Oct. 5, 2022
On Sept. 28, DePaul presented Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., an author and activist known internationally for opposing the death penalty, with the university's highest honor, the Saint Vincent de Paul Award. Presented during a Vincentian Heritage Week luncheon, Prejean is the first recipient of the award since 2011 and only the 27th honoree since the university created it in 1965.
Read more about Prejean
in Newsline.
Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., speaks with attendees at the Saint Vincent de Paul Heritage Week Luncheon. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Prejean, left, shows Georgianna Torres Reyes, the associate vice president for student engagement in the Division of Mission and Ministry, a display of the Sister Helen Prejean Papers. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
From left, Fr. Memo Campuzano, C.M., vice president of Mission and Ministry; Prejean; and Robert L. Manuel, president of DePaul. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Campuzano delivers remarks during the Saint Vincent de Paul Heritage Week Luncheon that honored Prejean. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Torres Reyes offers an invocation during the program. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Susanne Dumbleton, professor and dean emeritus in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, speaks about Prejean's work as an advocate for restorative justice and activist against the death penalty. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
"Sister Helen’s noble work to put an end to the death penalty is deeply connected to the foundation of DePaul’s Catholic, Vincentian mission, which recognizes the sacred dignity of every individual,” Manuel said. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Following the award presentation, Jesse Cheng, an associate professor in the College of Law, hosted a discussion with Prejean. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Prejean began her anti-capital punishment work in 1982 after moving into the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans. There she became spiritual advisor for a pair of inmates sentenced to death. Those experiences led to her writing "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States." (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
In 2011, Prejean donated her personal archives to DePaul's Special Collections and Archives department. Included in the files are personal journals, notes from meetings, letters, speeches and other artifacts spanning 40 years of work opposing the death penalty. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Prejean signed copies of her books for luncheon attendees. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)