Younginer puts CJ degree to work

By Charleston Southern on April 5, 2011 - 12:21 pm in Leading / no comments

Attending a new program at a university may not seem like a big deal, but the degree Bill Younginer ’77 earned at CSU opened up doors for him in the Air Force and his career. Today, Younginer is chief of police for the Carolina Beach, N.C., Police Department.

Younginer received an associate’s degree from Spartanburg Methodist College and was looking to return to the Charleston area to further his education. He is originally from Moncks Corner.

In the 1970s, CSU (then Baptist College at Charleston) was one of the few colleges in South Carolina offering a criminal justice curriculum. Five students earned the first criminal justice degrees from CSU in 1977.

Younginer found the prospect of “being the first to receive this degree” exciting, and he said it made his graduation more special.

His fondest memories about the program were the guest speakers who visited the classroom and interning with the North Charleston Police Department.

During his time at CSU, Younginer said, “God taught me a very special thing about criminal justice. You will meet many so-called bad people, but always treat them as you would want to be treated. I have always kept this in mind and tried to help people get out of bad situations. This has made me feel good about those that I have arrested because I almost always try to warn and instruct them before they end up in prison. Many have thanked me, even those who ultimately went to prison anyway.”

Younginer gives this advice to current criminal justice students, “Be true to yourself, put your family first and keep a five year plan of what you want to do and where you want to be.”

In addition to the criminal justice degree, Younginer was in the AFROTC program during college. He graduated as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served in the Air Force police around the country and in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm and was an ROTC instructor at Clemson University. He completed a master’s degree in criminal justice at Central Missouri State University and retired from the Air Force in 1994 holding numerous military decorations.

Younginer has since served in law enforcement in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina. He and his wife have two grown children.

Other criminal justice graduates in the first class were Francisco Ramos, Vickie McClure, David Smith and Jerry Nettles.

Tags: Bill Younginer Criminal Justice