Father Roy Bourgeois earned a BA in Geology before serving 4 years in the military, earning a purple heart in Vietnam. He subsequently joined the Catholic Church and served 40 years as a priest, including serving the poor in Bolivia and El Salvador. These experiences led him to found the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW), an organization seeking to close the what is now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) at Fort Benning, GA.
Father Roy has served a total of 4 years in prison for non-violent protest and he and SOAW were nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 2010. In 2012, Father Roy was expelled from the priesthood for his public support to the ordination of women priests. Few have accomplished and sacrificed as much to address suffering and oppression. In 1994, Father Roy received our Global Justice & Peace Award and look forward to hearing his experiences about how we can stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America.