![]() “When he had been a member of the prison board in 1953 and made his visits to Huntsville, his teacher mentality led him to see that cooperation between the two state institutions, the penitentiary and the college, could result in a mutually beneficial collaboration.” An excerpt from “Walking George” details his earlier collaborations with the university: Prior to his start date, however, he had been influential in the implementation of the program. 31, 1972 and began his service as distinguished professor of corrections at SHSU’s Institute of Contemporary Corrections and Behavioral Sciences the very next day. Beto when I had those tough calls to make regarding criminal justice issues to get advice.”īeto concluded his stint as TDC director on Aug. “George Beto had the ability to look beyond the desire to punish and hate of the criminal enough to hate the crime and help the criminal. Whether a person is convicted depends on the quality of his defense, the hysteria of the moment in the community and the culture.”įollowing Beto’s death, close friend and state representative Allen Hightower outlined his logic and compassion in a quote reported by the Huntsville Item: “In a democratic society like ours, the death penalty is capriciously and inequitably administered. In 1969, at Beto’s urging, the Windham school district for educating inmates became a reality, the first of its kind at any prison in the country.īeto also confronted major controversies in the system, such as the death penalty process, which he described when quoted in the New York Times: He persuaded the Texas state legislature to enact a law requiring state agencies to purchase manufactured goods from state prisons, which expanded industry and training for inmates. His most notable reform efforts included the rehabilitation of inmates and his attempt at refining the method of managing prisoners, called the Texas Control Model. Over the next 10 years, he led the unprecedented development of an exemplary penal system, which served as a model for penologists throughout the international community.” “Initiatives to reform the Texas prison system occasioned Beto’s return to the state in 1962, where he was appointed director of the TDC. This reform only continued during Beto’s 10-year stint as TDC’s director, as outlined in the program printed for the ceremony in which his name was officially unveiled on SHSU’s criminal justice building: Fortuitously, his years on the board came during the time when reform of the Texas prisons was the watchword.” As a board member he established one of the earliest General Education Development (GED) testing programs for prisoners. “During his last six years in Austin, he had served on the Texas Prison Board, a volunteer board that supervised the entire prison system. “Although Beto had no real academic training in corrections and had never served in any administrative position in corrections, he had learned incidentally,” reads the inside flap of “Walking George,” a Beto biography authored by two of his former students, including SHSU graduate David M. After a brief stint at a seminary in Illinois, he left to become head of the Texas Department of Corrections. He racially integrated the institution, made it co-educational and raised it to junior college status. His original aspirations to become a Lutheran pastor led him to teach at Concordia Lutheran College in Austin to begin his career, where he spent two decades and worked his way up to president. ![]() ![]() Prior to arriving at SHSU in 1972, Beto’s name had become synonymous with criminal justice in the state of Texas. He helped establish the program as one of the best in the nation and its flagship building now bears his name. Special thanks to Barbara Kievit-Mason and University Archives for their assistance.įew individuals have done more to forge the relationship between criminal justice and education than George John Beto, who concluded his illustrious career with 19 years of service as a professor in Sam Houston State University’s College of Criminal Justice. The following is part of a series highlighting the individuals who have SHSU buildings dedicated to them on campus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |