Father and daughter will receive master’s degrees in criminal justice together

By Mike Porter

Victor Williams has risen through the ranks of the Capital Region Airport Commission over the last 26 years, currently serving as director of public safety. His daughter, Jessica Williams, is looking to start a similar career. On Saturday, Dec. 8, the father and daughter will receive master’s degrees in criminal justice from Virginia Commonwealth University during fall commencement exercises.

“This is my Christmas present,” Victor said. “I’m going to finish the program, march with her and get the degree. You couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present.”

While Victor Williams, 50, is eligible for retirement in 2010, he won’t be settling into an easy chair. After completing VCU’s first Public Safety Institute class in the fall of 2005, Victor began to think about continuing his education as a way of launching a second career.

“I have plenty of experience, but I wanted the degree,” he said.

But he didn’t act until after Jessica completed VCU’s Public Safety Institute class a year later and started talking about pursuing a master’s degree in criminal justice.

Jessica, 24, received her undergraduate degree at North Carolina A&T University. The more she learned about VCU’s criminal justice master’s program, the more interested she became. And the self-proclaimed “biggest daddy’s girl ever” persuaded her father to get his degree as well.

“I said, ‘let’s do this together,’” Jessica said.

In the beginning, her father wasn’t so sure.

“She pushes me,” Victor said. “At the time, we were talking about it, and I said, ‘if I get a master’s degree’ and she jumped in and said, ‘you will get a master’s degree.’”

Pursuing their degrees together has been both rewarding and a little intimidating. 

“When I first began the classes, I kept wondering whether I would be able to compete with students who were half my age. I soon realized that my brain still works and I can compete,” Victor said.

The pair took one class together this semester. Their Principles of Public Administration class met Mondays from 7 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. The weekly routine required Victor to leave work, drive to Chesterfield County to pick up his daughter and then drive back to VCU. Victor won’t miss the drive, but both admit they’ll miss the time they spent together on the ride.

They credit the program and their professors for offering an excellent learning environment.

“The faculty can’t be beat. They offer a lot of expertise in the field and they’re very personable,” Jessica said. “And coming from different places, we’ve realized they interact well with students who have a lot of experience and with beginners,” Jessica said.

Both have learned from their professors, but as they sat down to reflect on the experience, they realized they’d learned quite a bit from each other as well.

“We discuss and debate about what we’re learning and go over each other’s work,” Victor said. “And yes, I learn from her too.”

“Aw, do you?” Jessica asked. “I never knew that before.”

Victor and Jessica Williams join 1,600 other students receiving degrees on Saturday.