Dr. Lurie Thomason of Grambling’s Criminal Justice Department has been appointed to serve on the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice Board for the 2010-2011 year.
Dr. Thomason has been teaching at Grambling State University for 15 years.
He said it was an outstanding recognition and was ecstatic and honored about it.
Thomason was awarded the NABCJ organization’s founders award in 2002 for g advising and organizing the best student chapter at Grambling. Thomason has taken GSU students to national NABCJ conferences all over the country.
Two of Grambling’s student members served on the NABCJ national board. Along with being nominated by top criminal justice students for the Who’s Who among America’s Teachers program, Thomason is a NABCJ lifetime member. The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice started in February of 1974 and is a non-profit association that provides leaders dedicated to improving the criminal justice area. Before the NABCJ there were no other organization that dealt with issues of justice for minorities, Thomason said.
During the time NABCJ developed there were no African Americans employed in political affairs involved with criminal justice Throughout the duration of their membership, NABCJ provided a tool for initiating constructive change within the criminal justice system. The NABCJ started at Grambling in 1992. At one point in the organizations history at gram there were 200 students active.
“This organization gives Blacks and other minorities a chance to outreach and educate others about having rights when dealing with national policies,” said Thomason.
Many of GSU alumni have reached out to dozens of Grambling students in efforts to inform and assist them in any criminal justice job opportunities available.
The Grambling State chapter has developed outreach programs around campus. One in particular was a program focused on the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr died. The MLK Program March purpose was to inform individuals about the importance of ‘Stopping Violence.’
“You will find people who forget that Dr. King’s death was a result of violence. This program was an opportunity for us to get the student body involved and participate in Stopping Violence,” he said.
Dr. Thomason mentioned that many students joined in marching around Grambling and wearing dark colors for the promotion.