April 10, 2000
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Candace Clark (left) and JUST Peer Mentors Jennifer Novak, Nydia DeJesus and Michelle Zube collect stuffed animals for children at the Passaic County Child Advocacy Center.
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While most mentoring programs are about providing guidance and direction, the Justice Studies (JUST) Peer Mentoring Program takes the concept one step further by creating a sense of community among students in the program.
Organized this semester, the JUST Peer Mentoring Program is directed by Candace Clark, who began a similar program in sociology in 1997. When the new major in justice studies began in the fall, Clark thought a mentoring program would be a great benefit to the students.
"It's not only a way of getting students in the three concentrations (child advocacy, justice systems and paralegal studies) to communicate," Clark explained, "but it also is a way of creating a sense of community within the justice studies program."
Michele Behnken is one of seven JUST peer mentors this semester. "One of our basic functions is to help guide students who are interested in justice studies," she said. "We are here to provide them with direction, such as sending them to the appropriate advisers, helping them with class schedules and even preparing their career portfolios."
The JUST Peer Mentoring Program also sponsors programs and events related to the three areas of study. The first event was a stuffed animal drive for child victims of sexual and physical abuse. "Donations of new and used stuffed animals will be given to the children at the Passaic County Child Advocacy Center," said Behnken, who along with the other mentors, receive training in leadership skills and three credits for their efforts. "We hope it will give them some comfort after going through the traumatic interview process of recounting terrible events in their lives."
Mentors also organize speakers and panel discussions on topics such as arson, hostage negotiation, prosecuting child abuse cases and violence experienced by welfare mothers. "The program allows me to meet different people in all areas of justice studies, which has broadened my life," Behnken said. "I might like to go into a high school setting and help conduct a peer mentoring program."
Peer mentors hold office hours throughout the week in the Justice Studies conference room in Dickson Hall, Room 114.