BW criminal justice grad advocates for domestic violence survivors

While law enforcement may be the more typical application for her major, Ellie Templeton '21 set out to use her degree for social justice and change.

Baldwin Wallace University criminal justice graduate Ellie Templeton '21 works at the nonprofit organization Genesis House Lorain County Safe Harbor, where they believe "love shouldn't hurt."

Templeton serves as the coordinator of juvenile justice and as a legal advocate at the nonprofit, which provides comprehensive domestic violence services in Lorain County, Ohio.

On the job, Templeton helps survivors of domestic violence "understand their rights as crime victims, providing support, accompanying victims to court hearings, and obtaining protection orders," as described by the Genesis House website.

"I'm only in the beginning of my career, just one year in, but I have experienced so much and love every single day of work," Templeton says.

Social change-maker

While on BW's campus, she was involved in the Crime Society Club. "I was the president of the Crime Society Club my junior year at BW and was a Criminal Justice student ambassador for two years."

Templeton found that studying criminal justice at BW helped her find a career in which she can help people in as many ways as possible.

"A degree in criminal justice is much more than preparing for a career in law enforcement," she explains. "If you're a person who wants to change the world and help others, criminal justice can meet these aspirations within the world of social justice and change!"

Nonprofit dreams

Templeton stays connected to Baldwin Wallace through the philanthropy organization Women for BW. She also appreciates the connections she forged with BW faculty.

"The criminal justice faculty at BW worked hard to give me the tools needed to succeed," she says. "I'd also be nowhere near where I am now without the support of the friends I made during the time I spent attending BW."

Her long-term career goal is to be the director of a nonprofit, running a restaurant that employs survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.