The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a senior college of the City University of New York in midtown, Manhattan, New York City and is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice focus in the United States. It has about 14,000 FTE (full-time equivalent) students, including traditional, pre-career undergraduate students and those pursuing master’s degrees in several disciplines. John Jay College of Criminal Justice was founded in 1964 and was originally called the College of Police Science (COPS). Classes were held at the Police Academy on East 20th Street. Eventually, the school was expanded to incorporate many liberal arts disciplines and was renamed John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

It moved to its current location in the former Charles B. J. Snyder-designed De Witt Clinton High School in 1988. After Clinton moved to the Bronx the building became Haaren High School. The building is now Haaren Hall on the campus.

Internationally recognized as a leader in criminal justice education and research, it is also a major training facility for local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel. The college regularly invites distinguished speakers such as Janet Reno and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The school's namesake, John Jay, was the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court and one of the founding fathers of the United States. Jay was a native of New York City, and a New York State governor.

The school also boasts a Forensic Science program, one of the few schools in the nation which offers the undergraduate degree.

Campus

The campus consists of five buildings: Haaren Hall (also known as the Tenth Avenue building or, simply, the T building), which also contains the Lloyd George Sealy Library, gym and pool; North Hall (N building); newly constructed Westport Building (W building) where John Jay College rents the first two floors; one floor of the BMW building (6th floor) and one floor of 619 West 54th Street (54th St Annex). Administration offices are on the top floor of the T building, while the departmental offices are spread across the N building with the exceptions of Foreign Language and English, which are now located on 54th Street.

The college also has a student government consisting of the Student Council, the Judicial Board, and various student organizations known collectively as "Clubs". On April 1, 2008, the student body ratified amendments to the Charter of the Student Government via a referendum during the annual Student Government elections--something that has not been attempted in nearly 30 years. These amendments were authored by the Student Council's 37th president, Francis J. Balducci, and were ratified by the members of the 2007-2008 Student Council.

"Club Row" is the nickname in the college for a series of hallways where the student clubs are given space. Student organizations that are given the title "Essential Service" by the City University of New York include The John Jay Times, the school's theater group known as the "John Jay Players", and the campus radio station known as WJJC.

The school is working on a project known as "Phase II", which involves the construction of an additional building on 11th Avenue between West 58th and West 59th Streets in New York City. It is anticipated that construction will be completed by 2012 at which time the N building will be relinquished to the State of New York.

Addresses

• Haaren Hall (T building), 899 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10019
• North Hall (N building), 445 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019
• BMW Building, 555 West 57th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10019
• Westport Building (W building), 500 West 56th Street,1st & 2nd Floors, New York, NY 10019
• 54th Street Annex, 619 West 54th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10019

Admissions

John Jay College is considered a very respectable college in New York City and among the top colleges in the CUNY system. Despite its reputation, up to 30% of John Jay students drop out after their freshman year. Graduate admissions are more stringent and students are either required or recommended to submit GRE scores, depending on the program they are applying to.

Specialty

John Jay College is primarily known for it criminal justice studies and is considered one of the best graduate schools in the United States for forensic majors. It is also one of the few schools in the country that offers undergraduate forensic majors. Many students attend JJC with the intention of becoming police officers. It has also worked on the number of students attending law school. It established the Pre-Law institute to guide students that intend to go to law school, therefore increasing applications to the school.

College Life

John Jay College does not have a typical college campus. JJC consists of five buildings, with a sixth currently under construction. The school is located in northwest midtown Manhattan near Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center.

JJC does not have its own dorms and is considered a "commuter college" as most students still live at home. Ninety-three percent of JJC students are in-state students. Many graduate students come from out of state and often live in the City College dorm called the Towers at City College.

Student Body

There are almost 13,000 undergraduate students and 1,861 graduate students.

Gender composition:

• 56% female
• 44% male

Racial/ethnic composition:

• 43% Hispanic
• 23% white
• 22% African-American
• 8% Asian
• <1% Native American

Nearly 100 different nationalities are represented in the student body.

Athletics

John Jay College has a number of NCAA division III sports teams which belong to the CUNYAC conference.

Fall: men's soccer, women's volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's cross country

Winter: men's and women's basketball, women's swimming, and rifle

Spring: baseball, softball, and men's tennis

JJC baseball in 2006 and 2007 had two very successful seasons in the CUNYAC conference. In JJC baseball history, there have been two players drafted in the MLB amateur draft: Bob Mulligan in 24th round of 1979 draft by the Twins, and Sean Gargin drafted by the Yankees in the 27th round of 1987 draft.

Degrees offered

John Jay awards bachelor's, master's degrees, and a certificate in dispute resolution. It also awards, via the CUNY Graduate Center two doctoral degrees. Double majors are prohibited.

Bachelor's

• B.S. - Computer Information Systems in Criminal Justice and Public Administration
• B.A. - Correctional Studies
• B.S. - Criminal Justice
• B.A. - Criminal Justice (B.A./M.A. offered)
• B.S. - Criminal Justice Administration and Planning (B.S./M.A. offered; B.S./M.P.A. offered)
• B.A. - Criminology
• B.A. - Deviant Behavior and Social Control
• B.S. - Fire Science
• B.A. - Fire and Emergency Services
• B.A. - Forensic Psychology (B.A./M.A. offered)
• B.S. - Forensic Science
• B.A. - Government
• B.A. - International Criminal Justice
• B.A. - Judicial Studies
• B.A. - Justice Studies (Humanities and Justice)
• B.S. - Legal Studies
• B.S. - Police Studies
• B.A. - Public Administration (B.A./M.P.A. offered)
• B.S. - Security Management

Minors

• Addiction Studies
• African-American Studies
• Anthropology
• Art
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Corrections
• Counseling
• Criminology
• Economics
• English
• Fire Science
• Gender Studies
• Government
• History
• Law
• Mathematics
• Philosophy
• Police Studies
• Psychology
• Public Administration
• Puerto Rican/Latin American Studies
• Russian
• Science
• Security Management
• Sociology
• Spanish
• Speech and Media/Theatre

Master's

• M.A. - Criminal Justice (B.A./M.A. offered)
• M.A. - Forensic Psychology (B.A./M.A. offered)
• M.A. - Forensic Mental Health Counseling (new)
• M.S. - Forensic Science
• M.S. - Forensic Computing
• M.S. - Protection Management
• M.P.A. - Public Administration (B.A./M.P.A. offered)
• M.P.A. - Inspector General Program

Doctoral

''(at the CUNY Graduate Center)

• Ph.D. - Criminal Justice
• Ph.D. - Forensic Psychology

Certificate Program

• CUNY Dispute Resolution Certificate
• Certificate in Terrorism Studies Awarded by the Center on Terrorism.

Notable Faculty

• Delores Jones Brown - scholar of race and gender
• David Kennedy - authority on gang violence
• John Matteson - winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for the biography Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father
• Rosalie Purvis - avant-garde theater director and choreographer
• Charles E. Strozier - terrorism expert

Notable Alumni

• Kimberly Amato (MA) - actress and writer
• Petri Hawkins-Byrd (BS '89) - Judge Judy bailiff
• Miguel Martinez (BS) - member of the New York City Council representing the 10th District in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill areas
• Eva Norvind (MA) - actress and director
• Imette St. Guillen - a graduate student, murdered in February, 2006, studying criminal justice; a scholarship was created in her name
• Dorothy Uhnak (BA) - writer
• Over 100 alumni and students died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Administration

The current president of John Jay is Jeremy Travis. He became the fourth president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice on August 16, 2004. Travis succeeds Gerald W. Lynch, who had been appointed as acting president in 1975, and then was named the third president in 1977. After 30 years as president, Lynch retired in 2004 as having tenured the longest senior-level administration in City University of New York history.

Popular Culture

From the Law & Order franchise, Lt. Anita Van Buren from Law & Order, ADA Ron Carver from Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and a detective on Law & Order: SVU are said to have graduated from John Jay College.

Rapper Nas mentions John Jay College in his song "Half-Time" from his most celebrated album, Illmatic.

Rap group The Lost Boyz also mentions John Jay in their song "Renee."

Rap group Run DMC also mentions John Jay in their song "Down with the King."

References

External links

• John Jay College Web Site