The U.S. Army created its School of the Americas in 1946 to promote the advancement of democracy and human rights. Many people, however, believe that the practices of the school run directly counter to the theory behind it.
They argue that many of the military school's graduates-including Manuel Noriega, Omar Torrijos and 10 officers indicted in the Augusto Pinochet trial-have been involved in some of the worst human rights violations in history.
These alleged atrocities have prompted a growing movement to shut down the SOA. A group of 16 University students traveled to Washington, D.C., Monday to meet with members of Congress and discuss the school's future. They lobbied in support of a bill proposed by Rep. Joseph Moakley, D-Mass., to close the SOA.
There weren't only Duke students in Washington, however. About 50 other students from schools in North Carolina and around the country-including the University of North Carolina, Elon College, George Washington University and Georgetown University-joined them for the Student Lobby Day to Close the School of the Americas.
The SOA, which is based in Fort Benning, Ga., challenges many of its opponents' claims.
Nicolas Britto, the public affairs officer for the SOA, said that fewer than 1 percent of the 60,000 primarily Latin American graduates of the school have been involved in these alleged atrocities.
He argued that one cannot brand the entire school as dangerous because of the actions of only a few.
Above all, Britto insisted that the school has never taught any torture tactics or encouraged any human rights abuses.
Britto also said he would like to visit the University sometime in the future for a question-and-answer session. He stressed that "freedom of speech... is what the Army fights for."
Several religious leaders at Duke are also leading the fight against the SOA. Sister Joanna Walsh of the Catholic Campus Ministry is taking a small group to an upcoming SOA Watch protest in Washington.
The Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple of the Episcopal Student Fellowship will also be taking a group.
Walsh said she has decided to support the cause because she strongly opposes violence. "I realized that the movement to close the school is growing," she added. "If my presence can add to the number, I want to make the effort to go."
The SOA has been under fire consistently since 1990, when the SOA Watch was founded by Father Roy Bourgeois. The SOA Watch has steadily gained supporters over the past decade. In the past three years, its mailing list has grown from about 6,000 to more than 12,000 people.
The movement at the University is somewhat smaller. Over the past few years, three students from the class of 1999 have become involved in the cause and have been gathering support slowly but steadily.
Trinity senior Betsy Jordan, who led the group on Monday's trip, said she became interested in the issue when Bourgeois spoke at the University in 1997. Since then, she has participated in an annual November vigil at the school.
Monday's trip to Washington was successful, said Trinity freshman Jonathan Harris. Although he called lobbying a "frustrating process" because students have to talk to Congressional aides rather than the representatives themselves, he said he hoped they had convinced the aides to shut down the school.
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