Graduates of the SOA have been found as participants in numerous human rights violations, including the murder of six Jesuits and two lay persons in El Salvador in 1989.  As a symbol of our solidarity with the Jesuits and our heritage as a Jesuit high school, and in protest of the human rights violations perpetrated by some SOA graduates, each year Brophy College Preparatory sends a contingency of conscientious students and faculty to demonstrate peacefully at the annual SOA protest in Ft. Benning, GA.

The 2007 trip will take place. The date of the protest is TBA. Cost will be approximately $600/person, and includes airfare, hotel, and meals. (cost may fluctuate depending on airfare)  Financial Aid is available for those who are on financial aid and qualify. 

If you are interested in the trip, please see Mrs. Baldwin in the OFJ.

The following information about the SOA is taken from the SOAwatch.org website:

About the SOA

The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians.

In an attempt to deflect public criticism and disassociate the school from its dubious reputation, the SOA was renamed to "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)" in 2001. The name change was a result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001, at a time when SOA opponents were poised to win a congressional vote on legislation that would have dismantled the school. The name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation by a narrow ten vote margin. (See Talking Points, Critique of New School, Vote Roll Call.)

In a media interview, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter, the late Paul Coverdell, characterized the DOD proposal as "cosmetic" changes that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur. The new military training school is the continuation of the SOA under a new name. It is a new name, but the same shame.

SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent. We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice.

This trip is one that is very much endorsed by and supported by the Jesuits.  The provincial of the California Province has presided at the liturgy held on Saturday night, at the actual Teach-In and he has also written a letter, expressing his support of the trip.  This annual experience, in which nearly every Jesuit high school and University around the country participates, was featured as the cover story in the most recent issue of Mission magazine- the quarterly publication of the California Jesuits.  The provincial’s letter, this article, and this info page and application can all be found on the Brophy web site and on the Office of Faith and Justice section of Blackboard.

Mission Magazine - Fall 2006

Letter from the Provincial

Application for the SOA trip