Campus Engagement: Join the Criminology Club

With the number of criminology majors at NC State rapidly increasing, students are eager to find more ways to connect and get involved. Within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, courses challenge students to think critically about real social problems that plague our world. However, outside the classroom, there are many opportunities to continue this train of thought regarding how to apply it to a career. The Criminology Club has given students the opportunity to hear from numerous guest speakers in the criminal justice field including FBI agents, personal investigators, and law enforcement. These guest speakers generously volunteer their time to provide inspiration for future career paths and networking opportunities. I was able to sit down with the club president, Jackson Floyd, to ask him about his own experiences as a criminology major and the club itself 

Tell us a little bit about why you decided to major in criminology.

Jackson: So I actually started off in political science. I thought I wanted to go to law school; I was kind of pushed that way by members of my family. Then I ended up realizing that law enforcement and the criminal justice system were my true calling, so I switched over to criminology. By getting into criminology, (I) met a lot of good people. I got to be a part of the club in the spring of 2022, and then early this fall and realized criminology is what I want to do. 

Was there a specific class or maybe the club itself that helped influence your decision to change majors?

Jackson: Maybe not a particular class, but a combination of all of them and the subject matter is interesting to me — kind of seeing why people do certain things and how the criminal justice system aims to fix that is definitely interesting. Especially with the guest speakers, it just really reinforced that. Getting to network with people and it’s been a good experience so far. 

What made you want to take over as club president?

Jackson: Last semester, we still had some COVID remnants going on, so we didn’t have as many meetings as I think we would have wanted. I think we only had three or four guest speakers, but after I heard the Raleigh Police come in actually; I thought this has real potential, and we just need some motivated officers to organize it. So (right at the start of) this semester, I emailed the past president, Briana, and she said actually she doesn’t have time to the club anymore, so she gave my recommendation to DeeAnn (the Criminology Club advisor) and I really just wanted at that point to schedule as many people as possible because I really think the guest speakers are the backbone of the club and you’re just networking connections. I wanted to be a big part of scheduling and getting different perspectives in here as much as possible

This semester, we have more than 100 members of the club. What do you attribute this growth in popularity to?

Jackson: I think it’s a really good combination of our officers who are putting the word out there and I think our Instagram page has helped a lot. I would definitely recommend social media marketing to any other clubs out there, that’s big. Putting some fliers around the hallway helped; I think branding too. We recently redesigned our logo; we changed the club name and shortened it. It used to be the criminology and criminal justice club, but now it’s just a criminology club which is more succinct — sending out emails, constantly. Even though you might get a lot of junk mail, people are definitely reading the emails and coming to the meetings. Putting it out to the entire major in the beginning of the semester, sending them out through our advisor here that you know 300 members in criminology major really attract more people, and then once you get to the meeting our officers did a really good job with designing an icebreaker that works really well. People want to show up, they want to talk to each other and meet like-minded individuals

If a student is interested in the criminology club, what is the best way to get involved?

Jackson: Just come to the meetings and talk to people. I would say you’re going to make good connections, you’re going to meet good people, and as long as you’re engaging next semester I’m sure people are going to graduate, move away, we’re always looking for new officers and looking for new positions. This semester we created a few new positions like social media chair, event organizer, and now that we have got some start-up funds we are going to try to use that in a way that benefits the members of the club and our organization even more.

Jackson and the other officers have done a great job of getting in touch with these guest speakers with club members’ help to give all students the opportunity to hear from like-minded individuals and have their questions answered. The club also hosts a variety of other activities such as small group collaboration to solve case files and movie nights. Students of any and all majors are welcome to attend the meetings and participate in club activities.

Any prospective students interested in joining should email President Jackson Floyd at jcfloyd@ncsu.edu and follow the club’s Instagram page: @ncsucriminologyclub.

This article is by Connor Nelson, a Department of Sociology and Anthropology student ambassador majoring in criminology and minoring in forensic science.