The American Criminal Justice Association-Iota Kappa Chi at UTRGV won more than a dozen awards at the Region 2 Conference hosted Oct. 10-12 by the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
The club competed in testing, physical fitness and agility, crime scene investigations and firearm shooting. Students were recognized in every category and competed against schools from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Iota Kappa Chi earned eight first-place, five second-place and five third-place awards.
In the physical fitness category, junior Carlos Verdugo placed first, senior Marcela Galvan placed second and senior Evelyn Barajas placed third.
Eleven students in the club competed in their respective disciplines. As a whole, the club competed in all categories.
Graduate students Jose Mata, the club’s vice president, and Danya Martinez competed at the professional-level, placing second and fourth, respectively, in firearm shooting and collectively placed first with Michael Sanchez, a criminal justice professor and club adviser.
The two graduate students also placed third in crime scene investigations with Marguerite DeWitt, a criminal justice professor and one of the club’s advisers.
Undergraduate-level students also placed in all categories.
“Itzel [Abundis], our president, and the other officers that were there really carried the ball on maintaining a very cohesive, dignified, professional group of young people. It was outstanding,” said DeWitt.
The competition lasted two days and member Alma Castro, a criminal justice junior, said this was her first time attending the competition and described her experience as very eye-opening.
The club has been training for this conference since last year, the advisers said. Castro said she practiced every Saturday since July for the event.
“This group was self-disciplined enough to where everybody had fun and we
did a lot of things together,” said Sanchez.
“Win or lose, we gained some experience in it and knowledge,” said Abundis, a criminal justice junior. Abundis competed in CSI, firearms and testing, and placed second in testing in police organization and management, which consisted of a multiple-choice exam.
Asked what the most challenging part of the conference was, Abundis replied, “To keep everyone safe … We were out of home, so you never know what can happen.”
Abundis said she would like to thank her advisers for their support and mentoring to get to them to this level.
Next for Iota Kappa Chi is nationals, which will be held March 22 to 27 in Kansa City, Missouri.
“We’re hoping to find some sponsorships and funding to go to nationals,” Sanchez said.
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