The Rev. Dean Brackley, S.J., has suffered threats, attacks and the death of peers during his time as a theology and ethics professor at the Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador.
Like many Jesuits, Brackley found it difficult to spread the Jesuit ideals of justice and social criticism in Central America.
“The government propaganda was overwhelming,” Brackley said. “I had government agents in my class, and the students did not want to be seen with the Jesuits.”
Last Tuesday in Nunemaker Auditorium, Brackley spoke about the importance of upholding the Jesuit values despite persecution in a lecture entitled “The Challenge of the Christian and Jesuit University Today.”
Brackley said that an important aspect of Christian universities is to prepare students to help change an unjust world and not grow comfortable with it.
An educator for more than 20 years, Brackley allows his students to question and analyze the government, but the people of El Salvador are not given such privileges.
“In Central America if you openly challenge the companies who are polluting the river, you could be found floating in the river the next morning,” he said.
Brackley believes that the government will alter the truth to fulfill its goals, so people should scrutinize all the facts they’re given to determine what is really real.
“Ignacio Ellacuria, the martyred president of UCA, used to insist that the principle subject of study of the university was ‘la realidad nacional,’ the national reality,” Brackley said.
All the facts, Brackley suggested, are learned in universities.
“But, education seeks wisdom,” Brackley said, urging the Jesuit community to teach students to think beyond what is learned in textbooks.
“Let us study obscure insects and obscure authors. But let that all be part of a collective quest to understand how life and well-being are threatened and how they can flourish,” he said.
“We should use our education and interests as a tool to help other people, especially those who are in need,” said Joseph Olivier, sociology junior, in response to Brackley’s lecture.
Brackley questioned the Jesuit community’s role in developing students’ lives beyond the classroom.
“We cannot fall into a liberal model, like Harvard or Stanford, or some fundamental college like Ave Maria or Stubenville,” he said.
Instead Brackley proposes higher standards for higher education.
He admits that it is not easy to live up to these standards.
“Don’t suppose we always live up to our ideals ant better than any other university,” he said about UCA. “But that commitment will provide a stronger identity and a deeper sense of mission which we can expect will rebound to the greater glory of God and the good of souls,” Brackley said.
Nicole Waivers can be reached at [email protected].
