Students from Saint Louis University will have the opportunity to travel just before Thanksgiving on Nov. 19-21 to Fort Benning, Ga, to protest the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), more commonly known as the School of the Americas (SOA).

Each year, members of the SLU community participate in the protest because 19 graduates of the SOA were connected to the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter.  The murders took place on Nov. 16, 1989, at the University of Central America in El Salvador.  According to SOA Watch, an organization opposed to WHINSEC, the 19 graduates either participated in, planned or helped to cover up the massacre.

Doug Marcouiller, the Provincial Superior for the Jesuits of the Missouri Province, said he has had an extensive past with the University of Central America and knew the six murdered Jesuits.  Marcouiller began working at the University in 1986 and taught an economics class there this past summer.  A close friend of the six murdered Jesuits, Marcouiller described them as impressive people, bright men, theologians and philosophers.

While there could be many reasons for their murders, Marcouiller believes that the deaths were a result of the actions of SOA graduates. “They were killed because they exercised leadership in education in a very ideological society,” Marcouiller said.  “They weren’t afraid to ask questions and people were afraid of the truth.”

While 19 of the 29 men found connected to the murders were graduates of WHINSEC, the institution claims that there is no correlation between the murders and the school.

“There’s no way to show any kind of relationship between the fact that they came to attend a course, and then participate in a crime,” said Lee Rials, the WHINSEC Public Affairs Officer.

Rials said that protestors often do not understand the specifics of the curriculum provided at WHINSEC.

“The SOA Watch use of the term ‘SOA graduate’ is really disingenuous because they don’t tell you what the person took, when he took it and what it has to do with the crime,” Rials said.

In addition to murders of the six Jesuits, Roberto D’Aubuisson, also a graduate of the school, was connected to planning the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980.

“[D’Aubuisson’s] only attendance was in 1972 for a course for communications officers learning to operate telephones and radios,” Rials said. “In my opinion, it’s a little remote to say that eight years later that’s why he decided to help participate in a murder.”

While nearly 250 graduates of the school have been connected with various atrocities in Central America, Rials said that another 60,000 graduates have a clean record.

“[The 60,000 graduates] have returned to their countries with the tools necessary to protect democracy and human rights for their fellow citizens,” Rials said.

Irene Torres, a citizen of Honduras, said she personally knows several graduates who have returned to serve in her country.

“When people return from SOA, they exercise their profession in an honest manner,” Torres said. “While there are some involved in corruption that doesn’t help our country, most are good men and women who give their service to a good cause by helping our country.”

After graduates of the school return to their respective countries, Rials said that the school has no formal way of tracking their actions.

“Our students are from sovereign countries and we can’t just spy on them,” Rails said. “We do have people who can informally and formally check with their counterparts to see how they’re doing.”

Rials said that each course offered by WHINSEC starts with a focus on protecting democracy through the armed forces, human rights and ethics in hopes that students will do the right thing with the material they learn.

“We can’t predict how our students will react, but we ensure that each of our students learn in the context of using their skills in the right way to protect their citizens,” Rials said.

While WHINSEC emphasizes human rights, some members of the SLU community believe that the institution should be abolished.

“The School of the Americas needs to be closed because it allows for the possibility of human rights violations,” said James Allen, an associate professor of social work.

Marcouiller, who knew the victims firsthand, said he shares the same beliefs.

“I understand the arguments for the school, but it has shown itself to be a less than effective tool in the promotion of democracy,” Marcouiller said. “The SOA is an instrument not up to the task it has been assigned.”

While he believes some of the graduates from WHINSEC have failed to promote democracy, Marcouiller said he finds it important to focus on the source of the injustice.

“While we tend to blame the soldiers for deaths in the Salvadoran war, it is important to focus on the men who gave the orders,” Marcouiller said.

Opposition to WHINSEC has increased at SLU after the 1993 Truth Commission Report to the United Nations, citing the 29 men responsible for the murders of the Jesuit priests and the men responsible for assassination of Romero.

“Our opposition is a way to be a voice for the voiceless and speak out against policies that affect the marginalized,” said Campus Minister Ben Smyth.

While he believes the main objectives of the protest are to show solidarity with the victims of  the graduates of WHINSEC who have committed atrocities and to advocate for the school’s closure, Smyth said that SLU students who attend also gain a learning experience.

“The purpose of attending the protest is not to force a way of thinking on students, but rather expose them to an experience that forces them to think critically,” Smyth said.

In an effort to force students to think critically, Smyth said that Campus Ministry tries to present both sides of the issue with links to both SOA Watch and WHINSEC on their website.

“We’ve had students in the past go down with open minds and come back not believing that WHINSEC is necessarily a bad thing, and that’s okay,” Smyth said.

WHINSEC offers public tours during weekdays, but Rials said that classes will not be in session during the week of the protest.

However, he said WHINSEC welcomes criticisms.

“We invite anyone that’s interested to come to Fort Benning,” Rials said.  “Our doors are open to anyone’s scrutiny.”