He travels to schools across the country in hopes of closing another school.

Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest, spoke in the Saint Louis Room of the Busch Memorial Center last night. Bourgeois is the founder of SOA Watch, a grass-roots organization committed to closing the U.S. Army School of Americas, in Fort Benning, Ga. Bourgeois’ speech was a part of the Great Issues Speakers’ Series.

Senior Jamar Johnson, a member of the Great Issues Committee, was integral in bringing Bourgeois to St. Louis. Johnson said that as part of the committee he had some “influence in bringing different speakers to the community. It (the speech) would be a great opportunity to get the word out.”

A Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Bourgeois became involved in foreign policy issues after serving in Bolivia in the mid-’70s. He has spent a total of four years in prison for his acts of civil disobedience, and a few years ago he produced an Academy Award-nominated documentary School of Assassins on the School of Americas.

Bourgeois began his speech by giving an overview of the problems in Latin America, which range from inadequate housing, schools, and health care to corrupt governments and sweat-shop working conditions. He said that the poor had been told to accept their suffering as God’s will, but they said “` Basta’-enough-and became empowered by their faith.”

Bourgeois has worked to make others aware of the role of the School of Americas in U.S. foreign policy, as well as some of the incidents in which its graduates have played a part. These events include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and four American women in El Salvador in 1980; the El Mozote massacre of 900 civilians; and the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador in 1989.

Bourgeois called these killings “a microcosm of what’s going on all through Latin America.”

After 525 Salvadoran soldiers enrolled at the School of Americas in the mid-’80s, Bourgeois moved to Georgia. Along with two friends, he entered the base and climbed a tall tree. After lights out, the three played a tape of the homily Romero gave the day before his death.

Bourgeois was sentenced to 18 months in prison. “They can send us to prison, but they cannot silence us. The truth cannot be silenced,” Bourgeois said.

His time in prison only gave him impetus for more action.

An annual protest outside the gates of Fort Benning began in 1990 and has grown every year since. In November, more than 12,000 people attended the rally. About 135 SLU students were among them.

Bourgeois spoke of progress that has been made due in part to an increase in media attention. Editorials encouraging to close of the school have been written in newspapers across the country, although none have appeared in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Numerous groups have passed resolutions asking for the close of the school. One has been sponsored by 150 U.S. Catholic bishops. Archbishop Justin Rigali is not on that list.

Bourgeois urged the audience of about 250 to write letters to their religious and political leaders, especially in support of two congressional bills that propose cutting funding for the school. Bourgeois concluded the speech by quoting Romero: “Let those who have a voice speak for the voiceless.”

The speech lasted about an hour and ended with a brief question-and-answer period. The audience was then invited to a reception in the Campus Ministry office.

John Slosar, a professor in the Department of Social Work, has been to the School of Americas protest two times. “I have been an admirer of Bourgeois, and up close he’s even more inspiring,” Slosar said.