Dear CJ students,

I write this with a heavy heart. On April 16, a beloved and superb teacher, scholar, and friend, the former Director of the Program in Criminal Justice, Pat Carr, died from the cancer he had been battling for almost a decade.

Prof. Carr joined Rutgers, in Sociology and Criminal Justice, in 2005. He was well known for his outstanding work on young people and policing, youth violence and social control, and the transition to adulthood, including the books Clean Streets, Hollowing Out the Middle, Coming of Age in America, and Theories of Crime. But he always said that he was happiest in the classroom. His students meant the world to him. Even as he was back in treatment last spring, he didn’t miss a single class meeting, a testament to his dedication to his students.

I recall that I wanted to see him teach last year, so I sat in on a session of his Juvenile Justice class. He did a marvelous job of providing information and asking questions, giving students lots of time to talk, and yet keeping the class focused, and all with his normal sharp wit. I then found out that he hadn’t even planned to teach that day; he was supposed to have a guest lecturer, but the guest canceled at the last minute and Prof. Carr just stepped up without missing a beat. Only the best teachers can do that.

He was, to quote Julie Philips, the chair of the Department of Sociology, “a valued and beloved colleague – he gave honest and savvy advice, often with a dose of his wicked humor, and was extremely thoughtful, creative and resourceful in addressing problems. He was one of a kind.”

In the future, we as a Program will be devising other ways to honor him as well. We’ll keep you posted as those plans become concrete.

Meanwhile, if you'd like, you can make a donation to the Calliope Joy Foundation, established by Pat and his wife Maria Kefalas after their daughter was diagnosed with leukodystrophy. If you would like to send a note of condolence to Pat’s family, you can send to Maria Kefalas and his children (Camille (20), PJ (17) and Cal (10)), 420 Conshohocken State Road, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004.

 

You can find other remembrances of Pat Carr here:
Rutgers Today
Beacon Press
The Philadelphia Inquirer

 

Yours,

Alec Walen

Director, Program in Criminal Justice