Victim's mother to speak

Judy Shepard, mother of the slain gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, will speak about the prevention of hate crimes Wednesday in West Lafayette, and some IU students will make the trek to hear the speech.\nShepard became a proponent of hate crime ordinances after her son's death in 1998. The event was re-publicized this year by MTV, with the movie "Anatomy of a Hate Crime -- the Matthew Shepard Story."\nWednesday's event will begin with a candlelight vigil to remember all who have been affected by hate crimes at 7:30 p.m. on the Purdue Memorial Union Front Lawn. This will be followed by Shepard's lecture at 8 p.m. in the St. Thomas Aquinas Center. Later, the event will move back into the Union for a resource fair.\nThe St. Thomas Aquinas Center is a Catholic Church across the street from the Union, and the speech will be held there to accommodate a large crowd.\n"It's right across the street, and it holds 1,200 people," said Sara Solloway, director of programming at the Purdue Memorial Union. "We can fit 1,200 in the center, but there is so much interest in this, we have no idea how many people to expect. We are trying to secure a satellite site in case we are too full."\nOne interested group at IU is led by senior Gabino Zapata, CommUNITY Educator (CUE) of Read Center. Zapata learned of the lecture from an e-mail forward.\n"As soon as I saw the e-mail, I knew we had to be there," Zapata said. "We shouldn't miss the opportunity because we are three hours away."\nZapata said he began planning to go to West Lafayette, taking a bus to accommodate the many people interested.\nHe contacted the CUE program and Residential Programs and Services to secure funding for a student trip. CUE and RPS both became sponsors, allowing students to see Shepard for free.\nThe 47-passenger bus will leave at 4 p.m. Wednesday from Read Center, returning at about midnight.\nZapata said he is doing this to ensure Shepard's message is heard.\nShepard founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation and made the prevention of hate crimes the focus of her efforts. \nShe testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1999 in support of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, appeared in nationally televised public service announcements and is speaking to audiences nationwide about what to do to make schools and communities safer for everyone, regardless of race, sex, religion or sexual orientation.\n"I saw her at the March on Washington last spring, and she was great," junior Sarah Savino said. "Matthew's death obviously struck the world, and I think her point was that, well, the best should be taken from his death."\nShepard will begin her speech with an introductory video about her son.\n"She will be talking about the Matthew Shepard Foundation and will have information about hate crimes in general as well," Solloway said.\nIt took hours of planning and fund-raising to secure Shepard's visit, Solloway said. The planning began after a Union Board member saw Shepard speak.\n"We talked to an agent to get Judy Shepard here. We talked about it, formed a group, started fund-raising, and said 'Let's do it,'" Solloway said.\nThe resource fair is expected to have about 10 informational booths. Groups expected to participate include the Human Rights Campaign, Parents Families Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Purdue Equality Alliance and Citizens for Civil Rights.\nThe mayors of Lafayette and West Lafayette have declared Feb. 21 Anti-Hate Crime Day.\nStudents can sign up for the bus to Lafayette by contacting Zapata at gzapata@indiana.edu.