On Saturday, high school and college students from all over Tennessee gathered at MTSU to spend a full day learning about the death penalty and how they, as young people, can affect change to end this failed public policy. Students from schools as diverse as University of the South, Tennessee State University, Rhodes College, Lipscomb University, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Memphis, and Middle Tennessee State University, as well as high school students from both Nashville and Memphis, joined together for a day of learning and action against the death penalty.

The students attended a variety of workshops including workshops addressing race and the death penalty, victims’ experiences of the death penalty system, and also the risk of wrongful convictions. TCASK was honored to welcome Rep. Larry and Mrs. Johnnie Turner; Clemmie Greenlee, the mother of a murder victim who opposes the death penalty; and Joyce House, the mother of Paul House who has spent 22 years on Tennessee’s death row for a crime the evidence overwhelmingly shows that he didn’t commit, who all assisted in leading workshops. The students were riveted by the facts concerning the death penalty and by the powerful firsthand stories from the people who have lived them.

Our keynote speaker for the day, Vicki Schieber, shared her story of loss and forgiveness as she spoke of her daughter Shannon’s brutal rape and murder as a first year grad student in Philadelphia. Vicki’s journey has been a very painful one, and she has dedicated her life to speaking out against the death penalty as a member of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. Her family has suffered tremendously as a result of her daughter’s murder, but Vicki firmly believes that seeking the death penalty does not honor her daughter’s memory nor does it do anything to heal. Her healing has come from her faith and her family, and her daughter’s murderer is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, where he can no longer hurt any other women. Her honesty and courage in sharing the most horrible thing that has ever happened to her and her journey to healing was a humbling experience for all who were privileged to hear it. We also learned that Rep.Turner, who has been devoted to the cause of abolition in Tennessee for years, lost a brother to a brutal murder just 5 years ago. This loss is very painful for him to share, and he continues to struggle with it. However, we are even more grateful to him and in awe of his continued work to end the death penalty, considering how personal the issue has become for him and his family.

The day concluded with students learning about how to plan events and create opportunities for action on their campuses in order to raise awareness and to activate others to work for change. Our former Associate Director, Alex Wiesendanger, flew in from Chicago to assist in this training as well as former student representative to the Board, Lillian Siman who flew in from Boston, and Kathryn Lea, current Board member who drove in from Knoxville–thanks to all for your efforts to make this day such a powerful one! Also, thanks to Isaac for his planning and leadership of the event.

We hope that as part of the follow-up to this conference, students will be empowered to plan an event or action on their campuses, such as a write-a-thon for International Death Penalty Abolition day on March 1. I was so impressed with the young people who devoted an entire Saturday to this issue and who are rising to the challenge of doing something about it. I believe their energy and commitment is contagious and hope that others will join with them in this work to honor life by abolishing the death penalty.

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