The roots of the teach-in stem back to 1989, when Father Ignacio Ellacuría and his five fellow Jesuits were murdered in El Salvador, outside of the the University of Central America’s (UCA) Pastoral Center, where they lived and worked.

Since then, the teach-in has been held every year—virtually this year—as a way to continue to advance Jesuit causes of social justice and working for others.

Fordham has been an active participant in years past. This year, it had one of its largest groups ever join in the Oct. 24-26 multiday conference.

“Offering [the teach-in] to students this year, particularly during the pandemic, it was even more meaningful,” said Carol Gibney, associate director of campus ministry for spiritual and pastoral ministries. “I think everybody’s seeking and desiring community … It was very, I would say hopeful, joyful, inspirational. And reminded all of us that we’re part of a larger organization, with Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy.”

Gibney said that all of the students were able to participate in the conference remotely, but they also offered Bepler Commons at the Rose Hill campus throughout the weekend as a space where students could come and break out into small groups to discuss some of the topics including climate change, anti-racism work, and civil engagement. About 12 to 15 students took advantage of the in-person option.

For Lauren Pecora, a junior at Fordham College Rose Hill, the topic of “Asylum and Detention: Working Towards Dignity” stood out for her.

“The problem at the border is so multifaceted that it’s difficult to keep up with unless you’re directly involved, but the speakers were engaging and clear,” she said. “A complete reorientation of policy is needed at the border, away from criminalization and militarization.”

For Fordham College at Rose Hill junior Mari Teli, the session called “How Do We Build Up a Broken World,” held by the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, really impacted her.

“We talked about how do we, especially now, in the time of corona[virus] , how do we build up marginalized communities? It was a really big self-reflection of, what community are you involved in and how does that community harm or help other marginalized communities around you? Do you actively see yourself trying to uplift the voices of those marginalized communities?”

Teli was part of a group of students from GO! Vote, this year’s Global Outreach project, a section of which participated in IFTJ, according to Vanessa Rotondo, assistant director, immersions and student leadership at the Center for Community Engaged Learning, who coordinated the efforts.

“We got a little creative with Global Outreach this semester, and we formed GO! Vote, which was charged with raising civic awareness across both campuses,” she said.

Rotondo said the GO! Vote team hosted pre- and post-election talks and forums on civic engagement and awareness and participated in phone banking, in addition to being involved with IFTJ.

She said the students who participated in IFTJ will put some of what they learned in action through a partnership with Cristo Rey New York High School in Harlem where they will teach the students about civic education in early 2021.

“I think the big thing that struck my group in particular was this theme of planting a seed,” Rotondo said. “They want to do something where they’re physically both planted and see and watch it grow, and I think that really struck them through the lens of working with the high school students.”

Outside, more than three dozen Salvadoran soldiers had surrounded the University of Central America’s (UCA) Pastoral Center, where the six priests lived. Forcing their way into the quiet residence, the soldiers dragged the Jesuits outside and ordered them to lie facedown on the ground.

That morning, the world awakened to news of the most gruesome attack in El Salvador since the 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. The six Jesuits had been executed in their front garden, while their cook Julia Elba Ramos and her 15-year-old daughter Celina—who had taken refuge at the residence after fleeing violence near their own home—had been shot to death in the bed they shared.

A Commitment to Justice

November marks 25 years since the killings, which have become emblematic of the civil war that ravaged El Salvador in the 1980s. An estimated 75,000 Salvadorans were killed in the decade-long war between a people’s movement and a U.S.-backed military government.

Father Ellacuría and his fellow Jesuits had responded to the violence by transforming UCA into a source of information about the political, economic, and social problems plaguing El Salvador. They documented the kidnappings, torture, and mass killings committed by military “death squads” and offered UCA as a venue for open debate.

“Father Ellacuría envisioned a new kind of university, one that focused all of its resources on what he called the ‘national reality,’” said Charles Currie, S.J., former president of Wheeling College and Xavier University. “He said the university had to be committed to teaching, doing research, and engaging in social outreach.”

Justice has always been at the heart of the Jesuit ethos, Father Currie said, but the dire situation in Latin America called for something radical. In 1975, Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus, called for the Jesuits to be “men for others” and implored them to embrace a “faith that does justice.”

“Our mission to proclaim the Gospel [demands]of us a commitment to promote justice and enter into solidarity with the voiceless and the powerless,” he wrote in the fourth decree of the 32nd General Congregation.

He also issued a caution: “If we work for justice, we will end up paying a price.”

Coming to UCA’s Aid

Following the murders, Father Currie traveled to El Salvador as a representative of Georgetown University. Many American Jesuits were coming to UCA’s aid, including the late Dean Brackley, S.J., who at the time was on the Fordham faculty. They found the capital, San Salvador, still embroiled in violence.

“We would go to meetings and would have to walk through gauntlets of soldiers, who would hit us with the butts of their rifles,” Father Currie said. “There was a lot of fear. You never knew what was going to happen when you opened the door—who would be out there and what they were going to do.”

At UCA, signs of the massacre were still evident.

“We went down there in early January, just over a month after the killings,” Father Currie said. “Blood was still on the ground. Everything had been left just as it was that night.”

And yet, there were also signs of what UCA had been a part of before it bore witness to the events of Nov. 16. The campus was alive with students walking to class or stretched out on the grass talking with classmates. Despite the trauma it suffered, UCA had refused to allow its spirit to be violated.

Justice and the Jesuit Campus

In the 25 years since the murders, Jesuit institutions have kept social justice at the core of their mission. A number of national initiatives evolved in direct response to El Salvador. Two of these are the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, a yearly gathering to advocate for social justice issues, and the Ignatian Solidarity Network, which promotes leadership and advocacy among students and alumni.

Individual Jesuit institutions have responded on the local level withthe same ardor. Many Jesuit schools have centers dedicated to social justice, such as Fordham’s Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice. Grounded in the philosophy of “men and women for others,” the center connects Fordham with the local community to promote service and solidarity.

“Our aim is to invite faculty and students into local partnerships that can place our hearts, research, and resources within the wider community,” said Jeannine Hill-Fletcher, Ph.D., faculty director of Fordham’s service-learning program. “We are inspired by Ignacio Ellacuría’s vision that the university is a social force and its heart must reside outside its gates.”

“I think it’s fair to say that no Jesuit campus today was the same after the killings in El Salvador,” Father Currie said. “Fordham has responded very generously to this vision, along with all of the Jesuit schools, by consciously committing to serving their local communities. I think that can trace back to what happened in El Salvador.”

To mark the 25th anniversary of the murders, presidents of Jesuit colleges and universities, advocates, U.S. politicians, and many others will travel to El Salvador. The delegation will meet with the nation’s leaders about urgent issues in the aftermath of the war, as well as visit sites related to the Jesuit martyrs.

The hope, Father Currie said, is to ensure for the Salvadoran people the justice that the Jesuits and their companions were denied.

“Peace without justice is not enough,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we should seek vengeance. But it is very important that we name the injustice so that we get to the root of the problem. Otherwise, peace becomes very fragile.

“The killing of the Jesuits represents a challenge to do just that,” he continued. “This 25th anniversary commemoration is the opportunity to recommit ourselves to a faith that does justice.”

The Westchester campus will celebrate a special liturgyThursday, Nov. 13.

Also on Thursday, Nov. 13 there will be a lecture at the Lincoln Center campus on the Jesuit martyrs and how they have influenced Jesuit institutions in the United States.

Twenty students will be attending the Ignatian Family Teach-In from Nov. 15 to Nov. 17, where Fordham theology professor Michael Lee will also speak.

At Rose Hill, there will be a prayer vigil on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m., followed by an 8 p.m. Mass in the University Church, celebrated by Claudio Burgaleta, S.J. A meal of pupusas, a traditional Salvadoran dish, will be served after Mass.