Gun Violence The Topic Of Hartwick’s Revamped Hardy Chair Lecture

The annual Hartwick College Hardy Chair Lecture returns after a hiatus newly retooled and expanded to a two-day affair. “Preventing School Violence” is the core topic that both keynote speakers and a community panel will discuss during the 51st version of the Lecture. This year the Hardy Chair Lecture which will take place Friday, February 24 – Saturday, February 25, on the College campus. The events are free and open to the public, though registration for the community luncheon on Saturday is required via this link.

Tim Daly, director of the Joyce Foundation’s Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program, and Dr. Cheryl Jonson, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Xavier University, will headline the keynote presentation on February 24 at 6 p.m. The duo will discuss the issue of preventing gun violence, pulling from their real-world experience and academic knowledge.

On Saturday morning, a roundtable of local officials including Oneonta City School District Superintendent of Schools Tom Brindley ’99, P’19, and City of Oneonta Police Chief Christopher Witzenburg will offer their perspectives on the issue. The panel discussion will be followed by a luncheon.

“The Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Human Services is proud to offer this two-day event, and we are eager for members of our community beyond Hartwick to attend and participate in this series,” says Ryan Ceresola, associate professor of sociology and co-coordinator of this year’s series along with fellow Hartwick colleague Cheryl L. Johnson, assistant professor of criminal justice. “As is clear with recent headlines, this topic is one that sadly won’t be going away anytime soon, and I’m grateful for our community partners in the school district and the police department to be a part of this conversation.”

Keynote Speakers

As director of the Joyce Foundation’s Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program in Chicago, Daly is focused on building safe and just communities in the Great Lakes region. He 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. Daily 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, he 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.

Jonson’s research focuses on the public opinion surrounding gun control and mass shootings, and civilian responses to active shooters. In addition, she has trained more than 2,500 people in active shooter responses in school and workplace settings. She has also 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.

The Hardy Chair Lecture Series was originally endowed by Dr. H. Claude Hardy and has most recently hosted such speakers as Dr. Gary LaFree in 2017, Dr. Amy Fitzgerald in 2018, and Dr. Joel Best in 2019. Hardy’s endowment provides the College with a fund that brings speakers to campus who connect their academic studies with information of interest to the contemporary community.

This year’s edition is sponsored by the Hartwick College 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.

For more information or to register to attend on the Hardy Chair Lecture, visit the website or contact Ceresola at 607-431-4272 or ceresolar@hartwick.edu.