Mr. Richards Chapel Conversation: Avoiding "Styrofoam Weights"

In a special Chapel gathering, Classics Teacher and Head Varsity Crew Coach Chris Richards imparted on students the lifelong value of Belmont Hill’s academic rigor and the intrinsic way in which academic honesty shapes the School’s community.

As a faculty member for 35 years and a parent to three alumni, Mr. Richards has a deep understanding of the Belmont Hill experience. Speaking from the stage without a lectern or script, he acknowledged that the boys’ time on campus will no doubt include challenges, but ones that come with transformative benefits.

“It’s part of the magic of this place,” Mr. Richards said. “If you embrace the challenge and don’t back down from it, and you hold yourselves accountable and do your work, you don’t fear failing, you don’t fear making a mistake and coming up short, those things will teach you more than all of your successes combined. If you seek out the help that is always available to you here from teachers and others, if you embrace all of this, then I assure you your experience at Belmont Hill is going to pay dividends for the rest of your lives that you cannot begin to imagine as you’re sitting here this morning.”

The rapid development and accessibility of A.I. has made academic dishonesty a national conversation, and while Mr. Richards touched on familiar arguments against cheating, he also conveyed the costs that students might not consider in moments of intense pressure and self-doubt. 

“What you've done is the mental or intellectual equivalent of lifting styrofoam weights,” Mr. Richards said of cheating, whether it be via new technology or more old school methods. “You will have done nothing to enhance the growth and development of your own brain. I’m absolutely certain that there’s not a guy in this room who would go down to Jordan [Athletics Center] and think he’s going to get stronger by faking a workout or having someone else do it for them.”

Beyond the detriment to a student’s own intellectual development, Mr. Richards illuminated how cheating ultimately impacts the community culture so integral to the daily experience for everyone on campus. 

“Belmont Hill is a remarkable place and I think one of the most remarkable things about it is the amount of trust we have in the integrity of those around us. People who come to campus from the outside are astonished to see bookbags lying everywhere unattended around campus. We simply take for granted that they’re safe. We trust that they’re safe. Cheating is corrosive to trust.”

Just as the academic challenges have lasting value, the community bonds forged on campus stay with students long after graduation. Mr. Richards sees this in his sons, and in the countless former students who come back to the Hill for Reunion each year.

“They learned critical lessons while they were here,” Mr. Richards shared. “First and foremost, the importance of character and being a good person. That overrides everything. But secondly, how to work hard, how to not cut corners, how to avoid styrofoam weights, even when, or especially when, the pressures are the greatest.” 

After Mr. Richards' talk, students met in their advisory groups to continue the discussion, but not before finding their backpacks on the walkway outside the chapel, right where they left them.