Student Organizations

Criminal Justice Student Organization

The Loyola University Criminal Justice students’ Organization (CJO) provides opportunities for criminal justice and criminology majors to expand their education beyond the classroom. Each semester students visit various criminal justice agencies to get a first-hand look at how the police, courts, and corrections work. Our members have visited the Cook County (Chicago) Circuit Court, Department of Corrections, Medical Examiner’s Office, and Juvenile Detention Center. We have also visited the Stateville Prison, the Dwight Correctional (female) Center, the St. Charles Juvenile Detention Center, and the Chicago Police Department. The Criminal Justice Students’ Organization also hosts career information sessions. We have had presentations from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of State, as well as various local law enforcement agencies.

Recognizing our Jesuit heritage, the CJO has participated in various service-related projects in an effort to give back both to the Loyola community and those less fortunate in the Chicago area. One of our more popular activities is the Halloween Pumpkins—each Halloween, CJO members distribute pumpkins filled with candy throughout campus. Money for the candy has come from bake sales and student donations. The CJO has also conducted a drive to provide books for the library at the St. Charles Juvenile Detention Center. This past December the CJO also helped distribute food from the Greater Chicago Food Bank at Our Lady of the Angels Mission.

The CJO meets monthly to plan its activities. All criminal justice majors and minors are welcome to join. Meeting dates vary. Guest speakers often attend these meetings. While the atmosphere is usually causal, we have hosted some very special events including presentations by the Deployment Operations Center (DOC) of the Chicago Police Department and debates on Chicago Police manpower staffing, and the death penalty. Upcoming CJO events are forthcoming.

Current Undergraduate CJO officers include:

  • Ashleigh Carrera (President)
  • Jessica Villalobos (Vice President)
  • Lyric Nash (Treasurer)
  • Roma Oleksyn (Secretary)
  • Hannah Puglise (CAN Rep)

If you are a Loyola criminal justice and criminology major or minor, and you are interested in joining the Criminal Justice Students’ Organization, contact Dr. Elizabeth Webster, ewebster1@luc.edu the CJO faculty advisor.

Alpha Phi Sigma—National Criminal Justice Honor Society

The Department of Criminal Justice is proud to house the Beta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society. The society recognizes the academic excellence of undergraduate and graduate students of criminal justice. There are over 250 chapters in the nation, and each chapter is made up of people who share a commitment to learning and improving the criminal justice field.

The Alpha Phi Sigma membership requirements are as follows:

  • Undergraduate student membership
  • Enrollment as a criminal justice and criminology major or minor
  • Completion of three full-time semesters, including four CJC courses
  • Minimum overall grade point average of 3.2, and a minimum of 3.2 in CJC courses
  • Graduate Student Membership
  • Enrollment in MA Program in Criminal Justice and Criminology, or Combined BS/MA Program in Criminal Justice and Criminology

The Loyola chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma is interested in recruiting members who have not only evidenced their academic strengths but who are also interested in developing their leadership skills and are willing to offer their time in support of volunteer public service projects that advance the work of criminal justice agencies in the Chicago area.

Numerous opportunities are available to assist criminal justice agencies, and it is our goal to do so collaboratively and within the context and constraints of our busy students' schedules. These opportunities not only provide needed assistance to often overworked public agencies but also provide a means of exposing Loyola's best criminal justice and criminology students to valuable real-world experiences in the field. In the early fall organizational meeting, new officers will be elected and project ideas and commitments will be discussed.

For further information about the honor society, contact the National Headquarters at www.alphaphisigma.org, or:

Damon M. Petrich, PhD
Assistant Professor 
Dept. of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Loyola University Chicago Mundelein Center, Room 807D
1032 W. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660
Phone: 773.508.8596
dpetrich@luc.edu