WKU Sociology & Criminology Alumni Profiles

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Bailey Thiry '15

Bailey Thiry graduated in the fall of 2015. She earned a bachelors in both criminology and sociology. Before earning her degrees she completed an internship with Post 3 of the Kentucky State Police. She also participated in the Trooper Island Camp the same summer.

After graduating from WKU, she entered into the criminal justice master’s program at the University of Cincinnati for one year. Bailey completed the program in the summer of 2017. After graduating with her master’s, she moved back to Bowling Green and briefly worked as a communications dispatcher for the Goodlettsville Police Department in Tennessee. Beginning in 2018, Thiry worked with the Kentucky Department of Corrections, first as a Probation and Parole Officer and later a a Reentry Employment Program Administrator.

During her time with DOC, Bailey recognized the high number of criminal offenders with histories of societal challenges such as poverty, discrimination, and victimization. In hoping to work more with victims, she began volunteering as a victim advocate with Hope Harbor Sexual Trauma Recovery Center in 2019.

After moving to Colorado with her husband, Bailey knew she wanted to continue her work with survivors of crime, and began working as Human Trafficking Program Manager at advocacy agency TESSA of Colorado Springs in 2022. She also serves on the Board of Directors for another nonprofit, Forge Evolution, which serves youth in the juvenile justice system. Through all of her roles, Bailey is rewarded by seeing clients succeed and move forward-beyond victimization, incarceration, or other challenges. She hopes to intervene in the cycle of victimization and criminality, and provide hope to those with any type of involvement in the justice system.

Some of her best memories from her time at WKU revolve around her professors. She remembers her time spent in Dr. Bohlander’s class and touring the Kentucky State Penitentiary as part of his penology class. Bailey also recalls Dr. Trojan regularly explaining criminological theories through interesting case studies and crazy hypothetical situations. “All the professors in the department were amazing, and I have spoken with a few after graduating, as they were all supportive and helpful in the job hunt.”

Bailey’s advice for current and incoming students is to remember what you learn in college. Knowing the basics and staying positive can help you stay positive in a job where everything may not be positive all the time. She says, “A degree may not help you navigate some jobs, but the things you learn are definitely important in staying empathetic when working in a field that can get pretty heavy.”