“Above All Else, Life: An Examination of Capital Punishment,” integrated the topic into the curriculum and campus activities as a program called “Social Justice and the Liberal Arts 2005.”
The series included several events dealing with the controversial topic of the death penalty:
- A lecture by Robert Meeropol, the son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed at the height of the Cold War.
- A lecture by Ray Krone, who spent more than a decade in prison, some of it on death row, before DNA testing cleared his name.
- An interfaith theological discussion of the death penalty, with panel members addressing the issue from Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and Protestant viewpoints.
Two of the highlights of the project were the presentation of the play Dead Man Walking by the Elms College Theatre for Social Justice, and a lecture on campus by Sister Helen Prejean, who wrote the book upon which the play is based.
Sister Prejean, a nun with the Sisters of Saint Joseph order, is known internationally as a tireless crusader against the death penalty, and was instrumental in shaping the Catholic Church’s vigorous opposition to all state executions as reflected in the new catechism of the Church. She has sparked national dialogue on the issue, and raised the national conscience about the sanctity of life.
