Several Eastern students are traveling to Washington, D.C., this weekend to let their voices be heard in protests against what they believe to be terrorism.

Sean Barth, a senior history major, said 14 students will participate in a mass demonstration at the Capitol Building as part of an ongoing effort to cut funding to the United States Army’s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in Fort Benning, Ga. They believe the school is using tax dollars to train terrorists and then send them to countries across South America.

The demonstration is being held to rally support for a house resolution calling for Congress’ defunding of the WHISC, formally the School of the Americas, he said.

“It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about fighting a good fight,” Barth said.

Students will leave by bus Friday and arrive on Saturday for the first day of protest which includes attending information sessions on U.S. military policy and other issues.

On Sunday, Barth said protestors will attend a reading of names of victims believed to have been murdered by people associated with the WHISC and pass out flyers.

Others students will stay until Monday for a non-violent protest at the Capitol Building, he said.

“I just want to do my part in ending unjust violence,” Fran Nelms, a senior early childhood education major said.

Barth said he believed people trained at the school have been associated with kidnapping, torturing and mistreatment students, labor organizers and other groups who speak out against governments in South America.

The demonstration, sponsored by the School of Americas Watch, will focus on atrocities like these happening in Columbia where the majority of the school’s graduates are sent.

However, the WHISC denies that it supports terrorism. According to the WHISC official Web site, the institute was founded to provide professional and educational training to military, law enforcement officials and civilians to support democracy, to build strong peace-promoting relationships among other nations and to spread knowledge and understanding of U.S customs and traditions.

Despite the WHISC’s claims, Barth said that knowing what he knows about the school, he feels it would be “apathetic” to do nothing.