USD Invites the Public to Get Involved with "The Big Read"

The University of San Diego invites the San Diego community to join a national book club designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. USD, in partnership with the Black Storytellers of San Diego, Inc., hosts The Big Read, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

USD is among hundreds of groups nationwide participating in The Big Read program. From Oct. 19 through Nov. 13, the USD community will come together for “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines with a full calendar of events, including a keynote address by noted author Sister Helen Prejean on Nov. 5. Sister Prejean 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 a convicted killer, sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison.  Her first book, “Dead Man Walking” was on the New York Times bestseller list for 31 weeks. It was also on the international bestseller list and was developed into a major motion picture starring Susan Sarandon as Sister Prejean and Sean Penn as a death row inmate. The title of her keynote address is “Dead Man Walking – The Journey Continues.”

Book discussions and events will be held on the following dates:

• Monday, Oct. 19, Book Discussion, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Hahn University Center Forum A

• Friday, Oct. 23, Book Discussion, 12 to 1:30 p.m., USD Bookstore

• Tuesday, Oct. 27, Movie Night, 7 p.m. viewing of A Lesson Before Dying, Executive Classroom of Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

• Nov. 5, Keynote Address, 6:30 to 9 p.m., Sister Helen Prejean, author of “Dead Man Walking,” and “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions,” Shiley Theater

• Nov. 13, Panel Discussion, 3 to 5 p.m., with USD professors and guests, Salomon Hall

Books may be purchased at the USD Bookstore or borrowed from the Copley Library, Student Leadership and Involvement Center, office of Human Resources, Center for Educational Excellence or the English Department.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, or to register for either of these events, contact The Center for Educational Excellence at (619) 260-7402 or go to www.sandiego.edu/cee.

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