

Hardy Chair Lecture
Hartwick's Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Human Services presents the 51st Anniversary Hardy Chair Lecture. The lecture brings notable scholars in the world of sociology or criminal justice to campus to share their expertise and address current topics and issues.
Quick Links
2-Day Event in 2023
Preventing School Violence
February 24 & 25
Given the tragic events at Uvalde on May 24, 2022, our own close proximity to Sandy Hook elementary school, and the countless other violent attacks at schools nationwide, we hope to use this year’s lecture series to help us grapple with this question: what can be done to help prevent school violence?
Keynote Presentations
Friday, February 24; 6-7:30 p.m., Anderson Theatre, Anderson Center for the Arts
Tim Daly, Director of the Joyce Foundation’s Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program
Cheryl Jonson, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Xavier University
Community Panel & Luncheon
Saturday, February 25; 11 a.m., Shineman Chapel House
Featuring Daly and Jonson
Tom Brindley ’99, P’19, Superintendent of Schools for the Oneonta City School District
Chief Christopher Witzenburg, City of Oneonta Police Department
our KeyNote Speakers
Tim Daly
Tim Daly is Director of the Joyce Foundation’s Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program, focused on building safe and just communities in the Great Lakes region. Tim manages the Foundation’s grantmaking focused on policies and practices that reduce easy accessibility of guns to those at risk of violence; gun violence-related research and data infrastructure; litigation strategies; and education campaigns focused on the risks of gun ownership. Tim also co-directs the Foundation’s political violence pilot project, designed to respond to the threat of armed extremism, and to mitigate its impact on our democracy and democratic institutions.
Additionally, Tim serves as chair of the Fund for a Safer Future, a collaborative of 30 foundations and donors supporting efforts to prevent gun violence nationwide. He also co-chairs the gun policy action committee of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a donor collaborative focused on reducing gun violence in Chicago.
Cheryl Jonson
Cheryl Jonson, is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Xavier University. Her current research interests focus on the public opinion surrounding gun control and mass shootings, and civilian responses to active shooters.
In addition, she has trained over 2,500 people in active shooter responses in school and workplace settings.
Cheryl has published over 35 articles and chapters as well as Correctional Theory: Context and Consequences, The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future, and The Origins of American Criminology.
Community Panelists
Tom Brindley ’99, P’19 is the Superintendent of Schools for the Oneonta City School District. He began his career in education in the Oneonta City School District in September, 2000. During his time there, Tom has taught middle school social studies; coached both football and baseball in the high school; and served as the high school associate principal and principal, assistant superintendent of schools, and now as superintendent of schools. Prior to serving the Oneonta community in this capacity, Tom served as a police officer with the City of Oneonta Police Department. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Hartwick College who recognizes the value of civil service and looks forward to continuing to serve the greater Oneonta community.
Chief Christopher Witzenburg is a 25-year veteran police officer and the current police chief for the City of Oneonta Police Department. He has served the Oneonta community in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility: patrol officer; police detective, focused on violent criminal organizations and narcotics investigations, and as a cross-designated State Police investigator; patrol sergeant; detective sergeant overseeing felony and major crime investigations; lieutenant (deputy chief); and currently chief of police.
Hardy Lecture Sponsors
Education Department
Education Club
Future Music Educator Club
Hartwick Campus Advisory Board
Office of Academic Affairs
Office of the President
Office of Campus Vibrancy
Psychology Club
Sociology, Criminology, and Human Services Department
Sociology and Criminal Justice Club
Past Hardy Lectures
In addition to past speakers Immanuel Wallerstein, Kai Erikson, John Kitsuse, the most recent include:
Joel Best, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, “Facts, Fake, and Other F-Words: Critical Thinking in Contentious Times”.
Amy Fitzgerald, associate professor of criminology from the University of Windsor (Canada), “The Co-occurrence of Animal Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence: Why it Matters”.
Gary LaFree, professor of criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland and director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence headquartered at the University of Maryland, “Countering Terrorism: No Simple Solutions” .
Contacts
For more information, contact Associate Professor of Sociology, Ryan Ceresola, ceresolar@hartwick.edu or
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Cheryl Johnson, johnsonc6@hartwick.edu.