Speaker Program Highlights Bipartisan Leadership and Civic Responsibility

In the lead up to this November’s election, Belmont Hill welcomed Representative Pat Ryan and former Representative Will Hurd to speak to the community in separate presentations as part of this year’s Fall Speaker Program.

On September 13, 2024, Representative Ryan delivered remarks and answered questions on stage from Belmont Hill seniors Jordan Summers and Henry Hagedorn. Representative Ryan grew up in Kingston, New York, and attended West Point Academy. After graduation, he served multiple tours of duty in Iraq as an Army Intelligence Officer before returning home to start his own technology company. His time as a public servant began as Ulster County Executive where he helped his community navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic. Upon his election as the Representative for the 18th District in New York, Representative Ryan became the first graduate of West Point to serve in Congress.

Representative Ryan took questions on his own career, the current political moment, and how our national unity might be improved in the future. He spoke openly about his experiences at West Point and how the values instilled in him as a cadet inform his work in D.C. on behalf of his constituents.

When asked for advice for any students who might be interested in pursuing politics, Representative Ryan offered encouragement. “We need more patriots, we need more servant leaders, we need more people who are going to take the values that you’re learning here and bring them, certainly to Congress. Bring them to our businesses, bring them our institutions. Bring them to our families. I think all of that is in pretty desperate need right now.”

On October 4, 2024 former Representative Hurd took the stage in Chapel to impart lessons learned from his experiences in the C.I.A., Congress, and the technology industry. Mr. Hurd grew up in Texas and attended Texas A&M University. Following his collegiate career, he served in the C.I.A. and his work as an operations officer took him overseas to India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In 2014, he was elected as the Representative for the 23rd District in Texas and served from 2015 through 2020. In 2023, he ran for President in the Republican Primary with a campaign founded on unity, optimism, and common sense solutions to generational challenges in foreign policy, politics, and technology. 

Former Representative Hurd spoke with passion on “Extending the Experiment,” looking back on our nation’s founding and how the responsibility to keep those principles alive rests in the next generation. He tied those values to stories from his time in the C.I.A. and elected office, stateside and abroad. Looking forward, he urged the boys to think into the future and on what challenges and opportunities the decades to come will bring and what will be required to meet the moment. 

For Mr. Hurd, the connection between his experiences comes from a lesson learned when his initial run for office failed. Upon losing the election, Mr. Hurd reached out to his friends and family for advice on what to do next. Of all the responses that came back, one stood out and stayed with him ever since. “Do something meaningful and hard.” This would become the guiding principle that drove Mr. Hurd’s future accomplishments, and valuable advice for all Belmont Hill boys.

Despite their differing backgrounds and party affiliations, both speakers highlighted their pride in serving others, the need to change the intense partisanship currently plaguing our political climate, and the urgent civic responsibility of voting.

When asked about why voting matters, Representative Ryan said, “You think about the sacrifices that, not just military veterans, but many generations of Americans have made before you. Who protested and were assaulted for doing so. Who battled all kinds of injustices, who served in uniform, who sacrificed. Just from a pure duty, your patriotic duty, that is an important level to think about your responsibility.” 

“To me, voting is just the floor of civic activity,” former Representative Hurd said. “You’ve got to get engaged. Y'all are the heir of this experiment and the least you can do is to vote when you become of age.”

For many Belmont Hill boys, November will mark their first opportunity to vote and both of these speakers took full advantage of the opportunity to prepare them for the privilege of exercising that freedom.

The Speaker Program continues in November as political analyst Peter Flaherty addresses the community with guidance on following election night news.

Photos by JJ Pena '26