January 20 at 7:00 p.m. until  9:00 p.m. BLC 103
 
Tuesday’s symposium session will deal with issues that affect all of us: increase in violence by females, increase in female gang participation and increase in 'all female' gangs. We will also look at the 'politics' of gang membership, and what our politicians are doing to curb the violence. Most importantly, we will discuss ways to discourage young women from becoming members themselves.
 
Special guests for this week’s symposium are:
Assistant Attorney General for the State of South Carolina: T. DeWayne Pearson
DeWayne Pearson is the lead prosecutor for Gang Crimes with the SC State Grand Jury. He has been a prosecutor for the Attorney General for five years and has handled a wide variety of cases including drug conspiracies, fraud and violent crimes.  He is a National Merit Scholar, National Achievement Scholar and won the President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. He graduated from the Florida State University Honor's College with a B.S. in Business and a B.S. in Political Science in 1999. He attended the Florida State University College of Law where he was recognized as a Virgil Hawkins Scholar and won the Wayne Hogan Mock Trial Championship.  He is a current member of the State's Gang Prevention Study Committee.
 
Special Agent, Midlands Gang Coordinator: Nicola Bryan
Nicola Bryan is a Special Agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division assigned to the Fusion Center as the Midlands Gang Coordinator. She is a graduate of Winthrop University with a major in Psychology and began her law enforcement career in 1994. She worked with the South Carolina Department of Corrections for over four years as a Correctional Officer and Gang Investigator and seven years with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy. She is a current member of the East Coast Gang Investigator’s Association and South Carolina Gang Investigators Association.
 
Richland County Sheriff's Department Gang Unit: Investigator Corporal Frieda Wyatt
Corporal Wyatt works for Richland County Sheriff’s Department Gang Unit. She began her law enforcement career in 1995 by joining the military (Army) and becoming a military police officer. She then worked for the Department of Mental Health as a Public Safety Officer. Since being employed with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department she has been a field training officer, a school resource officer, and a field supervisor in lower Richland County. In Oct of 2007 she was transferred to the Gang Unit. She is also a member of the South Carolina Gang Investigators Association.
 
Last year's National Security Symposium was a great success and we predict this one will be even better. With such a timely and provocative topic, the Political Science and History Department extends an invitation for our staff and faculty, students and others to find time to come and visit us when we meet. The symposium is open to ALL in the Columbia College Community.

The Symposium will be presented every other Tuesday (Jan 20, Feb 3, Feb 17, Mar 3, Mar 17, Mar 31, Apr 14)  from 7pm till 9:00pm in BLC103. Please contact Dr Jones x3628, or jones@columbiasc.edu for more information.