NU professor honored by the American Society of Criminology

Dec. 15—Dana L. Radatz, Ph.D., associate professor of criminal justice administration at Niagara University, was honored by the American Society of Criminology's Division of Feminist Criminology with its 2023 Community Engaged Scholar Award in recognition of the collaborative work she has done with gender-based violence prevention.

Specifically, the group pointed out Radatz's work with Pinnacle Community Services as a board member and community partner, and other community organizations on gender-based violence prevention, including the Child Advocacy Center of Niagara, New York State Police, Niagara County District Attorney's Office, Niagara Falls Police Department, Niagara County Sheriff's Office and Victim Assistance Unit, the Seven Dancers Coalition and the YWCA of the Niagara Frontier.

All three pillars of Radatz's work — research, teaching, and service — are intertwined and rooted in researcher-practitioner partnerships, and she has worked extensively with community partners throughout her career, the award noted.

Within her first year at Niagara University, she performed grant work for the Safe Harbor programs in local counties and began building connections with local agencies that work to address gender-based violence. Since 2016, she has served as a steering committee member for the Niagara County Family Violence Intervention Project, a coalition of local agencies that addresses interpersonal violence through education and training. She has also developed student internship opportunities with many of these organizations and hosted many as guest speakers.

Throughout her tenure at NU, she and colleague, Jennifer Beebe, associate professor of clinical mental health counseling, have worked to build a comprehensive model of violence prevention on campus that incorporates community partners and co-organize two annual events, Take Back the Night and Living in Light: The Art of Healing which focus on awareness and prevention of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. They also secured two Office on Violence Against Women campus grants, which enabled the university to elevate and expand these and other programs through the establishment of the Office for Violence Prevention & Education.

The ASC's Division on Feminist Criminology facilitates and promotes research and theory development, pedagogical strategies, and curricular enhancement that strengthen the links between gender, crime, and justice.

Radatz accepted the award at the organization's annual meeting in Philadelphia in November.