Sixteen Howard Payne University students were recently honored for the successful completion of criminal justice internships. The students were recognized at the annual luncheon held at HPU’s Girling Center for Social Justice.

Students are required to complete 150 hours of service which reflects three credit hours toward their major in criminal justice. Internships include working with “at risk” students and adults at local, state and federal agencies as well as positions with law firms, law enforcement agencies and many other organizations that help students prepare for a future in the field of criminal justice.

“This is a great example of how community and university relations are supposed to work,” said Lynn Humeniuk, associate professor of sociology and director of HPU’s criminal justice program. “My students learned valuable on-the-job experience from these extremely knowledgeable supervisors. It is such a blessing to have these young men and women be able to give back to the community as interns.”

Participating students were Aaron Alvarado of Idalou, intern at Brownwood Police Department; Jaime Benitez of Carrollton, intern at Brownwood Police Department; Eric Bunch of Round Rock, intern at Brown County Boys and Girls Club; JC Butts of Coleman, intern at Brown County Juvenile Probation Department; Brittany Davis of Brownwood, intern at The Ark Domestic Violence Shelter; Cory Edwards of Oak Point, intern at New Horizons Residential Center; Carlo Flores of La Feria, intern at Immigrations and Customs Service; Roshonda Gayden of Beaumont, intern at Brown County Boys and Girls Club; Lorenzo Green of Killeen, intern at Simplex Grinnell Security Systems; Christopher Lee of Tyler, intern at the Department of Public Safety in Brownwood; Joey Lewis of Bangs, intern at Brown County Adult Probation Department; Amy Martin of Brownwood, intern at Texas Juvenile Justice Department; Elizabeth Miffleton of Comanche, intern at Early Police Department; Ruth Morris of Granbury, intern at Brown County Sheriff’s Office; Theron Parson of Bangs, intern at the Department of Public Safety in Brownwood; and Aimee Ray of Martindale, intern at Abundant Life Church.

Pictured above:  Sixteen students recently completed criminal justice internships through Howard Payne University. Pictured, from left, are: Jaime Benitez, intern; Stacy Reitz, mentor; Lorenzo Green, intern; Joey Lewis, intern; Lisa Ritter, mentor; JC Butts, intern; Aaron Alvarado, intern; Penny Riggs, mentor; Cory Edwards, intern; Amy Martin, intern; Assistant Chief James Fuller, mentor; Danny Willingham, mentor; Roshonda Gayden, intern; Eric Bunch, intern; Chief Deputy Bobby Duvall, mentor; Chief Mike Corley, mentor; Elizabeth Miffleton, intern; Sheriff Bobby Grubbs, mentor; Ruth Morris, intern; Sergeant Jason Shea, mentor; Sandra Garcia, mentor; Christopher Lee, intern; and Theron Parson, intern. Not pictured are interns Brittany Davis, Carlo Flores and Aimee Ray.