Following the massacre of the Jesuit community at the Central American University in San Salvador in 1989, Dean Brackley, Jesuit from Fordham, volunteered to take their place. Aside from teaching and parish work he welcomed countless American college students on immersion trips.

He considered this vital to building a culture of solidarity. As visitors begin to see themselves reflected in the eyes of their poor hosts, “the ground begins to shift under their feet. It is the Spirit nudging them to take up their deepest vocation in life.”