DePaul University Newsline > Sections > Chicago Connections > Photos: Sister Helen Prejean visits DePaul book club at Cook County Jail

Photos: Sister Helen Prejean visits DePaul book club at Cook County Jail

By Julia Cremin / April 29, 2024 / Posted in: CHICAGO CONNECTIONS / Twitter / Facebook

Group Photo of book club and Sister Helen Prejean

Book club participants receive certificates from DePaul and pose with Sister Helen Prejean. (DePaul University/Keeton Holder)

Sister Helen Prejean speaks with students. (DePaul University/Keeton Holder)

Helen Damon-Moore speaking with book club member

Associate director of the Steans Center Helen Damon-Moore speaks with a book club member. (DePaul University/Keeton Holder)

DePaul student Seven Clark speaks to the group. (DePaul University, Keeton Holder)

Sister Helen Prejean listens as DePaul students and participants from Cook County Jail speak about their experiences reading "Dead Man Walking." (DePaul University, Keeton Holder)

DePaul student and book club organizer Nana Ama Ampofo laughs with another book club participant. (DePaul University/Keeton Holder)

Sister Helen Prejean distributing certificates

Sister Helen Prejean distributes certificates of completion to book club participants. (DePaul University, Keeton Holder)

Sister Helen Prejean, a leading voice for death penalty abolition, visited Cook County Jail on Monday, April 22, as part of the Steans Center’s student book club. The Associated Press attended the meeting, interviewing Prejean and student Nana Ama Ampofo about her work with DePaul’s Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. This news story was picked up internationally and has appeared in more than 280 outlets.

DePaul students have visited Cook County Jail nine times this winter to discuss books focusing on restorative justice. At this final meeting, students connected with Sister Prejean to discuss her book “Dead Man Walking” and learn about her 40+ years of working in death row ministry.

This event was part of Sister Prejean’s annual visit to Chicago and continues her relationship with DePaul. In 2011, Sister Prejean donated her personal archives to the university. She received DePaul’s highest honor, the St. Vincent de Paul Award, in 2022.