The following notes have been edited to correct errors and to add explanations and updates. Parenthetical notes and remarks from the original are enclosed in parentheses. Present day [2022] updates are italicized and enclosed in square brackets.
Monday, 14 October 1991 – 8:30 AM - The Lutheran University
We leave the guest house before eight in the morning, planning to stop and exchange dollars for colones on the way to the university, but find that the exchange does not open until 8:30, so continue on and are a bit early for our appointment. While we sit waiting for our host, Gary gives us some background information on the Salvadoran press. There are two morning papers, both of which are extremely right wing. Of the two afternoon papers, only Diario Latino can be considered progressive. El Mundo will at least take paid ads from the popular organizations. Diario Latino, on the other hand, will even carry FMLN press releases.
Señora Alva Zuri Molina, the General Secretary of the University, enters and introduces herself. Later we also talk with Rene Mauricio Mejia, the Admissions Director.
"Thank you for your visit here in the fifth year of your work. Your activities have been serving the interests of our people.
"From 1989, when your previous delegation visited us, until now our growth has accelerated. Programs have been developed and fulfilled. The first stage of the modification of this building has taken place. We have prepared eight classrooms, which allows us to serve 200 to 300 students simultaneously. We have also built administrative offices, and the personnel and administrative sectors occupy permanent facilities. We have prepared professor's offices to allow them individual privacy. The pastoral center has been developed. We are now working on the cafeteria, which will be the final area to be done in the first phase of renovation. The library is complete with about 3000 volumes. (Project Via Crucis raised $10,000.00 for this library in 1989.) Later we'll go take a look at it!
"We have multiple levels of academic support. We do have photocopiers and film equipment, but it is minimal, not very sophisticated now. And we lack a lot toward development of the laboratories. We have installed a computer network, with each area having at least one terminal. We have a group of computers which are now being used to train university personnel, but next year will be available to train students. We plan to develop informal computer courses to train personnel from the popular organizations. Our carpentry workshop is working on maintenance. It's provisional, but the work is of very good quality. They are making a majority of the furniture for the university.
"Our first semester began in March. Now we are beginning the second semester. Presently students are enrolled in theology, economics, agriculture, sociology, and social work; all these are degree programs. We also have a line of courses in professional development for popular organization leaders and pastoral workers.
"We have developed both formal and informal courses, and are having great success with the latter. We are hoping to train about five hundred labor, popular, and church leaders in the coming year.
"It is important to point out that in the area of financing these studies we have presented two projects to Lutheran World Service. One is for short term financing, and the other is for long term, through 1997. We currently have theology, social sciences, and natural sciences, and are projecting development of other schools of study. We hope to add health sciences and technical schools for engineering and other technical studies. We also want to do more development in the social sciences, with courses in political science and law. This is what we have presented, and we hope that it will be supported by the Lutheran World Federation. The University will seek eventually to be self-sufficient and not have to depend on external aid indefinitely.
Question: How did you acquire this property?
"The original idea for the university is about five years old. It grew out of the concerns of the bishop. We needed a place for pastoral development, especially for those who had church leadership roles. The Lutheran Church was having to send leaders abroad to study. We originally wanted a seminary, but the vision became broader. This would be a school not just for Lutheran pastors but for all the historic churches with an ecumenical outlook. Bishop Gomez contacted Edgar Palacios, the Baptist minister, and Rev. Serrano of the Episcopal Church, and they began to work this out. The thought was to develop leadership not just in theology but also in other areas which our country needs for independent leadership. We presented the project to various agencies, ecumenical in scope. Many congregations, especially Lutherans in Germany and in the United States, joined us in developing this project. The name Lutheran stayed with the University because all the leaders agreed that the Lutheran Church was the driving force behind it.
"A church in Chicago, the STA in Germany, and another group in Germany gave the money to buy this land and the buildings on it. The total was $400,000.00. Included in that cost were modifications to the house and the purchase of some equipment. Later the support broadened out, and we hope that it will continue to expand. We hope that people like you, who have the spirit and the consciousness of solidarity, will continue to support our project. It is a project for life."
Question: What is the nature of your student body?
"A majority of the students are children of workers from the neighborhoods. Some are from the interior of the country. We have two kinds of students. There are about 60 academic students from the city. Others come from zones on the periphery, many of them in non-formal studies. These are workers in cooperatives, labor unions, religious organizations, and community leaders. There are about 125 to 150 in this group. The number varies a great deal because the courses are short term, usually two months, with a very specific theme. Currently we are developing a unit on women and women's studies in the pastoral school. We have a visiting woman pastor who will be teaching and directing this course.
"We have been thinking a great deal in reference to these non-formal courses. We are reflecting on how to develop a methodology to serve leaders from the most distant zones, so that they are able to come here and develop skills in accounting, management, the formulation and writing of project proposals, and technical training toward higher development.
"Planning is being done in connection with the UCA and the UES [University of Central America and University of El Salvador], because once we get to peace, all these communities which have merely survived will be on the brink of much greater development toward self-sufficiency. There are two options open to us – bring their leaders here, or go out to where they are. We are considering both possibilities.”
Question: Is there housing available for students?
"Not on campus, but the church has been able to meet needs. The church has guest houses used for delegations which can also be used for people from the interior. Other denominations have retreat houses which are sometimes available."
Question: What is the length of study?
"The full academic program takes five years, or ten semesters. There is also a three-year track."
Question: What does it cost?
"There is a monthly charge of 75 colones (about $9.00) for the academic track. The non-formal courses run about 50 colones per month."
Comment: It is really amazing what you have been able to accomplish in two years.
"This doesn't cover all of our costs. We are looking for a way to aid students who can't afford the university. We have created the Foundation for Life and Peace. Its purpose is to develop scholarships for students unable to pay for university training. The foundation was created with funds which Medardo Gomez received from an award in the United States. It is a start toward dealing with the lack of funds of many of the people.
"This is a drama which continues in our country. It is why ending the war will not be a solution. The war has gone on for eleven years, but the social struggle has gone on for far longer. For five decades the people have been receiving bullets. The difference in the past ten years is that now the bullets are going also from the people to their attackers.
"This university was created to address the problem of lack of financial resources among the people. We have advertised the university widely in the popular organizations, but there has not been much response so far. People still have to work to support their families, even if their coming here is aided. We hope to see more response from the popular sector once the war is ended.
"We have different rate structures. What we gave to you earlier is the cheapest. The most expensive is 300 colones ($37.50) per month for the students who have a better ability to pay.”
A man: "One of our goals is to put out academic journals. We already publish a newsletter called 'The Cornfield.' There is also the journal of the University, in which themes of political and religious significance are addressed. And we reprint articles from international journals which we believe should be more widely distributed.
"On the faculty we have eighteen professors who are Salvadoran. There is also a Brazilian woman, and the pastoral center/non-formal programs are run by the American Lutheran pastor Dan Long. (He is the ELCA missionary whom the Salvadoran government is trying to expel. His residency visa has not been renewed, and he could get a call at any time to leave the country.) There are also Swiss teachers, and recently two Swedish missionaries arrived who teach non-formal courses. We want to expand the number of foreign teachers in both the formal and non-formal areas."
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