New York, NY, October 25, 2016 – Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has announced that he will step down effective August 1, 2017.
President Travis, who took office in August 2004, said that the decision to step down was a difficult one. “I will miss serving as your President,” he noted, “but this is the right time for me to begin my next professional chapter. One compelling reason for my decision is my desire to contribute to the national discourse on crime and justice. This is a particularly challenging and exciting chapter in the nation’s history. The air crackles with urgent demands to reduce mass incarceration, reform policing, examine new roles for prosecutors and judges, bring data analytics to our understanding of the justice system, broaden our menu of options for responding to crime, and pursue racial justice and social justice as we enforce our laws. I am very eager to be more involved in these discussions at the national and local level.”
Following his tenure at John Jay, President Travis said he will continue to be affiliated with the City University of New York (CUNY). Upon approval by the CUNY Board of Trustees, he will be appointed as University Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center where he will be teaching in the doctoral program in criminal justice and conducting research projects. While retaining his New York City base, he will also serve as a Senior Fellow at the Program in Criminal Justice at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, working on the launch of a three-year Executive Session exploring new responses to crime that reflect a social justice framework.
CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken said of President Travis’s announcement: “We are fortunate to have had Jeremy at the helm for what will be 13 years of outstanding service. I am profoundly grateful for his exemplary leadership and I know he will accomplish more before he departs. He has led John Jay successfully through some of the most consequential developments in its history and we all owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. John Jay has built on its strong foundation and developed into an outstanding senior college, of which we are all proud.”
“I will leave the presidency at John Jay with a deep sense of satisfaction,” said President Travis, under whose leadership the College has been transformed. Now a senior college with a dozen liberal arts degrees and an enviable track record of academic excellence, John Jay is ranked fourth in the Northeast as “best bang for the buck.” The CUNY Justice Academy was created to serve nearly 9,000 students who would otherwise not have access to criminal justice studies. A rich mix of rigorous academic and experiential learning opportunities have established John Jay as a leader, within CUNY and nationally, in all measures of student success.
During his tenure, he has overseen the growth of the college as a strong research institution. In the past year, John Jay faculty generated nearly $25 million in research funding, and The Chronicle of Higher Education recently ranked John Jay as seventh nationally among all colleges in terms of increases in research funding over the past decade.
“We are fortunate to have such creative and dedicated faculty,” President Travis said, pointing to their scholarly output, and their work in creating new majors and restructuring the general education courses. “When we add to this list of assets the dedication of our staff, the strong engagement of our alumni, and our spectacular Foundation board, which is on track to raise $75 million by 2020 to support our students and faculty, we realize we are fortunate indeed.”
“Most importantly,” he continued, “we have reaffirmed the power of our mission of ‘educating for justice.’ No other college in the world can claim this mission. Our commitment to justice permeates our campus and gives us a strong sense of purpose and identity. Our mission of preparing the next generation of thinkers and reformers has never been more important.”
Read President Travis’s full statement here. For Chancellor Milliken’s full statement, click here.
A national search for a new president of John Jay College will be conducted consistent with the guidelines of the CUNY Board of Trustees.
Media Coverage
Jeremy Travis to Step Down as President of John Jay College in 2017
New York Times
Jeremy Travis, president of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a prominent academic voice for police reform, will step down next year after 13 years, the college announced on Tuesday. Mr. Travis said he would take a criminal justice ...
President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice to Step Down
Wall Street Journal
The president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice will step down next year, according to a statement from the chancellor of the City University of New York. Jeremy Travis, who has been at the helm for what will be 13 years, said in a statement he ...
John Jay President Travis to Step Down
The Crime Report
President Jeremy Travis of John Jay College of Criminal Justice today announced that he will be leaving in August, after 12 years at the helm of the nation's pre-eminent criminal justice education institution. Travis said he will continue to work on ...
John Jay College president to step down
Houston Chronicle - 11 hours ago
The Yale graduate has worked for the New York Police Department as a special counsel and as deputy commissioner for legal matters. He also advised Mayor Ed Koch in the late 1980s. Travis said the decision to leave was difficult, but it was the right ...
John Jay College president to step down
Washington Times
NEW YORK (AP) - The president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice is ... Travis helped transform the college into a strong research institution
John Jay College president to step down
New Jersey Herald
NEW YORK (AP) — The president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice is leaving the school after 13 years. The college announced Tuesday that ...
About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.
