WSU Set to Host Utah Victim Assistance Academy
OGDEN, Utah – Weber State University, in conjunction with Utah Office of Crime Victim Reparations, will host the 2009 Utah Victim Assistance Academy, June 22-26.
International recording artist Coco O’Connor will deliver the keynote address at the academy on June 22 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. O’Connor’s presentation, “Dreams: What Crime Can’t Steal, Kill or Destroy,” will feature performances and remarks drawing on her experience as a victim of violent crime (aggravated assault and kidnapping) and her recovery through her music. A question and answer period will conclude the presentation.
O’Connor has been a national speaker/presenter for National Organization for Victims Assistance (NOVA), and proceeds from her music sales go to support advocacy for victims of crime.
O’Connor’s presentation in the Shepherd Union Wildcat Theater is free to the public and all WSU students. Copies of her compact discs will be available for sale.
The Utah Victim Assistance Academy has been held at WSU for the last nine years in conjunction with the school’s Department of Criminal Justice.
On June 26, assistant criminal justice professor Julie Buck will give a free presentation on the criminal justice system from 8:15 to 9:45 a.m.
Students interested in pursuing a career in the victim assistance field are welcome to attend the training. WSU offers college credit for those students in the social work and criminal justice departments on both an undergraduate and a graduate level. The deadline to register is June 19.
The event is sponsored by Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice/Utah Crime Victim Reparations, Utah Council on Victims of Crime and Weber State University.
Visit crimevictim.utah.gov for more information about the weeklong conference and cocooconnor.com to learn more about the artist Coco O’Connor.
Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
- John Kowalewski, director of Media Relations
801-626-7212 • jkowalewski@weber.edu - Contact:
Cacey Yeates, Director of the Utah Victims Assistance Academy
801-297-2627 • cyeates@utah.govDebbie Hansen, WSU Continuing Education
801-626-6516 • dhansen@weber.edu