Author targets death penalty

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.

Prejean also said 126 wrongfully convicted people have been released from death row because of the efforts of college students.

"You're only going to find poor people on death row," Prejean said, explaining that college students can make a difference because many people on death row are often too poor to afford a good lawyer.

Freshman Yevgeniya Kaliberova came to the lecture after hearing about it during a discussion of the summer reading book last semester.

"She talked about how there's always this constant struggle, and she wanted to portray that in every single page."

Prejean said she sees potential in the students on UNC's campus.

"There is a great humanness here. There is a wonderful real sense of education," Prejean said. "It's refreshing."

As part of the Carolina Performing Arts' yearlong Creative Campus project, "Criminal/Justice: The Death Penalty Examined," Prejean's lecture acted as a catalyst to spark dialogue about the death penalty.

"Since there are many perspectives being explored at this yearlong look at the death penalty, we thought that her perspective ought to be represented," said Randi Davenport, executive director of the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence.

Reed Colver, campus and community engagement coordinator for Carolina Performing Arts, said the death penalty was picked for the Creative Campus program before the reading book was chosen.

In April 2007, Carolina Performing Arts received a grant allocating more than $100,000 to discussion about the death penalty.

Students will perform Tim Robbins' version of another Prejean book, "Dead Man Walking," in April.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.