Eradicating Hate: Poet Lesléa Newman Visits

Lesléa Newman, poet and author of October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, spoke to the Sixth Form English classes about her life and her connection to Laramie, Wyoming on April 16. Ms. Newman was scheduled to speak as the keynote speaker at an event during Gay Awareness week at The University of Wyoming in October 1998, a week after Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and killed by two young men. October Mourning is a collection of poems that were inspired by the incident. At Eaglebrook, Newman shared her own life story, read a number of her poems aloud, and concluded with her thoughts about the importance of eliminating hatred and violence in relation to LGTBQ issues.

Three of the Sixth Form English classes are reading the play The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman. Faculty members Erin MacLachlan, Ruth Koenigsbauer, and Christa Lakey have collaborated on the project for the past two years. “Originally, we brought the classes together to read the play aloud because there are more than 60 different characters,” noted Christa Lakey. “It didn’t take long for us to realize the scope of the impact that the play has on the students. The Laramie Project provides the opportunity to discuss many issues ranging from sexuality to bullying, religion and classism,” she continued. This year the teachers introduced October Mourning to the curriculum as a way to connect poetry to the unit. To prepare the Sixth Form students for Lesléa Newman’s presentation, the entire Form watched the movie version of The Laramie Project.

Newman has traveled to many different schools in the area and throughout the country to give her multi-media anti-bullying presentation that is called “He Continues to Make a Difference: The Story of Matthew Shepard”. Erin MacLachlan said, “I was curious to see how her message would be received by our students. It was clear from our question and answer session with Ms. Newman that these boys appreciated hearing her story, and were able to draw connections from her perspective to their own lives. Reading this play and Ms. Newman’s poems has led to some outstanding discussions about bullying, the LGBTQ community, and our individual and collective responsibility to eradicate hate.”

Read more about Lesléa Newman and her many published works here.