Summer reading topic: death penalty
Published: Wed, Jan. 24, 2007 12:00AM
Modified Wed, Jan. 24, 2007 03:06AM
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closeCHAPEL HILL -- Incoming students at UNC-Chapel Hill this fall will be asked to read a book that takes aim at the death penalty.
The 2007 summer reading selection is "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," by Sister Helen Prejean.
Prejean, a nun, has become a well-known anti-death penalty activist since her 1993 book, "Dead Man Walking," was made into a movie.
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Freshmen and transfer students will be asked to read Prejean's book and discuss it in small groups in August. The assignment is voluntary and not for academic credit.
The book was chosen by a nine-member committee of students, faculty and staff that considered more than 200 books. It is a nonfiction account of Prejean's relationship with two death-row convicts, their families, and people on both sides of the death-penalty debate.
UNC-CH's summer reading program has been controversial in the past. The 2002 book, "Approaching the Qur'an" by Michael Sells, led to a federal lawsuit and international media coverage.
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