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Pennsylvania Corrections Leader to Speak on Modern Penitentiary Approaches

Pennsylvania Corrections Leader to Speak on Modern Penitentiary Approaches

John Wetzel

Join the Chestnut Hill College community as it welcomes Secretary of Corrections for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, John Wetzel, who will present his lecture “A 21st Century Penitentiary Model,” Thursday, February 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the College’s East Parlor, St. Joseph Hall.

Wetzel, secretary of corrections since December 2010, is responsible for a corrections department that houses more than 51,000 inmates, employs approximately 15,000 employees and manages a budget of nearly $2 billion. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the corrections field where he began his career as a Lebanon County corrections officer in 1989. Since then, he has served as a treatment counselor, supervisor of treatment services and training academy director for nine years in Berks County.

Beginning in 2002, he served nine years as warden of the Franklin County Jail. Under his watch, the jail had a 20 percent decline in its population and a decrease in overall crime. In Wetzel’s next assignment, beginning in 2007, he was appointed by Pennsylvania’s governor at the time, Ed Rendell, to the position of Pennsylvania Board of Pardons corrections expert, where he served until his appointment to his current post as Secretary of Corrections, by Pennsylvania’s former governor, Tom Corbett. 

During Wetzel’s time as secretary, Pennsylvania had its two largest inmate reductions since 1971 with reductions of more than 400 inmates in 2012 and more than 700 inmates in 2014.

“I am happy to announce that Secretary Wetzel will be staying at the Department of Corrections. He shares my view that we need to be tough on crime and put the rights of the victims first, while protecting the taxpayers with smart reforms that reduce non-violent person sentences and ensure inmates gain skills to become productive members of society,” said newly elected Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe from a January 12, 2015 Post-Gazette.com article, “Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary Could Retain His Position,” by Karen Langley and Don Hopey.

Wetzel is a national consultant and speaker in areas that include staffing, vulnerability assessment, mentally ill offenders, employment opportunity development of formerly incarcerated offenders, population management, and mitigating impacts on families and children of incarcerated individuals. 

“We are delighted to welcome Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel to our campus,” said Chestnut Hill College’s Dr. Wolfgang Natter, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. 

“Secretary Wetzel has earned a reputation through his work as a progressive reformer. We are excited to learn more about his thoughts for the future of corrections in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, especially in light of our own mission’s emphasis on the ‘dear neighbor,’” said Dr. Natter.

Wetzel is also a former standout football player where he played offensive tackle at Bloomsburg University where he earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in psychology, played semi-pro football for the Central Penn Piranha and served as an offensive line coach at Shippensburg University. He has done master’s level coursework in applied psychology at Pennsylvania State University and lives in Chambersburg, Pa. with his wife and four daughters.

Wetzel’s lecture is free and open to the public and should generate interest from the College’s major departments such as political science, criminal justice and students in the College’s new minor in legal studies. Contact Kathleen Letts, Ph.D., SSJ, at lettsk@chc.edu or 215-248-7022 for more information.  

For more information about this press release or other Chestnut Hill College news, contact the News and Community Relations office.