Ferrum College News - National and Regional Participants Invited to Ferrum College During Year-long Focus on the Death Penalty

     A best selling author and an exonerated death row inmate will be among participants in events planned at Ferrum College that will focus on the many controversial issues related to the death penalty as part of the College’s year-long emphasis on Social and Economic Justice: Regional and Global Connections.

     On Wednesday, November 28, Cliff Hapgood, Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Mike Trochim, Ferrum College History Professor, will lay out the case for the death penalty. On Tuesday, December 4, Jack Payden-Travers, Director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, will be joined by death row spiritual advisor Chris Payden-Travers and exonerated former death row inmate Michael Graham to take the position that the death penalty should be abolished. Panels on both days will take place at 7 p.m. in the Panther’s Den on the Ferrum campus and are free to the public.

     At the November 28 panel, Trochim and Hapgood will lay out the historical context and rationale for the death penalty, its utility to a prosecutor, and how the issue may tie in with other social and economic justice matters. At the December 4 panel, the Payden-Travers’ will engage the same topics from an anti-death penalty point of view. Graham will reflect upon his 14 years on death row in Louisiana before his conviction was overturned.

     The Ferrum College Drama Department, under the direction of Professor of Drama Wayne Bowman, will perform “Dead Man Walking,” based upon the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean. Shows are scheduled in the Sale Theater on the Ferrum campus at 7:30 p.m. on November 29, 30 and December 1; and at 2 p.m. on December 2. Sister Prejean, who also wrote “Death of Innocents,” is a nationally known advocate against the death penalty. She will be the featured speaker for the Wright Lecture Series on the Ferrum campus on April 14, 2008.

     For more information about these events, contact Pete Crow at pcrow@ferrum.edu or (540) 365-4320 or Wayne Bowman at wbowman@ferrum.edu or (540) 365-4338.

     Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.

National and Regional Participants Invited to Ferrum College During Year-long Focus on the Death Penalty
For immediate release: November 12, 2007	Contact: Natalie Faunce, (540) 365-4301 nfaunce@ferrum.edu
A best selling author and an exonerated death row inmate will be among participants in events planned at Ferrum College that will focus on the many controversial issues related to the death penalty as part of the College’s year-long emphasis on Social and Economic Justice: Regional and Global Connections. On Wednesday, November 28, Cliff Hapgood, Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Mike Trochim, Ferrum College History Professor, will lay out the case for the death penalty. On Tuesday, December 4, Jack Payden-Travers, Director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, will be joined by death row spiritual advisor Chris Payden-Travers and exonerated former death row inmate Michael Graham to take the position that the death penalty should be abolished. Panels on both days will take place at 7 p.m. in the Panther’s Den on the Ferrum campus and are free to the public. At the November 28 panel, Trochim and Hapgood will lay out the historical context and rationale for the death penalty, its utility to a prosecutor, and how the issue may tie in with other social and economic justice matters. At the December 4 panel, the Payden-Travers’ will engage the same topics from an anti-death penalty point of view. Graham will reflect upon his 14 years on death row in Louisiana before his conviction was overturned. The Ferrum College Drama Department, under the direction of Professor of Drama Wayne Bowman, will perform “Dead Man Walking,” based upon the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean. Shows are scheduled in the Sale Theater on the Ferrum campus at 7:30 p.m. on November 29, 30 and December 1; and at 2 p.m. on December 2. Sister Prejean, who also wrote “Death of Innocents,” is a nationally known advocate against the death penalty. She will be the featured speaker for the Wright Lecture Series on the Ferrum campus on April 14, 2008. For more information about these events, contact Pete Crow at pcrow@ferrum.edu or (540) 365-4320 or Wayne Bowman at wbowman@ferrum.edu or (540) 365-4338. Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.
###