To Whom It May Concern:
As a group of concerned alumni of Saint Mary's University, we would like to address the plans for a war monument on campus.
As graduates of Saint Mary's University, we have been taught that Lasallian service to those in need pertains to the work of education in a spirit of faith. In our understanding military service is not synonymous with Lasallian service to the poor. We would like to remember the sacrifices that soldiers have made, especially those who have graduated from Saint Mary's University. However, we would ask that such a memorial speak to the dream that there be no more lives claimed by war.
As members of the Winona Catholic Worker community, we regularly sit down to dinner with veterans of war. Many of our guests are well educated, well traveled and deeply wounded. The emotional scars of war leave their mark not only on the guests that live and eat with us, but on our homes and all of us who live in them. We now each carry the pain of the walking wounded; courageous and broken women and men who have given their lives at the request of their government. They now walk our streets, reliving the trauma of war with each new day. A monument to their service seems a mockery of the anguish that they have seen, especially in light of gaps in veterans care that exist in our communities and our government. Would it not be a more compassionate response to use the money raised for the monument to assist veterans of war with medical care, housing, and other financial support?
As people of faith, we find it presumptuous to honor fallen soldiers with a monument when there stands no concrete recognition on campus of the countless martyrs who have gone before us within the Lasallian family, including Br. James Miller and the 58 recently beatified Christian Brothers. Those who gave their lives in service to the poor, dying armed only with the cross and with forgiveness for their assassins, deserve the attention of all students, parents, faculty and staff that would pass by a monument on a regular basis. We must honor and glorify peace, and those who work to build it in our communities and in our world, if we indeed ever hope to see people lay down their weapons.
Just last month the International Council of Young Lasallians, with the support of the General Council, proclaimed an International Day of Prayers for Peace. Young Lasallians from all corners of the globe participated in works of peace. Superior General, Br. Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría reiterated a message that he frequently shares with the Lasallian family, "I believe that we are living in a time of grace in which, on the one hand, awareness is growing that war has never been and never will be a solution and that on the other hand we must create and develop a culture of peace." It is hard to comprehend that Saint Mary's University would consider physically glorifying war when the elected head of the Lasallian family makes such a simple and deliberate call for peace.
We speak as a group of people deeply connected to Saint Mary's University and the Lasallian mission. We ask that you not only consider our concerns and requests, but know that we will carry this message to the Midwest District and the Generalate in Rome. We believe this to not only be a matter of faith and conscience, but also an affront to the Lasallian mission.
Sincerely,
Diane Leutgeb Munson '04 Michael Munson '04 Rebecca Lambert'06
