The 25th Annual Steel-Hendrix Award Banquet will take place on Monday, October 19th, 2009. The Banquet will be held in Hulen Hall at 5:00 p.m. and will be followed with a chapel service in Greene Chapel at 6:30 p.m.
The cost for the Banquet will be $15 until October 12th. After the 12th of October, the cost will go up to $20. There will be no extra cost for Chapel.
The recipient of the Mary and Ira A. Brumley Award for Religious Education is James Clemmons.
The recipient of the Ethel K. Millar Award for Religion and Social Awareness is Tom Hazelwood.
The Hendrix College Youth Director of the Year is Ruth Carter.
This year's chapel speaker will be Sister Helen Prejean:
Sister Helen Prejean was born on April 21, 1939, in Baton Rouge, La. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957 and received a Bachelors of Arts Degree in English and Education from St. Mary’s Dominican College, New Orleans in 1962. In 1973, she earned a Masters of Arts Degree in Religious Education from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada. She has been the Religious Education Director at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in New Orleans, the Formation Director for her religious community, and has taught junior and senior high school students.
Sister Helen began her prison ministry in 1981 when she dedicated her life to the poor of New Orleans. While living in the St. Thomas housing project, she became pen pals with Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers, sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison.
Upon Sonnier’s request, Sister Helen repeatedly visited him as his spiritual advisor. In doing so, her eyes were opened to the Louisiana execution process. Sister Helen turned her experiences into a book that not only made the 1994 American Library Associates Notable Book List, it was also nominated for a 1993 Pulitzer Prize. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States was number one on the New York Times Best Seller List for 31 weeks. It also was an international best seller and has been translated into ten different languages.
Sister Helen has served on the board of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty from 1985–1995, and has served as Chairperson of the Board from 1993–1995. She is also a member of Amnesty International and an honorary member of Murder Victim Families for Reconciliation. She presently is the Honorary Chairperson of Moratorium Campaign.
To sign up for the banquet, please click here.
For more ticket information, you can contact Rev. J. Wayne Clark at clark@hendrix.edu or 501-450-1263.