Abilene Christian University Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice

March 2016 Newsletter Page 1 of 4

Alumni News

Jeffrey Wendling ('71) has completed the Certified Public Manager

program from Texas State University. The graduation ceremony was

held Dec. 14 in a ceremony at the State Capital.

Dana Morgan Jaworski ('99) works for World Christian

Broadcasting at Station KNLS in Anchor Point, Alaska. KNLS is

a giant shortwave station the broadcasts the Gospel to Russia and

China.

Shelby Hall ('13) was on the team of Texas Tech law students

winning the 66th Annual National Moot Court Competition,

hosted by the New York City Bar Association. They defeated a

team from Georgetown Law School. The competition has been

held each year since 1950 and is the oldest and most prestigious

moot court competition in the U.S. In addition to the overall

championship, Shelby was also awarded as having the top legal

brief in the competition.

Jacob Wooden ('15) graduates April 4 from the Abilene Police

Academy.

Student News

POLS major and Pope Fellow Chanel Brown has been chosen

to participate at the PPIA Junior Summer Institute at Princeton

University this June and July. She is the first from our

Department to do so. Congratulations Chanel! The Woodrow

Wilson School Junior Summer Institute is part of the Public

Policy and International Affairs Fellowship Program, a national

consortium of the top public policy and international affairs

graduate schools that prepare college juniors for advanced

degrees and careers serving the public good.

Kendra Oregon's paper, 'Clash of Civilizations: Fact or Myth?,'

was selected for presentation at NCUR 30 at the University of

North Carolina Asheville, Apr. 7-9. Kendra's paper was chosen

from more than 4,000 submissions for the National

Conferences on Undergraduate Research event. She was a

McNair Scholar during summer 2015 and was mentored on

her project by Neal Coates.

Two teams of students are presenting at the April 5 Research

Festival, both teams associated with Dr. Coates' Terrorism

Studies course. How Iran Spends $150 Billion from the Nucle-

ar Deal (Sion Alford, Drew Brown, Jesse Coates) and Islamic

State and Its Use of Twitter (Nick Cartwright, Grace Rosa,

Kevin Shurtz).

Emily McCarty will be in an internship with the federal courts

in the Office of the Chief Clerk of the Northern District this

summer in Dallas.

Drew Brown has been accepted into the Critical Language

Scholarship Program, run by the U.S. Department of State, for

this coming summer. He will be based in Amman, Jordan,

studying Arabic.

More Student News

Students Kevin Shurtz, Samantha Young, Nick Cartwright,

Tyler Hasenjaeger, and Madeline Dayton attended the Lincoln

Day Lunch on Feb. 29 in the ACU Hunter Welcome Center,

hosted by the Taylor County Republican Party.

POLS majors Tyler Hasenjaeger and Marshall Fuchs attended

TEDxACU on Feb. 27.

Cold War Missile Silo Service: 25 students from Dr. Coates'

International Relations class worked at the Lawn Atlas Missile

Base on three Saturdays this semester in restoration projects.

The Atlas F was the premier U.S. missile during the early

1960s in the Cold War.

POLS Students load

container for Zambia

Medical Mission

on Jan. 30

New Department Name! You will immediately notice across the top of this newsletter that

our academic unit is changing its name! Since the early 1970's,

criminal justice degrees have been earned at ACU, but in a couple

of different “homes” (departments). As the criminal justice

courses have found a home in our part of Hardin Administration

Building, our faculty (and our Visiting Committee which met

here in February) have decided to call ourselves the “Department

of Political Science and Criminal Justice.” We are pleased at this

attention for our CJ students and this course of study at ACU!

Dr. Coates, Chair

Page 2 of 4 March 2016 Newsletter

Pope Fellow Alum Returns to Speak to Follows

Janet Lim ('01) was on the ACU campus Feb. 22-23 to speak to the

2015-16 Pope Fellows. Janet graduated in 2003 from The George

Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. She was

admitted to practice law in Maryland and New York, and worked

for the City of New York for six years primarily on employment

matters, consumer protection, city licenses, and business

improvement districts. In May 2015, she began working for the

Governor's Office of Storm Recovery, a New York State program

which manages federal HUD funding allocated for recovery efforts

following Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and Hurricane

Sandy. As an Assistant General Counsel, she provides advice to

managers on employment matters and responds to Freedom of

Information requests. She also supports operational units and is

currently assigned to support NY housing programs, which provide

funding to single-and multi-family homeowners for repair,

reconstruction, and immigration costs. Janet lives in Harlem with her

husband and two sons, and is an active member of the Manhattan

Church of Christ.

Department Happenings

Visiting Committee Comes to Department

On Feb. 5, the 2016 Visiting Committee met and visited

with faculty and students. We appreciate their work and

recommendations for the Department!

They are:

Earl Brown, Former Assistant U.S. Attorney

Cord Campbell, Deputy United States Marshal

Lance Caughfield, Civil Appellate Attorney

Meghan Clark, High School Educator

Susanna Lubanga (Chair), International Rescue Committee

Paul Rotenberry, Family Law District Judge

Jeff Salmon, Executive Director Frontier Texas!

Jay Stokes, City Manager Deer Park, Texas

Mark Styron, DEA Special Agent in Charge

Ret. Col. Michael Bob Starr, Candidate for Congress,

visited the College Republicans at their meeting on Feb. 22.

POLS Students load container for Zambia Medical Mission on Jan. 30

Special Guest Speakers

On Feb. 26, TEDxACU speaker Omar El-Halwagi ate lunch in the

Department with POLS majors and Pope Fellows. Halwagi is a

law student at the University of Michigan and is a former Truman

Scholar.

James Childers, Assistant City Manager for the City of Abilene,

will speak to the Pope Fellows on March 30 in the Adams Center.

Abilene Christian University Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice

March 2016 Newsletter Page 3 of 4

Pictured is Garrett Burkhart ('14)

and Stuart Platt.

Faculty News

January 29-30, Mel Hailey participated in the Law Related Education Annual Conference held at the Commons Learning

Center, University of Texas, Austin, on Jan. 29-30. Dr. Hailey reviewed 8th Amendment cases pending (and recently decided)

by the U.S. Supreme Court. His primary emphasis was on Montgomery v. Louisiana. He also spoke during the Plenary Session

on Primaries and Caucuses: Texas and Elsewhere.

Stuart Platt was selected to speak at the going away luncheon on Feb. 4 for Agent James Kuykendall upon his moving from the

Dallas Field Division of DEA to his new assignment.

Mel Hailey participated in a panel at Pepperdine on Best Practices in Pre-Law Advising on Feb. 5, along with representatives

from Azusa Pacific and Emory University.

On Feb. 9, Neal Coates spoke in ACU Honors Chapel on “Macroaggressions: Israel,” and on Feb. 16 on “Macroaggressions:

Iran.”

Stuart Platt was interviewed for a Feb. 22 feature story on the Opiate Epidemic aired on Fox News-KXVA. The story also

featured an interview with Craig Wiles, Special Agent in Charge at the D.E.A. in Dallas. Stuart Platt’s interview on Fox

regarding opiates is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPbXQuX_pzE

Stuart Platt has been accepted to present a paper at the Christian Scholars Conference, June 8-10, on “Racial Polarization in

Policing: The Importance of Knowledge Before Opinion for Believers.”

Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice Abilene Christian University

March 2016 Newsletter Page 4 of 4

Searching for Jobs?

See USAJobs.gov for Job Information! Here are some examples of pathway jobs with the potential to return

and get a preference in hiring for full-time jobs.

www.usajobs.gov/getjob/viewdetails/365805400 Homeland Security

www.usajobs.gov/getjobs/viewdetails/365562300 Park Ranger

A local government job board is located at www.SGRjobs.com. Candidate resources are also at

www.GovernmentResource.com

Internship Opportunity

Rep. Ted Poe’s Office, Washington, D.C.

Representative Poe’s Office is looking for an ACU intern for every semester and summer. Congressman

Poe is an alumnus of ACU. If you or anyone you know (and of any major) may be interested please have

them contact his office.

Graduate School Information

Ryan Self, ACU Alum and current masters student at the George H.W. Bush School at Texas A&M, came

by the Department on December 19 to leave recruiting brochures. Students interested in applying to the

international track or public administration track at Bush can talk to Dr. Coates or contact Ryan directly.

TAMU 2016 Awards for Outstanding

Undergraduate Research

The Project for Equity, Representation, and Governance and the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M

University annually invites submissions for the Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate Research in the following

fields: African American Politics, Latino Politics, Comparative Politics, Gender Politics, and Public Administration/

Public Policy. Undergraduate students may submit a research paper in one field only. A winner will be chosen from

each field. The awards carry a prize of $500 per field, and are meant to encourage undergraduates to continue their

study at the graduate level. A list of past winners and their papers can be found at: perg-tamu.com/information-and-

dates. Questions can be directed to Mallory Compton at Compton@tamu.edu. Papers should be a maximum of 25

pages (not including references; double spaced, 12-point font) and must be submitted electronically by March 1.

Abilene Christian University Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice