SCJA Conference Attendance

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette students attended Souther Criminal Justice Association Annual Conference in Nashville, TN.
A total of 10 graduate and undergraduate students, along with several criminal justice faculty, attended and presented research at SCJA in September 2019.

Students reflected on their experiences at SCJA:

"I enjoyed that criminal justice professionals were interested in our research and would come ask us questions. That boosted my confidence in conducting research and speaking at a conference." -Jourdan Monfrey, 2nd year CJUS graduate student

"My favorite part of the conference was getting to hear presentations and meet people from other universities. I learned many things at the conference. One of the most valuable things was about furthering my education with a PhD program- though I had obviously heard about them, speaking with people really helped me out."- Sara Schaffner, 2nd year CJUS graduate student

"I enjoyed being able to talk about and share with others the research I've been working on for over a year. Networking and speaking with like-minded people can help to advance my research and open me up to things I had not considered for the study I am working on." -Margaret Storms, 1st year CJUS graduate student

"The best part of the conference, in my opinion, was being able to listen to others' presentations throughout the week and learn so much more about a wide variety of research topics in the criminal justice field. All the presentations that I went to were so interesting, and they were all given in a very comfortable learning environment. It was definitely a highlight of my undergraduate career." -Gabby Chaney, CJUS undergraduate senior

"One of my favorite things about the conference was that it was my first experience at a research conference, and everyone was so welcoming. All of the presenters and professors and authors etc. were encouraging and supportive of making connections with criminal justice influencers and maintaining confidence for my presentation."- Lindsey Warren, PSYC undergraduate senior

"I really enjoyed being around other professionals in the criminal justice field. There are so many avenues of criminal justice that I never would have thought to explore un

til going to SCJA. When I was in Tennessee presenting at SCJA I learned that research is expanding and continuing all the time. There is never a stopping point to what you can do as a researcher. It was truly inspiring to be around criminal justice professionals who also had the drive to take knowledge to the next step." -Kaitlyn Thompson, 1st year CJUS graduate student