By Jillian Orlando

Hundreds of students and faculty lined-up outside afterHOURS Wednesday night an hour before it opened, hoping to hear Judy Shepard speak about her son’s death and the need for understanding and tolerance in America.

Unfortunately, many of them were sent home. Out of the crowd of over 500, only 273 were allowed in due to space limitations. Despite the limited resources, people crowded in to sit on the floor and stand along the back wall to hear what Shepard had to say.

The crowd was silent as Shepard was announced and then erupted into reverent applause as she took the stage. She stood behind the podium and recounted her story in a soft voice.

“I am not a professional speaker, I am a mom, a mom with a story to share,” Shepard said.

Shepard encouraged students to make changes in the world, by respecting all people, educating against ignorance and working against hate crimes. The event was organized by Northeastern University Allied Student Coalition (NUASC).

“We have a dream and our goal is to make it a reality and this is a step in that direction,” NUASC President Brian Cox said.

Shepard challenged students to make a difference by voting, promoting education and gay role models in schools and speaking out against the use of hateful language. She also pointed to misrepresentation of the gay community in the media as perpetuating confusion about a diverse group of people. Her message did not solely focus on the gay community, though, she said that universal issues of ignorance and intolerance hurt everyone.

“Everybody is of a religion, a race, a sexuality, gay or straight,” Shepard said.

Over the past five years since her son’s tragic murder she has been traveling throughout the United States mainly speaking to college and high school students about breaking down stereotypes and promoting legislation giving equal rights to gay and lesbian people. When she is not speaking, she spends time in Washington, D.C. lobbying for hate crime legislation.

Shepard spoke about the moment she got the call that Matthew had been attacked and the days that followed, as she made the 19 hour trip from their home in Saudi Arabia, where her family moved when Matthew was in high school, to Wyoming, where he was attending college when the brutal attack that killed him occurred. The attack was motivated because Matthew was gay.

“Such an act of cruelty is incomprehensible,” Shepard said, but instead of dwelling on that topic alone, she moved on with motivational information for students who want to stop the hate and violence.

Those who were lucky enough to hear Shepard speak were moved by her words and were there to show support.

“It was really inspiring. Her points and perspectives gave me a new insight,” said Mark Chludzinski, a sophomore education major.

“I can’t imagine what she must have gone through and I just wanted to show my support for her and that all teenagers aren’t that dumb,” said Rachel Kling, a freshman criminal justice major.

“Her speech was phenomenal. She speaks from the heart, every speech is different,” Cox said.

Shepard’s primary focus was the importance of voting, and she acknowledged that she was using her motherly influence to tell the students to vote and to write letters to their congressmen about the importance of equal rights for the gay and lesbian community.

Before Matthew’s death the state of Wyoming did not have any hate crime legislation on the books. Since Matthew’s murder, there still has not been any hate crime legislation passed to prevent future acts of ignorance and violence.

“Nothing changes until the inside changes,” Shepard said, and she explained how living in Saudi Arabia made voting even more important to her, because people can change things here, she said.

Letters promoting gay marriage rights were handed out to students and they were asked to sign the letters with their name and address. NUASC would then use the addresses to find which legislator to send the letters to.

“I am just hoping that Massachusetts will set a good example for the rest of the nation,” Shepard said.

Shepard may make another appearance in Boston, check the NUASC web site, www.nuasc.neu.edu, for more details.