News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Summer  2005 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Rene Abadie Date: 9/15/05   Click on image for publication quality photo  SISTER HELEN PREJEAN TO LAUNCH SOUTHEASTERN’S NEW SOCIAL JUSTICE LECTURE SERIES        HAMMOND -- Internationally recognized death penalty opponent Sr. Helen Prejean will launch a new social justice lecture series at Southeastern Louisiana University in an address scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, in the university’s Student Union Theatre.        Open to the general public, the free lecture, entitled “Dead Man Walking – the Journey Continues,” is sponsored by the Southeastern Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Copies of her books -- “Dead Man Walking, An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States” and “Death of Innocents” – will be available for sale and autographs following the talk.        “We are pleased to have an individual such as Sr. Helen Prejean initiate our annual lecture series,” said Yanyi K. Djamba of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. “Her international reputation as a tireless worker against the death penalty makes her ideal to launch this program.” He said future programs will include films, panels and roundtable discussions on social justice issues that affect everyone from a local to international level.        Sr. Helen is a Louisiana native whose book “Dead Man Walking,” was number one on the New York Times Best Seller List for 31 weeks and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The work was developed into a major motion picture starring Susan Sarandon as Sr. Helen and Sean Penn as a death row inmate. The film received four Oscar nominations with Sarandon winning the award for Best Actress.        A member of the Catholic order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, she holds bachelor degrees in English and education from St. Mary’s Dominican College and a master’s degree in religious education from St. Paul’s University, Ottawa, Canada.         Sister Helen began her prison ministry in 1981 when she dedicated her life to the poor of New Orleans. While living in the St. Thomas housing project, she became acquainted with a convicted killer on death row at Louisiana’s Angola State Prison, serving as his spiritual advisor. Frequently interviewed by the media, Sr. Helen has been featured in the “New York Times Magazine” and on programs such as CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the NBC “Today Show,” and the ABC “World News Tonight.”