Priest speaks against school

Father Roy Bourgeois spoke out about the infamous School of the Americas at the University last night.

In a small apartment 40 yards from the gates of the U.S. Army's School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga., a gathering of people make their way among paperwork and protests, newsletters and notices.

After spending a total of 42 months in prison over the past few years, Bourgeois has participated in everything from vigils to reenactments of some of the crimes School of the Americas graduates have been charged with. Speaking to a group of University community members last night in Eisenhower Chapel, he recounted many of his activities and his reasons behind them.

The School of the Americas, founded in 1946, trains about 1,000 Latin American students a year. Funded by the U.S., the school aims to spread democracy and to professionalize Latin American armies. The school has recently gained attention due to criticism that it instructs its students to use torturous and executional techniques, as well other human rights violations. The school's list of graduates includes past Panama dictator Manuel Noriega and 19 El Salvadoran soldiers charged with the killings of six Jesuit priests in 1989. A U.S. Defense Department investigation revealed that a training manual used at the school did use torture as one of their instructions.

Bourgeois' petitions and protests against the school were not enough, he said.

"There came a time when we thought we had to do a little more," he said.

In one of his first actions against the school, Bourgeois scaled a large pine tree outside of the gates and rigged a boom box to play a speech by a slain archbishop proclaiming peace. Bourgeois was arrested and sentenced to 18 months in jail. This would be the first of many jail sentences he would serve for similar civil disobedience crimes.

Behind all of his efforts, Bourgeois said he hopes the school will be closed down within the next few years.

"This is a combat school," he said. "The army is trying to present it as some sort of Quaker school. The Pentagon is working very hard to keep that school open. It's very important to keep control of Latin America's military to control the socioeconomic system that keeps the rich rich and the poor poor."

Bourgeois encouraged letters to congress and more specifically to Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., who has presented several bills to have the school closed.

Spreading the word is his ultimate goal throughout all of his demonstrations and speeches, he said.

"People get angry when they hear about it and they should," he said. "Among college students I find there's a great response to this issue."

Bourgeois will continue his campaign on the steps of the capitol in Washington April 19-29.

"We're going to close that school," he said, "and when we do we're going to have a big fiesta at the gates of Fort Benning."

The speech, entitled "School of the Americas: School of Assassins," was sponsored by Penn State Catholic Community, Pax Christi at Penn State, Newman Society, State College Peace Center and Amnesty International- Penn State. The presentation was funded by the Student Activity Fee.