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Salvadoran missionary’s story is told
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
Jean Donovan, "the original yuppie,” turned her
back on a successful career to work as a Catholic lay
missionary with the poor in El Salvador. In
December, 1980, Donovan and three American nuns
were raped, shot and buried in a shallow grave by
members of the Salvadoran National Guard.
Ana Carrigan, author of "Salvador Witness: The
Life and Calling of jean Donovan," was on campus
Monday to talk about her book and about El Salvador.
Her visit was sponsored by the Latin American Sup
port Committee and the Lane County Literary Guild.
Carrigan says she was drawn to Donovan
because, unlike the other three victimized women,
she was not a nun. People often have higher expecta
tions of nuns, and thus find it harder to identify with
them, she says.
Donovan also came from a typical, middle-class
American background, Carrigan says.
Carrigan helped produce two television films on
Donovan, "Roses in December” for PBS and
"Choices of the Heart,” an NBC-TV Movie of the
Week. Her book is drawn from research she did for
the films.
Donovan led a sheltered life in a close-knit family
in suburban Connecticut. Although she attended col
lege during the days of Vietnam and Watergate,
Donovan eschewed radicalism and rebellion and
clung to her conservative upper-middle-class values.
After receiving a master’s degree in economics,
Donovan landed a high-paying job in accounting but
was dissatisfied and confused about the direction of
her life.
Carrigan believes Donovan’s decision to go to El
Salvador was influenced by her friendship with
Father Michael Crowley, whom she met while she
was an exchange student in Ireland. Crowley, who
had spent 10 years in Third World nations, encourag
ed her to try to do something to change the world
before she settled down to become a “nice comfy
capitalist.”
When Donovan decided to become a missionary,
she arbitrarily chose El Salvador after reading about it
in a brochure on church missions. She knew little
about this country, which would soon be embroiled
in a civil war and which would become a heated
issue back in the United States.
Carrigan believes that there was an element of
escapism in Donovan’s decision but that that later
turned to dedication. She left a fragmented, isolated
and competitive society in the United States and
discovered a sense of community among the
Salvadoran peasants, Carrigan says.
When Donovan arrived in El Salvador in 1979,
the stage was being set for future conflict.
“All of the players who are on the scene today
were there, on the side of the rebels or the side of the
government,” Carrigan says. “All came to the fore at
that period. Following Jean’s life is a chance to see
all of that through her eyes. And since she is such a
big American innocent, when she gets there her
education, her discoveries, her responses are very ac
cessible to everybody in this country.”
One of the players was Archbishop Oscar
Romero. Carrigan considers Romero to be the hero of
her book and a major influence on Donovan. Before
he was assassinated while delivering Mass in March,
1980, Romero was an outspoken critic of the
Salvadoran government.
Carrigan sees some parallels in the spiritual
journeys of Romero and Donovan, who both went
from uncertainty to a commitment that would cost
them their lives. Romero also came from a conser
vative background but was converted after right-wing
death squads began killing his priests.
It was because of the loss of these priests that
Romero requested the missionaries be sent to El
Salvador, Carrigan says.
“They were all inspired by him, as were several
other people. He was a voice for those without a
voice. And he was without a question the greatest
threat to the power structure of El Salvador.”
In El Salvador, anyone who stood up for the poor
and advocated
social change was
considered to be a
dangerous subver
sive by the oligar
chy, Carrigan says.
“He spoke the
truth as he saw it,
and he lived it. He
really did live the
gospel,” Carrigan
says. “And in the
conditions of life in
El Salvador, the
gospel message is
more revolutionary
than any communist
tract.”
Romero also
urged U.S. policy
makers not to send
military aid to El
Salvador, but he
was ignored.
“The war in El
Salvador is a war of the military, the police and the
National Guard against the population,” Carrigan
says. “It has always been that. It is still that.”
Ana Carrigan
Carrigan sees little hope for any change in El
Salvador. The Reagan administration, which gives
military aid to El Salvador, is not interested in a
negotiated peace but hopes for a military victory, and
the Salvadoran people, tired of the long war, will
soon be willing to accept peace on any terms, she
says.
But U.S. policy in Central America has not really
changed much under President Reagan, she says.
“It was no good under Roosevelt; it was no good
under Kennedy; it was worse under the Republicans,
but it’s still the same policy,” she says.
Seeking new ways to spend a Friday night?
Campus libraries extend weekend hours
By Julie Shippen
Of the Emerald
Good news is here for students who
want to get a real jump on finals or do
some quick cramming for midterm ex
aminations. Beginning Friday, the
science, architecture, allied arts and
main libraries will stay open longer on
weekends, say library and administra
tion officials.
The four libraries will be open until 11
p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings,
says Pat Silvemail, assistant University
librarian for public services.
In the past, the libraries were open un
til 6 p.m. on Fridays and until 5 p.m. on
Saturdays. The new schedule will add
11 more hours of weekend study and
research time in each of these facilities.
‘‘This is a real step in the right direc
tion,” Silvernail says. ‘‘We have been
wanting to do this for a long time. It
comes at an opportune time (midterm
time) for students. I know that the ser
vice will be used,” she adds.
Funds to keep the buildings open
became available earlier this month,
Silvemail says.
The legislative Emergency Board
allocated money to three Oregon institu
tions of higher education after the State
Board of Higher Education decided to
use $900,000 of over-realized tuition to
pay legal expenses. The University ad
ministration then reallocated part of the
University’s portion to include a boost in
hours for the libraries, Silvemail says,
although the specific amount has not yet
been determined.
Dick Hill, University vice president
and provost for academic affairs,
modestly states that student need and
cooperation by library personnel — not
administration — are to thank for this
decision.
Hill and University Librarian George
Shipman decided earlier this academic
year to increase library hours during the
last three weekends of each term. The
decision came in response to a survey by
members of ASUO and the Student
University Affairs Board in mid
November that showed students were in
terested in using the libraries for
research purposes as well as for
studying.
“We’re very pleased that we are able
to do this,” Hill says. “It’s one direct
benefit of the recent action by the
Emergency Board.”
“1 think it’s a great idea,” says
Kathryn Patterson, who is majoring in
music, English and psychology. “I
wasn’t able to get into the libaray last
term on Friday nights, and I would have
liked to.
“If you take a lot of evening classes
during the week as I do, it’s a good op
portunity to make up,” she adds.
Paul Hosey, an architecture major,
says “I don’t see myself as using them
(extended hours). However, I do think
it’s a good idea that they stay open a lit
tle longer on weekends, although I’m not
sure if11 o’clock is appropriate.
“I think it may be a waste of funds.”
The new library hours are as follows:
Monday through Friday from 8 am. to
11 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Be
tween sessions and during summer ses
sion, the libraries’ hours also will in
crease. Those hours will be Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.,
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sun
day from noon to 9 p.m.
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