She considers herself a Southern storyteller, and the story she has been telling is about the death penalty. Sister Helen Prejean, whose book “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States” sparked a national dialogue about capital punishment, will discuss “The Death Penalty and Prison Reform in Texas” as part of the University of Houston BB&T Speaker Series.
The event is planned for 4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 6 in the Honors College Commons. The lecture is free and open to the public and is co-hosted by the UH Hobby Center for Public Policy and the Honors College’s Phronesis Program. 
Prejean lived in New Orleans and worked at the Hope House from 1984-1986. It was during that time that she was asked to correspond with death row inmate Patrick Sonnier. She later became his spiritual adviser. Her book, which later became a movie, an opera and a play, chronicled the experience from their meeting through his execution.
She has since accompanied six death row inmates to their executions and continues to speak out against the death penalty. She calls capital punishment one of the great moral issues facing the country.
The BB&T Speaker Series convenes nationally renowned scholars and leading professionals to discuss timely policy and ethical issues.
For more information on the BB&T Speaker Series, visit: http://www.uh.edu/class/hcpp/civitas/speaker-series/
WHO: Sister Helen Prejean, death penalty opponent
WHAT: The Hobby Center for Public Policy BB&T Speaker Series
Featuring Sister Helen Prejean discussing “The Death Penalty and Prison Reform in Texas”
WHEN: 4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 6
WHERE: UH Honors College Commons, Second floor of the M.D. Anderson Library, Entrance One off Calhoun For directions and parking information, visit http://www.uh.edu/maps/buildings/?short_name=l