$2.7M project funded through Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Koch Industries
Texas Southern University (TSU) announced the establishment of the Center for Justice Research (CJR), a new initiative designed to produce innovative solutions to criminal justice reform and address challenges in America’s criminal justice system. TSU was awarded $2.7 million by the Center for Advancing Opportunity, an initiative supported by funding from the Charles Koch Foundation and Koch Industries to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
The primary focus for the Texas Southern University Center for Justice Research (CJR) will be to produce innovative solutions to reform efforts by utilizing an experienced group of researchers working to understand and address the current challenges of the U.S. criminal justice system.
“The Center for Justice Research represents a new direction for Texas Southern and will strengthen our commitment to equal justice for all citizens,” said TSU President Austin A. Lane. “TSU is elated to receive strong support for the Center from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the Charles Koch Foundation, forming a critical partnership to advance knowledge through our faculty and evidence-based research, and in turn, care for our fragile communities.”
CJR’s mission is to change the paradigm of how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) address criminal justice reform by developing objective, evidence-based research. The goal is to develop and disseminate interdisciplinary criminal justice research to dismantle barriers faced by American citizens in fragile communities. The Center will be an incubator for policy-driven criminal justice research support, increase the research capacity of HBCU faculty in the field, and train and mentor graduate students interested in addressing issues surrounding mass incarceration.
Howard Henderson, Ph.D., professor of Administration of Justice in TSU’s Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, will serve as the Center’s director.
John Hardin, Ph.D., director of university relations at the Charles Koch Foundation, said that more Americans are incarcerated than have a college degree. Hardin said that the Foundation is concerned that the criminal justice system has more impact on the community than the educational system and also has a greater ability to destroy lives.
“Research is required to ensure that the criminal justice system in this country is one that treats all people equally and with dignity so that citizens can live a fulfilling life,” Dr. Hardin said. “We are proud to be a part of a partnership supporting such critical, academic pursuits.”
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-18th District) said, “Our criminal justice system is deeply flawed and perversely inhumane support for reform spans the ideological spectrum, and this grant to TSU’s Center for Justice Research will help to enhance efforts to ensure that all of us receive equal treatment under the law.”
Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committee on Judiciary and Homeland Security and a strong advocate for justice reform, spoke via speakerphone in support of the initiative. She said that African Americans and other people of color are heavily incarcerated due to a disparate system, but that research and science are the tools to resolve criminal justice problems.
“TSU is an appropriate place for this commitment because it is the people’s university. It costs more than $32,000 to incarcerate people and more women are being incarcerated, so there is a crucial need for this grant,” Jackson-Lee said.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said, “Incarceration is the end of opportunity for many people, but this grant is setting the stage for a new era in criminal justice. We need a common-sense approach to avoid recidivism and address problems with mental illness and addiction in the community.”
ABOUT TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
Texas Southern University (TSU) is a comprehensive, special-purpose institution providing higher education access to the nation’s underserved communities. TSU’s academic and research programs address critical urban issues, and prepares its diverse student population to become a force for positive change in a global society. TSU offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs and concentrations – bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional degrees – organized into 10 colleges and schools on a 150-acre campus nestled in the heart of Houston’s historic Third Ward. The University’s enrollment has a population of more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate-school academic candidates. Texas Southern has been a distinguished educational pioneer since 1927, and the University has become one of the most diverse and respected institutions in Texas. TSU has positioned itself as a proactive leader in educating underserved students and many who are the first in their family to attend college.
In the photo: (l-r) TSU Provost Kendall Harris, Ph.D.; Oliver Bell, TSU Board of Regents; Dr. Howard Henderson, TSU President Austin A. Lane, Gerard Robinson, Center for Advancing Opportunity; Dr. Harry Williams, Thurgood Marshall College Fund; Houston District Attorney Kim Ogg, Dr. John Hardin, Charles Koch Foundation.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Monday, January 22nd 2018 at 5:18PM
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