Members of the Missouri State University chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the international criminal justice honor society, made an impressive showing at the annual conference in Chicago, Illinois, March 20-22, 2024.

Three of those students—Joshua Woolfington, Jordan Allen and Sierra Sankey—garnered top prizes in various competitions.

But as executive student officers of the organization, they also coordinated the entire conference under the guidance of their chapter advisor, Ivy Yarckow-Brown.

They were also assisted by provisionary members Taigen Mitchell and Madison Korp, who attended the conference to learn more about future leadership opportunities within the organization.

Currently, Woolfington is president, Allen is secretary and Sankey is treasurer of Alpha Phi Sigma.

MSU nabs top prizes

Woolfington, who graduates this May with a master’s in criminology and criminal justice, earned first place in the Graduate Knowledge test. He was awarded a $750 cash prize for his efforts.

Woolfington has a conditional offer with the Lincoln, Nebraska, police department after graduation. He is especially interested in working in investigations and hopes someday to be a chief of police or possibly work within a federal agency.

Meanwhile Allen, a junior double major in criminology and criminal justice and psychology, won first place in the Undergraduate Knowledge test. She also won a cash prize of $750.

Woolfington won the same prize in 2023.

Both Woolfington and Allen said they relied on the knowledge they have acquired through their program at Missouri State to prepare for the exam competitions.

“For the Knowledge Test, everything I learned during my undergraduate career at Missouri State, combined with what I have learned while doing my master’s, prepared me for it,” Woolfington said.

For her preparation, Allen said she was already studying for four different exams that she would have to take once she returned to Springfield.

“I also looked through a couple of my old notebooks to refresh my memory on past course material,” she said.

“I had heard that this test was difficult, and I admit that it was difficult,” Allen continued. “In the end, I was really happy to see all my hard work in academics pay off.”

Allen, who will graduate in 2025, plans to attend graduate school, then work in correctional counseling to help individuals transition out of incarceration.

“Da Bears” win conference quiz bowl

Under the team name “Da Bears,” Woolfington, Allen and Sankey took top honors in the conference’s quiz bowl. Each won $100 for their efforts.

“I was more proud that we won as a team because we all really worked hard to prepare for this conference together, and it feels right that we all won something together,” Allen said.

Woolfington explained that the quiz bowl consists of a random mix of criminal justice facts and trivia related to the conference host city.

Chicago hosted the event this year, which gave Woolfington and “Da Bears” a bit of an advantage.

“I am from La Grange Highlands, Illinois, which is about 15 miles southwest of Chicago,” Woolfington said. “I knew a lot about the city, and we were able to dominate when those questions were asked.”

The conference theme was “Wrongful Convictions,” but the questions for both the exam competitions and the quiz bowl covered a wide range of criminology and criminal justice topics, Yarckow-Brown said.

Key role in organizing conference

The Alpha Phi Sigma conference offers students a robust introduction to the criminal justice and criminology fields by providing speakers, presentations and scholarship knowledge competitions.

As executive officers, Woolfington, Allen and Sankey performed a variety of functions to produce a successful conference.

“They chose the theme, prepared a preliminary list of potential presenters, contacted those individuals, communicated with them to secure their presentations and introduced them at the conference,” Yarckow-Brown said.

The students also arranged conference breakfasts, and Woolfington served as assistant emcee for the entire event, she added.

Yarckow-Brown was busy with her own responsibilities while assisting the students with theirs. She worked with organization headquarters to plan and organize the conference layout and format while serving as a competition judge, exam proctor and award presenter.

Over 300 students attended the conference, Yarckow-Brown estimated, and nearly 100 students participated in the tests.

Solid leadership reputation established

MSU has established a solid leadership reputation within Alpha Phi Sigma, according to Yarckow-Brown.

“The [current] executive student officers were elected by chapters in attendance at the conferences into their current 2-year terms,” she explained.

“Missouri State University students have held these three positions—executive student president, secretary and treasurer—for five years and have one year left,” she added. “They have earned these positions by way of election for three terms and are not eligible to run for a fourth term per the organization’s constitution.”

Fun and challenging learning experience

Allen found not knowing what to expect more unnerving than the competitions.

“Ultimately, the biggest challenge I encountered was not knowing what [the] conference was going to be like because this was my first time attending,” she explained. “The second biggest challenge was organizing and coordinating the events of the conference on top of competing.”

Still, Allen admits she had fun.

“I’m glad I was a part of that experience,” she said. “Although it was a lot of work, I am still looking forward to next year’s conference.”

Woolfington appreciated the networking opportunities the conference provides.

“I’ve gotten to meet a lot of great people at conference each year,” Woolfington said. “I also enjoyed getting to see all of them again as well as meet some new people and connect with professionals who are currently working in the field.”

For Allen, the best part of the conference experience was getting time to know her colleagues.

“We would talk about past conferences, our experiences in the criminal justice department and just got to know each other better,” she said.

“As college students, we get really busy a lot of the time, so it’s really nice to take a minute to breathe.”

Yarckow-Brown was unabashed in her praise of the students.

“I’m ecstatically proud!” she said. “These are ‘my kids,’ and it is awesome to see them be so successful in representing Missouri State University.”

Explore opportunities in criminology and criminal justice

Photos by Thomi Brown.