Students Set For School of Americas Protest
Alex Creece
Issue date: 11/4/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
For the past ten years, Rockhurst students have travelled to Fort Benning, Georgia to protest against the School of Americas and this year is no different. The School of Americas (SOA) is a combat training school which teaches Latin American soldiers about combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. It is often viewed as a terrorist training school by many. Some of the most famous graduates happen to be some of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America.
VOICES, which stands for Voicing Our Ideas Can Ease Suffering, started here at Rockhurst because students felt they needed to take a stand against these injustices. VOICES is headed by assistant campus minister, Bill Kriege. The group meets every week to discuss important topics such as the much anticipated protest happening in November.
In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Recently, the school has made a weak effort of trying to clean up the look of the institution by getting rid of the training manuals and having the students attend a class based on the Geneva Convention. Most of the graduates become high ranking military officials or soldiers. Many partakers in military coos are often identified as SOA grads.
The protest will be happening in November from the 19th to the 21st. Rockhurst University will pay for half of the trip which leaves about 100 dollar balance for the student but that covers airfare and lodging. VOICES holds annual fund raisers so that the students are able to attend the protest without having to pay for it all themselves.
The first year that VOICES went down to Georgia only 5 people attended the protest. This year Rockhurst will have one of the biggest groups going which are about 15 people.
John Mesa, a Rockhurst student and member of VOICES, has been going to Fort Benning, Georgia for four years now along with many other students to voice their opinion about the school. He thinks that the school should be shut down but is questioning attending the rally this year. "It has been very spiritual for me to go down there and protest, seeing all of these people care about others," John says, "but nothing is going to shut down that school. We end up just pissing off the town of Fort Benning instead of making a difference."
If you would like to attend the protest contact Bill Kriege in the student development office or look over the RDN for upcoming VOICES meetings.
VOICES, which stands for Voicing Our Ideas Can Ease Suffering, started here at Rockhurst because students felt they needed to take a stand against these injustices. VOICES is headed by assistant campus minister, Bill Kriege. The group meets every week to discuss important topics such as the much anticipated protest happening in November.
In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Recently, the school has made a weak effort of trying to clean up the look of the institution by getting rid of the training manuals and having the students attend a class based on the Geneva Convention. Most of the graduates become high ranking military officials or soldiers. Many partakers in military coos are often identified as SOA grads.
The protest will be happening in November from the 19th to the 21st. Rockhurst University will pay for half of the trip which leaves about 100 dollar balance for the student but that covers airfare and lodging. VOICES holds annual fund raisers so that the students are able to attend the protest without having to pay for it all themselves.
The first year that VOICES went down to Georgia only 5 people attended the protest. This year Rockhurst will have one of the biggest groups going which are about 15 people.
John Mesa, a Rockhurst student and member of VOICES, has been going to Fort Benning, Georgia for four years now along with many other students to voice their opinion about the school. He thinks that the school should be shut down but is questioning attending the rally this year. "It has been very spiritual for me to go down there and protest, seeing all of these people care about others," John says, "but nothing is going to shut down that school. We end up just pissing off the town of Fort Benning instead of making a difference."
If you would like to attend the protest contact Bill Kriege in the student development office or look over the RDN for upcoming VOICES meetings.