Holy Cross Students Travel to Protest Injustice in Latin America

Twelve Holy Cross seniors joined thousands of students from Jesuit colleges and universities in Fort Benning, Ga., to protest the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as School of the Americas (SOA), on Nov. 21 and 22.

The Holy Cross students are members of Pax Christi, a local chapter of a national organization called Pax Christi USA, which calls for the nonviolent solutions to armed conflicts. The Student Government Association funded a large portion of the trip.

Since 1995, Jesuits, former Jesuits, lay pastoral leaders, and the broader Ignatian family have gathered at the gates of Fort Benning to call for the closure of the institute and to commemorate the deaths of the Salvadoran Jesuit martyrs, their housekeeper and her daughter, the four churchwomen, and the many other men, women, and children who have been innocent victims of civil war and bloodshed.

The two-day teach-in incorporated music, discussion, prayer and speakers about various social justice issues.

“Holy Cross went to the protest to be in solidarity with other Jesuit schools that are also fighting to end the human rights violations of SOA graduates,” says assistant chaplain Rev. Gregory Lynch, S.J. “By attending the Ignatian teach-in and the protest, students became aware of the injustice toward the poor and marginalized of society.”

Brendan Mackinson ’09, a chemistry major with an environmental studies concentration from Peabody, was accompanied by his entire family, including his mother, father (William Mackinson '75), sister and brother.

“My family has always been actively committed to working for justice, and because my parents both graduated from Jesuit colleges, I think they feel a special connection to this cause,” he says. “My father is a high school teacher and this was the third year he brought a group of students to the teach-in and protest. My sister, a sophomore at Fordham, came for the second time with a group of students from Fordham, and my mother and brother also attended for the second time.

“The trip provided me with a wonderful opportunity to educate myself, to learn about issues of social justice and about the work that many people are doing to resist and challenge many of the structures in our society that perpetuate injustice. The trip forced me to reflect critically on my own life, to reflect about ways that I could do more to make our society more just, but it also energized and inspired me to continue actions that I have already taken.”

Pictured: Brendan Mackinson '09 stands next to his father, William '75.