Two seniors receive awards for work with Ohio Innocence Project chapter

Ohio University seniors Jocelin Arbenz and Aleah Bates took home awards when members of the local chapter of the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP-u) attended "Forging Forward: A Conference for OIP-u Leaders, Advisors, and Educators" held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

Arbenz was awarded the Hebeh Rafei Outstanding Intern Award for her work over the summer in OIP’s policy division, and Bates received the Dr. Donna Mayerson Student Leadership Award for educating students in her community on wrongful conviction. Arbenz is majoring in sociology-criminology in the College of Arts and Sciences, with minors in psychology and business administration, and Bates is majoring in political science pre-law, with minors in sociology and anthropology.

Arbenz and Bates were nominated for the awards by OIP-u advisor Larry Hayman, Esq., assistant director and pre-law advisor at the Center for Law, Justice and Culture in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Aleah and Jocelin have been exceptional leaders of OHIO’s OIP-u chapter, helping us to navigate a return to more normal programming. As a testament to their creative leadership, professionalism and integrity, OHIO was the only university to win two awards at the conference,” Hayman said.

The conference, hosted by the University of Cincinnati College of Law, consisted of various presentations from attorneys and OIP staff regarding their mission and wrongful conviction. Topics focused on families in wrongful conviction and bolstering outreach in currently underserved communities, including advocacy for Muslims and women.

“Our chapter is focusing on women in wrongful conviction this year, so it was extremely beneficial to hear about the work OIP is doing in that area, and I am excited to work alongside them for the remainder of the year,” said Bates, Ohio University OIP-u president.

The weekend of workshops culminated in a cornhole tournament on Sunday to celebrate the freedom of OIP client Robert McClendon.

"Most years, OIP marks Wrongful Conviction Day with programming that focuses on the law and science of wrongful convictions. It is sobering information that is often emotionally hard to absorb. This year, we wanted to focus on celebrating – celebrating freedom and celebrating the incredible people who find their way to freedom,” said OIP policy director Pierce Reed, an OHIO graduate who earned a B.A. in Psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1986.