{"id":19683,"date":"2023-03-08T10:30:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T18:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=19683"},"modified":"2023-03-08T10:30:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T18:30:50","slug":"judy-shepard-speaks-to-western-on-mathew-shepard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/judy-shepard-speaks-to-western-on-mathew-shepard\/","title":{"rendered":"Judy Shepard speaks to Western on Mathew Shepard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by: Mirella Barrera-Betancourt<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearing the 25th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard, Western is honoring Shepard\u2019s memory with the \u201cLegacy of Matthew Shepard Project.\u201d This project was brought to Western and sponsored by the Oregon Cultural Trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Oct. 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old, gay college student, was deceptively lured from a bar in Laramie, Wyoming by two men, who subsequently robbed and brutally beat Shepard. Shepard would die five days later at the hospital as a result of his injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shepard\u2019s unjust murder drew national attention to the prevalence of anti-gay hate crimes, eventually leading to the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009 and the establishment of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cLegacy of Matthew Shepard Project\u201d is a collaborative, campus-wide effort with Western\u2019s Creative Arts \u2014 Western Oregon University\u2019s Music, Theatre, Dance and Visual Arts\u00a0 Departments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project transpires over two consecutive weeks, beginning Feb. 27 with the opening of \u201cCatalyst: An Exhibit Honoring the Legacy of Matthew Shepard\u201d \u2014 an exhibition featuring visual artwork centered around LGBTQ+ themes. The exhibit consists of a diverse selection of art forms from artists <\/span>Pablo Cazares, Chelsea Couch and Andrew Campbell, including artwork from \u201cThe t4t Art Collective,\u201d a collective by trans artists from Portland, Oregon.<\/span> Located in the Cannon Gallery of Art, the exhibit will remain open to the public through March 24.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a number of days, Western\u2019s theatre department will present the performance of \u201cThe Laramie Project,\u201d originally written by Mois\u00e9s Kaufman<\/span> in 2000. \u201cThe Laramie Project\u201d is based on the true story of Matthew Shepard, detailing the aftermath of his murder in the town of Laramie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Western\u2019s theatre department offers seven performances of \u201cThe Laramie Project\u201d for public viewing. The next performances take place on March 8, 9, 10 and 11.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the series includes the Oregon premiere of Grammy-nominated Fusion oratorio, \u201cConsidering Matthew Shepard,\u201d featuring the combined voices of Western and Chemeketa Community College choirs. The oratorio was originally composed by Craig Hella Johnson \u2014 American choral conductor and composer, and Grammy award winner for Best Choral performance. Western\u2019s choral director and chair of the music department, Dr. James Reddan, will be conducting the next concert on March 11, which is presented by the Smith Fine Arts Series.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the special night of Monday, March 6, Judy Shepard \u2014 the mother of Matthew Shepard \u2014 spoke to the community about the death of her son and the prevalence of hate crimes, including the tear jerking recitation of the victim impact statement she gave in a trial hearing nearly twenty-five years ago in 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judy Shepard is the author of the best-selling book, \u201cThe Meaning of Matthew,\u201d and played a critical role in the founding of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, alongside her husband, in 1998. Today, Shepard continues to advocate for basic rights for the LGBTQ+ community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve become a sickness; society \u2014 sick, silent, indifferent and complacent,\u201d Shepard said, in a portion of her victim impact statement. \u201c\u2026 my answer is this: educate, educate, educate. Bring understanding where you see hate and ignorance. Bring light when you see darkness, (and) bring freedom when there’s fear and begin to heal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, during her original speech, Shepard encouraged the audience to rally for change.<\/span><\/p>\n

She states, \u201cWe have to start being louder. We need to be the loudest. We need to vote. We need to run for office. We need to support people running for office. We need to partake in the system. Yes, it takes time. But it’s the only way things change. This is a marathon, not a sprint.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Additional performances took place on Tuesday, March 7 as part of the \u201cLegacy of Matthew Shepard Project.\u201d Western\u2019s dance department premiered two original dance pieces, choreographed by Samuel Hobbs and Keith Johnson.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a reminder for future events, Western students receive free admission to all Rice Auditorium performances provided they show their student ID. However, students will still need to purchase tickets to reserve seating. For more information on the \u201cLegacy of Matthew Shepard Project\u201d and\/or to purchase tickets, visit the Creative Art\u2019s official page at http:\/\/wou.edu\/creativearts\/.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":19684,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}