The School of the Americas, currently known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, has for 59 years trained Latin American soldiers.
For that same period of time, these soldiers have returned to their countries and been involved in human rights abuses, massacres, and other atrocities.
Under the guise of the war on drugs, the United States government sponsors this school to increase its influence within Latin America. Because we reject the principles of this school and the foreign policy which it represents, along with 18 other Fairfield students, faculty, and staff, I took part in the School of the Americas protest on Sunday, Nov. 19.
The school is located in Columbus, Ga., on the confines of Fort Benning. The distance to the school makes the weekend of the demonstration an experience, more than just an event in itself.
Our experience began on Thursday night, when we gathered around the eight crosses set up outside of the BCC. These crosses represented the six Jesuits and their two associates, who were murdered in 1989 by graduates of the SOA.
The Jesuits were professors at the University of Central America who were killed because their teachings were considered subversive. Although it is located in a very different context than ours, the university at which the Jesuits taught shared common Ignatian values with Fairfield.
It is distinctly unsettling, as well as contrary to America’s constitutional principles, that our government was involved in any way in murdering teachers because they did not like what they taught. That is why closing the school is so urgent.
Because of the connection to the murdered Jesuits, this cause is especially significant to everyone associated with Jesuit universities throughout the country and the world. Individuals from Jesuit institutions, including parishes, members of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and other universities, gather together at the Ignatian Family Teach-in which takes place in Columbus throughout the weekend of the protest.
This is my second time taking part in the experience, and the Teach-in is always a high point. A point of especial pride for me was that Fairfield was so well represented by our coalition of 19. For my three and a half years here, I have too often heard the myth propagated that students here are universally apathetic. This isn’t true, and never has been.
By making a concerted effort at informing the student population about this cause, we had a very strong showing of interest. The 15 students who went on the trip made a significant sacrifice of both time and money. The self fulfilling prophesy that all the students here don’t know and don’t care, espoused especially by this publication, is inaccurate and should be let go.
There were many memorable moments from our journey to the SOA.
When we first arrived in Georgia, we visited the King Center, in Atlanta; a powerful museum dedicated to Marin Luther King, Jr.’s life work. This was a poignant experience, and it prepared us well to try to resist an unjust institution, as Dr. King did.
On Saturday, we were allowed to enter the base, to take part in a question and answer session with officials from the school. This was a humbling experience. The military officials who answered our questions had no intention of accepting our accusations that the school was inherently immoral, and they were well prepared. This demonstrated that even amongst committed members to the cause of closing the SOA, a greater understanding of the school and its practices needs to be developed.
At the Ignatian Family Teach-in, one speaker noted, “Blessed are the peace makers, for they will never be unemployed.”
As the actual protest at the gates of the SOA, a funeral procession for those murdered by its graduates, wound down, I realized the truth of this statement. My efforts to close this terrible school and work to promote peace in general, and the collective efforts of our university community, can not end in Georgia. They must only begin there.
There is much to be done. But after my experience at the SOA protest, I feel inspired and capable of committing myself to that noble work.
Kevin Donohue is a Senior Justice Corespondent.
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