daines, junior criminal justice and psychology double major from Las Vegas, Nev.
  • Alexis Hussey, senior criminal justice and psychology double major from Cordova, Tenn.

 Individual Firearms—1st Place

  • Aaron Winkler, junior criminal justice major from Marysville, Kan.

 Team Firearms, Upper Division—2nd Place

  • Michael Phillips, junior criminal justice major from Springfield, Mo.
  • Christian Willis, junior criminal justice major from Castro Valley, Calif.
  • Aaron Winkler

 Criminal Investigation, Upper Division—3rd Place

  • Michael Phillips
  •  Andrew Thostenson, junior criminal justice major from Ottumwa, Iowa
  • Christian Willis

 Corrections: Academic Testing, Upper Division—3rd Place

  • Michael Phillips

 Additional student participants included:

  • Celeste Binkerd, junior criminal justice major from Fort Wayne, Ind.
  • Danielle Christy, junior criminal justice major from Kansas City, Mo.
  • Shawna Elleson, senior criminal justice major from Arlington Heights, Ill.
  • Nicholas Schollars, sophomore criminal justice major from Bismarck, N.D.
  • Matthew Scott, sophomore criminal justice major from Mount Pleasant, Iowa

 In addition to participating in competitions, the students were able to attend a job fair and participate in several seminars related to the criminal justice system.

 Robert Cirtin, director of Evangel’s criminal justice program, served as the faculty sponsor for the trip.

 “I am very proud of my students not only for their tremendous achievements in the competitions, but the way in which they conducted themselves as future practitioners in the criminal justice system,” said Cirtin.

Evangel University is the only Assemblies of God institution with a criminal justice program. Evangel’s program is entitled Theta Alpha Delta, which stands for “God, Truth, Justice.”

 For more information, contact Robert Cirtin at 417-865-2815, ext. 8610.