The institute, a Spanish-language training center for Latin American military personnel run by the United States Army, has long been a lightning rod for protest. According to School of the Americas Watch, founded by Maryknoll priest Father Roy Bourgeois, graduates of the institute have included "two of three officers cited in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero; three of five officers cited in the rape and murder of four U.S. churchwomen; 10 of 12 cited for the El Mozote massacre of 900 civilians; and more than 100 of 246 people cited for atrocities in Colombia." Among its graduates are former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and Leopold Galtieri, who led an Argentinean military junta and oversaw a regime in which a reported 30,000 people allegedly either disappeared or were killed.

Stein learned about the school in the 1980s while attending a program on social justice presented by a Maryknoll priest.

"I grew up in a family that was very socially active," said Stein, who this year marks her fourth time protesting the school. "For me it’s a pilgrimage, kind of like the Trail of Tears. When you find out what’s going on, it’s hard not to take action."

Father Bourgeois founded SOA Watch in 1990 after six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her 15-year-old daughter were murdered in El Salvador. Six years after the killings, a United Nations truth commission linked the deaths to 19 graduates of the SOA.

The SOA, which opened in 1946, officially closed in 2001, but in its place was opened the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSC). Critics say the changes were basically cosmetic, and that the classes and mission of the school remain the same. Defenders of the school admit that many of the old classes remain; even the U.S. government admits that the school has trained military leaders who have committed atrocities across South and Central America, but claims that no school should be held accountable for the actions of some of its graduates.

"The United States government never officially admitted that torture is part of the curriculum of the School, which was brought to light by the Freedom of Information Act," Stein said.

Stein said that educating others is one reason why she and an ever-increasing numbers of people return annually to Georgia.

"Sister Helen Prejean, who also attended the recent protest, said that Americans are caring and compassionate people, they are just uninformed," Stein said. "If they knew that torture was being taught at the school, and that the school is a terrorist training camp, they wouldn’t stand for it. Especially if we are a Christian country and our government’s policies are carried out in our name, we must speak out against this school. Torture victims of WHINSEC graduates have recognized the tortures used at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison as the same as some of those taught at WHINSEC."

The protest, which is peaceful despite a handful of arrests for trespassing on school grounds, is just a small part of a series of events starting on a Friday and concluding with a Mass on Saturday night and a rally on Sunday. Among those arrested at the site in previous years have been actor/activist Martin Sheen, Father Bourgeois and many religious.

"It’s hard to call it a protest," Stein said. "It’s more of a witness than a protest. There are workshops and speakers and teach-ins. We study and learn about the issues. There’s a lot of nonviolence training. Those who choose to can go to a Jesuit Mass on Saturday night.

"Last time I went, in 2001, there were 2,000 gathered for Mass under a big tent. This time they doubled the size of the tent, and there was standing room only. Four-thousand people attended, most of them under the age of 35. We pray together, then we mourn together. After that, there’s a wonderful celebration of hope, of life. All of these aspects are important."

On Sunday, participants may choose to take part in a rally in which protesters march as if in a funeral procession. Some people carry coffins or white, wooden crosses or other symbols with the names of victims of the SOA. Each name is called out, followed by a litany of "Presente," calling for justice for those whose voices have "been silenced by fear or death."

"Not once in 15 years has there been violence because of protesters," Stein said. "We come here year after year to speak for those who have no voice, the poor and the forgotten. We come to say, ‘this is a shameful desecration of everything that America ought to stand for.’ We come here to say that torture and genocide against other peoples will not continue to be done in our name."