By MAKENNA WILLIAMS
Contributing Writer: EMMA TUEY
The Cold Case Analysis Center (CCAC) was thrown into temporary chaos last week when Christina Lane, program director since its founding, suddenly resigned on Oct. 31.
“We are disappointed by Tina Lane’s abrupt decision to resign.The Cold Case Analysis Center is a highly regarded Saint Rose program,” the school wrote in an emailed statement.
The CCAC was established in 2018 and is one of six such centers throughout the U.S. and the only one in New York state. These centers work with law enforcement agencies to examine unsolved missing persons and homicide cases.The other centers are located in Miami, Florida; Charlotte and Fayetteville, North Carolina; Colorado Springs and Golden, Colorado.
There was consternation and confusion among some CCAC students when Lane resigned and they saw other students in the program helping her load files into her car on Oct. 31. Some students who assisted her with the files, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that several police departments who had been working with the CCAC planned to come to collect the files after they learned that she was leaving the college. The students said that they volunteered to put the files in Lane’s car so she could take the files to other police departments who could not come to Saint Rose right away, but all files were subsequently returned to Saint Rose.
Another student in the criminal justice department who requested anonymity said that Lane told her she was planning to start a new criminal analysis center at Russell Sage College. Neither Lane nor Russell Sage College responded to requests for comments from The Chronicle.
Dean Ian MacDonald and Professor Camela Hughes have been chosen to run the CCAC program until a new director is found.The college said in its statement that it has appointed qualified faculty to ensure that instruction will continue uninterrupted, although no names of actual faculty were provided in the statement.
Hughes, a visiting assistant professor in the College’s Criminal Justice Department, will assume the role of the center’s director. She taught at the College from 2011-2018 as an adjunct professor and specializes in statistics, methodology, and drug policy. MacDonald will continue in his role as the center’s administrative supervisor.
According to an anonymous student source in the program, the CCAC will be receiving new case files for the program and will also be looking into cases involving sex crimes, unidentifiable persons and much more with the help of MacDonald and Hughes. The status of current or upcoming cases with law enforcement agencies is unclear at this time as the school has not made any statements about them.
One student in the program who requested anonymity to avoid any backlash from fellow students stated, “MacDonald and Hughes have every intention to make the program even better than ever before.”
Another student in the program, who also requested anonymity to avoid potential repercussions and further acrimony among classmates, expressed disappointment in how the situation was handled. “I am saddened by how unprofessionally Saint Rose handled this,” she wrote via text. “I wish her the best and hope more than anything that everyone can put this behind them and acknowledge that words and rumors have power. This program should be about uplifting rather than tearing each other down.”
