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carol.bakke@outsidethewire.org
Dr. Carol Meza Bakke
Dr. Carol Meza Bakke is an Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient with 12 years of military service. She joined the faculty in the School of History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences at Pittsburg State University in the fall of 2022, and began teaching as an adjunct at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare in the summer of 2024.
In October 2023, Dr. Meza Bakke was appointed to the Governor’s Military Council in Kansas. She is also the founder of Outside the Wire Veterans Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and is an accredited VA Claims Agent.
Dr. Meza Bakke earned her associate degree from Fort Scott Community College, her bachelor's degree from Pittsburg State University, and her master’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas. She holds a Ph.D. in social work from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. Her dissertation focused on active-duty women who were sexually assaulted while serving in the military and sought mental health services within the civilian sector.
Prior to joining Pittsburg State University, she worked at the Veterans Benefits Administration Regional Office in Fort Snelling, St. Paul, Minnesota, serving veterans and their families. She also has extensive experience in child welfare in the state of Kansas and has served as a court interpreter.
Dr. Meza Bakke’s research interests include military sexual trauma, intimate partner violence, best practice mental health modalities for service members, gun violence prevention, and preparing social work students to address gun violence.
In her spare time, Dr. Meza Bakke enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, tending to their hobby farm, and serving her community and the veteran population. She is passionate about rescuing homeless cats and dogs, fishing in the lakes and strip pits of Southeast Kansas, and participating in trapping, hunting, and camping.
chris.bakke@outsidethewire.org
Dr. Chris Bakke
Dr. Chris Bakke is an assistant instructional professor of Criminal Justice and one of the main advisors for the Student Veterans Organization at Pittsburg State University and co-founder of Outside the Wire Veterans Foundation 501(C)3. Bakke was born and raised in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. After a deployment to the Middle East from 2011 to 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn, he has lived in Southeast Kansas with his wife, Dr. Carol Meza-Bakke, and their two children, Heidi and Larkin, since the fall of 2012. Bakke is also a veteran who served as an infantryman with the Minnesota Army National Guard from 2005 to 2013. His overseas service included training in Norway (2006) and Germany (2007), a peacekeeping deployment to Kosovo (2007-2008), and a combat deployment to the Middle East (Kuwait and Iraq, 2011-2012). After completing his military service, Bakke earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in fraud examination from Pittsburg State University in 2014. He then served as a patrol officer with the Pittsburg Police Department from 2015 to 2017, then went on to work for the US Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration at Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 2017 to 2018. Bakke went on to complete a master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Upon graduating from OU, Bakke worked as a Child Protection Specialist for the Kansas Department for Children and Families before joining the Crawford County Sheriff's Office as a deputy sheriff in 2020, where he still currently serves as a part-time deputy. Bakke also currently serves as a Crawford County Mental Health Advisory Board Member. Bakke earned his PhD in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Intelligence from the University of North Georgia in 2024.
Bakke enjoys exploring the outdoors and spending time with his wife and two kids in his spare time. Bakke also enjoys outdoor activities around their hobby farm, fishing the lakes and strip pits throughout southeast Kansas, deer, turkey, duck hunting, and predator trapping.
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