Sister Helen Prejean, best-selling author and human rights activist, will speak about the death penalty at Gonzaga University on Oct. 11 in a program titled, “The Journey Toward Justice.” Her lecture follows a 7 p.m. performance of a one-act play “Dead Man Walking,” a reading adapted from the Oscar-nominated film by the same name, according to a Gonzaga press release.
Local students and community members will perform the one-act play.
In addition, the Rev. Blase J. Cupich, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, is scheduled to attend and participate in the program.
In 1982, Prejean was asked to correspond with a death row inmate. After witnessing his execution by electric chair she wrote the account of her experience in The New York Times best-seller, “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.” Tim Robbins adapted the screenplay for the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking,” which he directed.
This marks Prejean’s first trip back to Gonzaga since 1998 when she spoke at commencement ceremonies and was conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, according to a news release.
The Fellowship of Peace Foundation, which is organizing the program, is a Spokane-based nonprofit organization focused on ending the death penalty and promoting criminal justice system reform.
The program will be held in the Cataldo Hall Globe Room and the events are free and open to the public.
