Friends mark activist's death

About 20 musicians, poets, speakers and dancers marked the second anniversary of the suicide of a local peace activist with a "Festival of Transformation" yesterday on College Green. The event in memory of Kathy Change was held in front of the peace sign sculpture by the Van Pelt Library, the site where she poured gasoline over her body and lit herself on fire on October 22, 1996. Change killed herself at the age of 46 in an attempt to draw attention to her political beliefs. She had been well-known on campus for dancing in creative -- and often scant -- costumes with colorful banners. The festival began with a moment of silence at 11:48 a.m., the time she died. Several members of the "Friends of Change" group -- which was formed to ensure her beliefs and memory live on -- paid tribute to Change's life and her "Transformation" movement in front of a small audience of students and passersby. Notable performers included a woman waving two flags simultaneously, as Change had often done, and another who danced with burning sticks and swallowed fire. "[Change] wanted positive change -- that alone was enough to make me come out and pay homage to her," said College junior Mike Epstein, who attended the event. "It's really sad" that so many people gather daily to listen to campus evangelist "Brother" Stephen White, Epstein added, particularly since Change herself often attracted very small crowds. "When Kathy Change was here she forced people to question their beliefs, but there was never a crowd around and she had a hell of a lot more to say," he said. Before Change died, she delivered a stack of papers discussing the reasons for her suicide to two Philadelphia residents, six students and several newspapers, including The Daily Pennsylvanian. In her final statement, she wrote, "I want to protest the present government and the cynicism and passivity of the people in general? Call me a flaming radical burning for attention, but my real intention is to spark a discussion of how we can peacefully transform our world." Change chose the University to publicize her movement because "at a university [students] are here to learn new things and new ideas," said "Friends of Change" member Charles Sherrause, 39, of Philadelphia. "There is a good cross-section of the well-to-do and intelligent students who did not have exposure to alternatives," added Sherrause, who gave a speech on environmentalism and organic farming. College senior Josh Marcus, another attendee, said the event was meant to ensure that the memory of Kathy Change does not die. "A very significant event happened here. The University seems to just want to forget about it," Marcus said.

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