The Department of Legal Studies Branches Out

Link 1- Barney brown speaker
Link 2- Student organization

Alexandra Harper

OXFORD- Miss. 

The Department of Legal Studies at the University of Mississippi enhances its curriculum to better educate students by starting organizations on campus as well as bringing in influential speakers to talk to the student body. 

The Department of Legal Studies hosts a student led organization that is open to all students with an interest in the criminal justice system or paralegal studies. The organization helps bring in guest speakers to talk to students and faculty about situations involving criminal justice. 

Linda Keena, University assistant professor of criminal justice, said, “the student organization not only focuses on campus studies, but also contributes to the community of Oxford by visiting elementary schools and teaching children about the justice system.”

Assistant Dean of Students, Melinda Carlson, said, “Our students being involved in the campus organization could potentially have a noticeable influence on the community because teaching younger kids at elementary schools the justice system could help prevent any bad decisions they might make later in life.”

In May of 2012, Barney Brown spoke in Farley Hall about his 38-year imprisonment and being falsely accused of raping a women in 1970. In an interview with the Ole Miss communications department, Brown said that it was education that saved him throughout the entire duration he was in prison. 

When asked about Brown coming to speak to the University, Keena said, “by attending, students have the rare opportunity to see the theories and procedures discussed in the classroom being applied to actual life; it’s an invaluable experience.”

Carley Keyes, a sophomore legal studies major, said, “hearing a speaker’s story is eye-opening because you have a better understanding about criminal justice rather than just reading something in a textbook.”

The Department of Legal Studies’ honorary society, Alpha Pi Sigma, attends a conference every March where they hand pick speakers to come to Ole Miss the following year.