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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Farquhar College to Host Sister Helen Prejean
The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Humanities will welcome Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, a long-time activist seeking to abolish the death penalty in the United States, to speak at Nova Southeastern University on Thursday, April 16, 2009, in the Miniaci Performing Arts Center from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sister Helen’s talk corresponds with the college’s 2008-2009 academic theme of “Life and Death.”
Born in 1939 in Baton Rouge, La., Sister Helen joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957. She began her prison ministry in 1981 when she became pen pals with Patrick Sonnier, a convicted murderer who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. Upon Sonnier’s request, Sister Helen repeatedly visited him as his spiritual advisor. In doing so, her eyes were opened to the Louisiana execution process.
Sister Helen’s 1993 book about her experiences, Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, was a No. 1 New York Times best-seller for 31 weeks and also was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Dead Man Walking was adapted into a 1996 motion picture written and directed by Tim Robbins and starring Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen and Sean Penn as a death-row inmate.
Sister Helen has become one of the most visible, leading activists in the fight to abolish the death penalty in the United States. Her second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, was published in 2004, and Sister Helen continues to educate the public about the death penalty by lecturing, organizing, and writing.
This event is free, however, tickets are required. Beginning Monday, March 23, 2009, tickets will be available in the college’s Office of the Dean, located in the Mailman-Hollywood Building, second floor, or by calling (954) 262-8236.
For more information, visit www.undergrad.nova.edu/articles/dss/sisterhelen.