Tectonic Theater Project
On 6 October 1998 Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. He died 6 days later. His torture and murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted many of the fault lines in our culture.
A month after the murder the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play "The Laramie Project". The piece has been seen by more than 30 million people around the country.
John Jay Shipherd
In the early months of 1844, 39 missionaries, including Oberlin faculty, students, and alumni came to Michigan. They initially lived in abandoned log cabins and crowded in together as new cabins were built. Through the warmer months, they cleared trees, planted crops, and built both saw and grist mills. Malaria broke out and spread until most of the colonists were sick. Shipherd became sick at Olivet and died on September 16, 1844. Despite these hardships, classes began at Olivet in December 1844 and continue to this day. Shipherd is interred in the Olivet City Cemetery adjacent to the Olivet College campus.