Ignatian Family Teach-in
Nov. 13-15, 2010
Georgetown University, Washington DC
With Advocacy Day in the U.S. Congress
About the Ignatian Family Teach-In
Each fall UDM students travel to gather with thousands of others at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, to honor the life of the Jesuit and other Salvadoran Martyrs and respond to the justice issues of our day. Come join this three-day learning experience to dialogue and strategize about ways to confront issues of injustice, poverty, and oppression both nationally and internationally.
2010 in Washington, DC
Given this year's location, the Teach-In will be followed by an Advocacy Day. Imagine yourself with over 1,000 students participating in our first ISN Fall Teach-In Advocacy Day, meeting with our representatives on Capitol Hill to carry on the message of the UCA martyrs of El Salvador!
For information please call the University Ministry office at 313-993-1560
or email Matt Forgey (fogeymp@udmercy.edu)
or Drew Peters (petersas@udmercy.edu).
For further information, visit the Ignatian Family Teach-In website, and click on the prominent "IFTJ Fall 2010" link (or go directly HERE).
NOTE: UDM students and affiliates must register through UDM's University Ministry office, NOT directly through the IFTJ national website.
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2009: Last Year's Events
The 10th annual Teach-In was held together with the School of the Americas Vigil at Ft. Benning, GA, November 20-22, 2009. During this gathering of the Ignatian family, we reflect on our collective commitment to live "a faith that does justice" and rallied around our Christian call for peace. During this event we not only identify with other Jesuit schools accross the country, but join them in thinking about how we can inculcate a faith that does justice on our University of Detroit Mercy campus.
About the SOA/WHINSEC
The School of the Americas (SOA) was founded in Panama in 1946 as a US Army training school for Latin American military personnel. The school provides training in counter-insurgency, military intelligence, infantry tactics, anti-narcotics operations, and commando operations. Based on local reaction, the SOA was removed from Panama in 1984 and resumed its operations at a new training facility at Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA. In response to repeated efforts to close the school in the US and under pressure to perform a congressional investigation, legislation was passed to close the SOA in January of 2001. During the same legislative process, however, opponents of closing the SOA preserved the mandate of the School in the naming and “opening” of a new institution called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). The Institute maintains the same functions as the SOA with a slightly adapted structure of oversight within the Department of Defense. In recent years, legislation has strongly resurfaced to defund the SOA/WHINSEC and sponsor an investigation that would expose the institution's past and current deeds.
Issues:
* SOA/WHINSEC graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America.
* SOA/WHINSEC graduates include 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, as well as Peruvian spy chief under President Fujimori, Vladimiro Montesinos.
* Among the many human rights abuses perpetuated by SOA/WHINSEC graduates in countries throughout Latin America, the most commonly cited and high profile cases come from El Salvador, where SOA graduates were involved in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero; the killings of 4 North American churchwomen; the massacre of 900 civilians in El Mozote; and the murder of 6 Jesuit priests and two Salvadoran laywomen at the Universidad Centro Americana (UCA), a Jesuit University in El Salvador, on November 16, 1989.
As a Catholic university, we will join our prayer of peace with those of others and hold vigil in front of this school which continues human rights abuses.
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To learn more about the IFTJ & the SOA check out the links below.
School of the Americas Watch
www.soaw.org
Ignatian Solidarity Network
www.ignatiansolidarity.net
For information on this trip please email Matt Forgey (fogeymp@udmercy.edu)
or Drew Peters (petersas@udmercy.edu), or call the University Ministry office at 313-993-1560.
