Seventh Annual Peter Roche de Coppens Spirituality Lecture Scheduled at ESU

David Garlock

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on March 6, 2020, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s department of sociology, social work & criminal justice is hosting its seventh annual Peter Roche de Coppens Sociology and Spirituality Lecture on Thursday, April 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Beers Lecture Hall. This year’s presentation by David Garlock is entitled Transformed: Faith, Reason and Justice.

Garlock is a successful returning citizen, reentry professional, and criminal justice reform advocate. He will speak about his own prison experience, his reentry into society, as well as his current outreach work.

Garlock and his brother received 25-year sentences in Alabama after taking the life of their abuser. He was released on parole in 2013 after serving more than 13 years. During his time in prison, Garlock pursued several educational opportunities. Upon his release, he earned a bachelor’s degree in urban studies with a focus on criminal justice and social welfare from Eastern University, a Christian university located near Philadelphia, Pa.

Currently Garlock serves as the Lancaster Program Director for New Person Ministries, a reentry program for men who have committed a sex offense and other returning citizens. He is also a board member for the Lancaster County Reentry Management Organization and a member of the Pennsylvania Reentry Council, a statewide coalition of county reentry organizations. Garlock is a frequent speaker at colleges and universities, criminal and social justice conferences, and community events. He particularly enjoys educating the next generation of criminal justice professionals on rehabilitation and advocating for a more effective, equitable, and holistic criminal justice system. Garlock also appears in Just Mercy, a Warner Bros film based on Bryan Stevenson’s book by the same title.

The Sociology and Spirituality Lecture is sponsored by the Peter Roche de Coppens Spirituality Fund in honor of the late Peter Roche de Coppens. Dr. Roche de Coppens was an internationally known author and scholar on spirituality. He was ESU professor of sociology from the early 1970s until his retirement in 2005.

For more information, please contact Drs. Ray Muller, 570-422-3014 or S. Hooshang Pazaki, 570-422-3281 in the sociology, social work, and criminal justice department at East Stroudsburg University.