WRITTEN BY: KENDALL TRUMP, CLASS OF 2013
F ACU LT Y S PO T LIG H T
CRIMINAL JUSTICE Keyria Rodgers, Director of Criminal Justice
Millikin University professor Keyria Rodgers didn’t set out for a career in teaching and criminal justice when she began attending University of Illinois-Springfield (UIS) on a basketball scholarship in 2005. At the time she wanted to design video games and was working toward a major in graphic design, but remained unsure about pursuing visual arts. MIL LIKIN MAGA ZIN E
Sixteen years later, Rodgers’ career in criminal justice, government and higher-education is accomplished and far-reaching. Professor Rodgers is now director of Millikin University’s Criminal Justice Department and director of the Macon County Teen Justice Program. Additionally, in December 2020, Professor Rodgers was appointed by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission where she will serve a three-year term.
Professor Rodgers’ path toward criminal justice began when she asked a gentleman about his role at UIS while picking up her niece from daycare and he replied that he was involved in criminal justice. “I inquired about switching my major and did just that,” said Rodgers. “I took my very first criminal justice class on juvenile delinquency and I was hooked.”
