Monday night in Memorial Hall, Sister Helen Prejean spoke to a crowd of 600 people, bringing her experience with death to life.
Prejean is the author of the 2007 summer reading book, "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," which is based on her firsthand experience with two men on death row who she believed to be wrongly convicted.
As a spiritual adviser to several men who faced the death penalty, Prejean shared vivid stories contrasting the tension between upholding the death penalty and recognizing a person's humanity.
"This process of weighing is supposed to be rational," Prejean said. "There is no rationality here."
Prejean described the situation as the human heart in conflict with itself.
An English major at St. Mary's Dominican College, Prejean said she believed her ability to write emerged because it was time to tell the world about her encounters with people facing death. She encouraged students in the crowd to use their writing abilities to tell their own stories.
"The seeds of our education sit inside us 'til we're ready to bloom," Prejean said.
Throughout her lecture, Prejean highlighted the inconsistency in the races represented on death row.