Throughout Harper's career as a professor of criminology he has had a mixed crowd of students sit before him. Some take classes because they are interested in the lucrative field of criminology. Others are law students. Some are already involved in the law profession and are seeking to sharpen their skills or raise their salaries. We have 60 freshmen and five transfer applicants in the bachelor of arts in criminal justice program in the College of Arts and Sciences this coming fall, and we're doing all we can to hire faculty to support the incoming students.
Harper is also fervently active in getting students involved in internships.
Some past internships were at the FBI, coroner's offices, NOPD, and Delta Airlines Security. Students also have taken trips to homicide sites. Harper is unabashed when he says he loves getting his students involved in the actual work of criminology, going beyond the classroom. Concerning his love of bicycling, I asked about the picture of him at a racetrack posted on his faculty website. He told me the picture was taken in 1985 or 1986, when he rode in the Olympic trials.