Criminal Justice Students Recognized at Mars Hill University

May 6, 2020

Braxten Logan

Mars Hill University’s criminal justice department has recognized four students for outstanding work, as the spring semester comes to a close. The department presented the following awards:

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award: Devin Thorpe of Rutherfordton, North Carolina
Criminal Justice Research and/or Scholarship Award: Brett Smythe of Boca Raton, Florida
Criminal Justice Community Service Award: Braxten Logan of Gaffney, South Carolina
Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Juan Pablo Gonzalez of Fletcher, North Carolina
Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award: Juan Pablo Gonzalez of Fletcher, North Carolina

Juan Gonzalez’s thesis was titled, “Joint Airport Security Risks: When Commercial Aviation and General Aviation Airports Are Combined.”

Juan Gonzalez

“It was an honor to be the chair of Juan’s thesis committee and I am extremely proud of his ability to finish this marathon project,” said Craig Goforth, associate professor of criminal justice. “He is a talented student who will go far in this area, and we all look forward to his future accomplishments. I want to thank Dr. Sims for her guidance on this journey and Drs. (Heather) Zurburg-King and (Kweilin) Lucas for their expertise on this thesis. It was truly a departmental project.”

Barbara Sims, professor and chair of the criminal justice department, stated, “We could not be more proud of this year’s award winners. These students excelled during a semester when the department of criminal justice will graduate its largest group of students since the program was launched in spring 2013. They are all to be commended for their efforts.”

The criminal justice department at Mars Hill University offers an undergraduate major and minor, as well as a master of arts in criminal justice. The department also offers a certificate in intelligence studies, which launched this spring. Both the master’s degree and the certificate are offered entirely online.