Emmy-Nominated Filmmaker Keith Beauchamp to screen documentary at Geneva College

BEAVER FALLS, PA (01/22/2015)(readMedia)-- The Common Ground Project and the Geneva College Visiting Artist and Lecture Series will present Conversations in Courage: Hood of Suspicion. A Discussion on Law, Race and Community on February 28, 2015 at 6 p.m. at John White Chapel in Old Main on Geneva's campus. Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Keith Beauchamp will present the screening of his film, Hood of Suspicion, followed by a panel discussion led by KDKA's Lynne Hayes-Freeland. Beaver Falls Police Chief Mick Jones, Geneva's new Criminal Justice faculty Dr. Mildred Johnson, Reverend Bernard Tench, and Beaver County Times Reporter J.D. Prose will join Keith Beauchamp on the panel.

In Hood of Suspicion, Keith Beauchamp delves into the 2012 case of Trayvon Martin, as well as other suspected cases of racial profiling, which have divided and continue to divide the nation. Following the screening, the panel will discuss topics presented by Hood of Suspicion as a springboard for dialogue. The community leaders and experts on the panel are expected to address the recent situations that garnered national attention, stresses between law enforcement and communities of color, valid concerns of both sides, and possible ways to move beyond racial tensions.

"It is my hope that this event will engage the community in dialogue. Rather than wait for a moment of crisis, we need to find a constructive way to have dialogue long before anything might happen," said Dr. Todd Allen, Director of The Common Ground Project, a non-profit in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania dedicated to teaching the history of the civil rights movement. "It's time for a genuine discussion."

Geneva's Christian focus and distinctive majors make the college a natural co-sponsor for this event. Beginning in the fall of 2015, Geneva is offering a new Criminal Justice major, which provides students an interdisciplinary experience, drawing from psychology, human services, sociology, and political science, to prepare students to serve God through compassionate service. It's designed to develop students into community leaders who understand service to God and neighbor, and will holistically work toward building the Kingdom of God in their local or national context. In the fall of 2015 Geneva will also offer a newly revamped Sociology major to equip students to understand social theory particularly as it connects to the everyday social life of communities and community development.

Dr. Mildred Johnson, who is serving as a panel member for the event, played an active role in developing the Criminal Justice major at Geneva. She has a doctor of Strategic Leadership degree from Regent University, and graduated from Geneva with both a bachelor's in Community Ministry and master's in Organizational Leadership. She was the Director of the Municipal Police Officers' Training Academy at Westmoreland County Community College, and has a 14-year record of service with the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police as both a patrol officer and Sergeant and Supervisor for Community Outreach and School Programs, along with leadership experience in social service settings.

Beauchamp found his calling as a filmmaker through his documentary about the story of 14-year-old Emmett Till, who in August 1955 was abducted and tortured to death because he whistled at a white woman. Since his experience making The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, Beauchamp has become passionate about seeking justice and assisting the FBI by developing new leads for some of their unsolved cases.

Beauchamp has been featured on "60 Minutes," ABC World News Tonight "Person of the Week," Court TV, MSNBC, "Good Morning America," CNN, BBC as well as in hundreds of publications around the world. He is currently the executive producer and host of Investigation Discovery's crime reality series, "The Injustice Files."

Admission to the screening and panel discussion is free and open to the public. John White Chapel is not handicapped accessible.

Geneva College invites students to step forward and leap ahead with an academically excellent, Christ-centered and affordable education. Offering nearly 40 undergraduate majors, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and campus-based options, and high-demand advanced graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top 10 Best Value with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the inerrancy of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.

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