The record-setting number of graduates at the 2004 Monroe College commencements included twenty-seven criminal justice students who received their associate degrees after the program’s first year. Five of the criminal justice graduates will enter the NYPD police academy in July, one will enter the NY State Park Police Academy in August, and sixteen will pursue their bachelor’s degrees at Monroe.

“This year’s graduation was a benchmark for the Monroe Criminal Justice program,” said department chairman William McDonald, PhD. “After only one year, because of our dedicated, hard-working, professional faculty, we’re already fulfilling some of the goals we established when we launched the program. Criminal Justice at Monroe is proving to be an entrée into careers, as well as the foundation for advanced study.”

The Monroe College Criminal Justice Program offers a wide range of courses leading to careers in law enforcement, corrections, social work, probation, treatment and counseling, juvenile and family advocacy, the court systems, and other related fields. All of the courses are taught by criminal justice professionals who have many years of experience and unique insights.

Criminal justice courses are offered during the day, evening, weekend, and online. For those who qualify, transfer and life-experience credits are accepted and financial aid is available. As with all Monroe College programs, criminal justice students will receive lifetime career placement assistance. In the Bronx and Westchester campus graduations, Monroe College President Stephen J. Jerome conferred college degrees on 1,886 students, the greatest number of students in the school’s history. The college also presented 319 awards for academic achievement, another record.

At the Bronx commencement ceremony held on Saturday, June 12 at Columbia’s Wein Stadium, 497 students received bachelor’s degrees and 895 students received associate degrees. At the New Rochelle graduation ceremony held on Tuesday, June 8 at the Westchester County Center, 197 students were granted bachelor’s degrees and 297 students received associate degrees. A total of thirty-nine graduates were presented with Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards for attaining final GPA’s of 4.0 and 280 students received departmental honors for attaining final GPA’s of more than 3.75.