Fifty DePaul University students, who will join 10,000 activists at a weekend protest at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga., will hold a local press briefing Friday, Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m. on DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus to discuss their concerns about the U.S. government-sponsored school. Immediately following the 20-minute speaking program, the students will pack four vans and begin their trek to Georgia.

     The Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J., a non-violent peace activist and poet who is a visiting professor at DePaul this fall, will give students a blessing at the briefing.

     Their participation in the demonstration and prayer vigil Nov. 20 and 21 will mark the solemn 10th anniversary of the El Salvadoran massacre of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter by graduates of the. Protestors object to U.S. Army sponsorship of the school, which trained many of the personnel implicated in those killings and other murders throughout Latin America.

     The students are members and supporters of the campus groups Pachem en Terra (Peace on Earth) and DePaul's chapter of Amnesty International. They have coordinated their efforts with the local human rights advocacy group, School of the Americas Watch Illinois.

     Some students plan to participate in an act of civil disobedience by crossing the line marking the entrance to Fort Benning beyond which protestors are subject to arrest.

     Kelly Vaughn, a senior education major who will attend the demonstration, said, "This protest is an opportunity to speak with our voices and our bodies. The School of the Americas is in our own backyard and is financed with our tax dollars."

     Last year, 22 students participated in the annual protest, whose cause has attracted the attention of several members of Congress. Last May, 13 DePaul students traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for a House bill to reduce funding for the school.

     Participation in this event manifests DePaul's mission to advocate for individual dignity through community service. It also supports DePaul's strategic goals to serve as an agent of social change and reach out to the global community.

     The briefing will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. on DePaul's Quad, on the sidewalk at Belden and Seminary Avenues.