Published:
The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice is pleased to present the 2022 Graduate School Academic Achievement Award to Virginia Knudsen. During her time in the Master of Science Criminal Justice program, Virginia has demonstrated an outstanding performance in all of her classes. In particular, she has illustrated the ability to perform technical and analytical tasks in a methodological capacity. Faculty describe her as a dedicated student and a person of high integrity and empathy. In addition to her academic achievements, Virginia exemplifies the notion of being a member of a community of scholars by her relentless pursuit of scholarly inquiry and community engagement. For instance, she has served as the student moderator for a panel discussion about the consequences of marijuana legalization for CT’s criminal justice system during the fall 2021 semester. She has also been working for the CT Public Defenders Office. Virginia has been an exceptional representation of the caliber of our graduate students. Currently, she is writing her master’s thesis on how legalization of recreational marijuana affects impaired driving arrest rates. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors. Congratulations, Ginny!!