Thirty some students gathered on the steps of Olin Sunday night for a vigil in protest of the death penalty. The students met in light of the recent commitment of a man to the Connecticut death row. The University Chapter of Amnesty International organized the vigil as part of a “National Weekend of Faith and Action,” to protest and raise awareness about the death penalty.
Betty Kolod ’08 and Lyuba Azbel ’08, are the student area coordinators of Amnesty for the state of Connecticut, and they were the main organizers for the vigil on Sunday.
According to Azbel, the goal of the vigil was to raise awareness and get Wesleyan students to take action against the death penalty. The target date for the abolition of the death penalty in Connecticut is 2007. Connecticut only needs 35 legislators to change their minds before the death penalty is abolished, according to Azbel.
“Amnesty is planning to take vans down to the anti-death penalty protest in Hartford on International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), hold movie screenings, meet with our legislators, spread awareness on campus, and try to get Wesleyan’s signature on the resolution against the death penalty,” Azbel said.
According to Allison McGrath ’08 the vigil was moving and informative.
“It provided me with even more arguments against the death penalty and a better way to articulate those arguments,” McGrath said.
Jessica Kellar ’08 said that she felt reminded of how unnecessary the death penalty is.
“The vigil made the issue more real,” Kellar said. “The personal stories were especially moving. The story about the man on death row and his potential to be a productive member of society especially struck me. It seemed so unnecessary for him to be killed. The statistics about how much money is spent on capital punishment also struck me, and it’s sad because the money could go to so many more important causes like education.”
Emily Eihorn ’08 said she found the vigil powerful, although she has never been to an Amnesty meeting.
“We have to realize that it’s not just Texas that has this problem,” Einhorn said. “Liberal New England faces the same issues.”
The organizers of the vigil commented on the Sunday gathering and the crowd that turned up.
“I’m quite satisfied about the way the vigil turned out,” Azbel said. “After attending [an] abolitionist conference in Waterbury on Saturday, I was really inspired to take direct action for the National Weekend of Faith in Action. I really think the conference was a great opportunity for abolitionist communities and activists to come together and recognize that they have a common goal in regard to the death penalty.”
Azbel said her only regret was that Wesleyan’s Chaplains failed to attend.
“Sadly, the Wesleyan chaplains could not make it to the vigil, but some were eager to participate in future anti-death penalty events,” Azbel said.
For more information on the Connecticut death penalty policy go to http://www.nodp.org/cnadp, and for more information on getting involved in Amnesty International in Connecticut e-mail lazbel@wesleyan.edu.
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