The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) will host their sixth annual mini conference, “What Would Lady Justice Do” targeted toward keeping the justice system moral on April 23 at the Lowman Student Center Theatre from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
NABCJ President Xavier Perry said this year’s conference will be different from those in the past as they hope to highlight issues on college campuses.
“This year we kind of strayed away from color to justice in general to broaden our spectrum,” Perry said. “Our goal is to highlight several things that are going on and put more concentration and emphasis on college campuses. Hopefully everyone leaves knowing more.”
Not only will almost 90 students attend but prevalent CJ professionals will speak, present and host interactive workshops.
First on the agenda will be entrepreneur Larry Kemp. He will speak about different forms of leadership and how the CJ majors at Sam Houston State University are the leaders of America.
Enviromental Protection Agency Special Agent De’Montra Rainey will stage a crime scene and walk students through the protocol of crime scene investigation.
Next, Jasmine Drake, Ph.D., will use real drugs to teach identification, hazards and how drugs are processed through evidence.
NABCJ’s National Vice President Terri McGee will cover juvenile delinquency and the importance of mentorship.
Afterward, Attorney Nancy Herbert will hold a sexual assault and victimization workshop and address human trafficking.
The last workshop will be a hyper realistic, student-run mock murder trial judged by NABCJ’s Legal Advisor Keith Branch.
Special Agent Dana L. Carter, who is in charge of the entire Southwest district, will bring an end to the conference with a keynote address about what Lady Justice would do and what CJ students should do to prepare themselves for the workforce.
All of these topics were picked carefully by the NABCJ student body and committee members, according to Vice President Keandra Jones.
“These are issues that are current,” Jones said. “We wanted to appeal to the interests of everyone.”
After seven months were spent in order to get every detail right, Perry is ready to see it all come together and said it also serves as a networking opportunity.
“I’m very excited for Saturday,” Perry said. “I can’t wait for all the speakers to be there and I hope everyone gets knowledge from them and I want everyone who comes to network. The people coming down aren’t just regular Joes when it comes to criminal justice; they are very prevalent in their respective fields.”
Jones believes NABCJ membership and attendance to the events is the best way to get contacts.
“We get to meet a lot of important people,” Jones said. “We had a career fair last month and the secret service was there, the DEA, just everyone was there. I’m very grateful for the people that have been placed in my life to help me and I’ve met most of them in NABCJ.”
Jones hopes this conference can teach and shape others just as NABCJ has helped her realize her full potential.
“We’re all in college and going to be future leaders,” Jones said. “I want them to understand the magnitude of how much power and opportunity we have.”
Those who would like to attend can register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwljd-balancing-the-scales-tickets-21186743119 or can pay on site. The student fee is seven dollars and $10 for adults. The fee covers breakfast, lunch and a t-shirt.
Business casual attire is encouraged but not required. For more information about WWLJD, contact Perry at xdp003@shsu.edu.
