Christine Devine pulled double responsibility on the ninth and last ceremony of the Cal State LA Graduation on the historic Shrine Auditorium on Wednesday, Could 21.
First, the longtime FOX 11 Los Angeles journalist lined 5 paroled members of the college’s Jail Commencement Initiative (PGI) earlier than and after they crossed the stage to obtain their bachelor’s levels. She later took the identical stage to obtain the inaugural President’s Award for her journalistic dedication to telling the tales of the underserved, the disenfranchised, and the missed.
“This award is given to somebody who helps propel the mission of Cal State LA,” President Berenecea Johnson Eanes stated. “The awardee is an envoy and a champion. Few individuals embody the spirit of this award greater than Dr. Devine. Her ongoing protection of social work, foster care, and people incarcerated or previously incarcerated exemplifies what it means to have stewardship of the L.A. group.”
Devine actually went from the press field to the stage to obtain the award from President Eanes. She went from telling a narrative to being the story.
“It’s fairly the consideration to obtain the inaugural President’s Award from the primary lady president at Cal State LA,” Devine stated in an interview previous to receiving the award.
The 16-time Emmy Award winner is finest recognized for her long-running “Wednesday’s Little one” adoption phase, which has led to greater than 455 foster youngsters discovering adoptive households since 1994. Devine additionally authored the e book, Discovering a Without end Household: A Information Anchor’s Pocket book on Adoption inside the Foster Care System. In 2009, she acquired a Congressional award for her work.
Devine has additionally been documenting the progress of PGI, the primary in-person bachelor’s diploma completion program for incarcerated college students in California. So far, PGI has graduated greater than 50 college students from the California State Jail, Los Angeles County in Lancaster. PGI has additionally expanded to the California Establishment for Males (CIM) and the California Establishment for Girls (CIW), each in Chino.
“She has helped this system’s profile develop inside Los Angeles and inside California,” stated Bidhan Roy, PGI’s program director. “Lots of people in jail watch Christine. I’ve acquired so many letters, so many telephone calls from individuals across the state saying they had been impressed by her protection and that they need pursue training themselves. She’s had an amazing influence in that means—for our incarcerated college students and for our future college students.”
4 PGI graduates who’ve been paroled—Casi Amezcua, Edwin Cruz, Kunlyna Tauch, and Dallas Wright—participated in Graduation. They beforehand acquired their Bachelor of Arts in Communication through the commencement ceremony of PGI’s third cohort on the California State Jail on Dec. 5, 2024, one in all a number of occasions Devine has highlighted for FOX 11.
A fifth scholar, Nicole Carroll, attended a Graduation ceremony earlier within the day to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She was paroled from CIW in 2023.
“[Devine] sheds mild on our tales,” stated Wright. “You actually don’t see all these tales within the information. There are numerous issues about individuals in jail and folks popping out of jail which are misunderstood. For her to exit of her option to inform our tales speaks volumes.”
Devine’s compassionate means of telling tales stems from her upbringing. In her speech, she spoke about her adopted youthful brother, who struggled to beat a troublesome childhood, was incarcerated, and died of an overdose on the age of 33.
“I do all these tales with a ardour, and a curiosity, and a compassion that come from my family,” Devine stated. “I really feel like [my brother] seems down on me with steering and with knowledge, and he’s cheering me on. I do each story with him in thoughts, and youth in thoughts.”
In 2021, Cal State LA conferred an honorary diploma of Physician of Humane Letters on Devine.
Her quite a few honors additionally embrace the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Angels in Adoption award, two Gracie Allen Awards from the American Girls in Radio and Tv, the Society of Skilled Journalists’ Anna Quindlen Award for Neighborhood Service, Volunteers of America Los Angeles’ Media Volunteer of the Yr award, the Little one Welfare League of America award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Century Metropolis Chamber of Commerce.
