speakers on the hill
SPEAKERS ON THE HILL BELMONT HILL SPEAKER PROGRAM
Belmont Hill is so fortunate to be able to offer our boys a wide array of distinguished speakers in our historic Hamilton Chapel. Through the years, our Head of School, alumni, and faculty – as well as an impressive list of guest speakers – have presented on a broad range of topics. In our non-denominational chapel, we seek to engage our community, start conversations, and foster a balanced and civil exchange of opinions. Head of School Chapel Talks and the Parents’ Council Speaker Series are made available to parents by video whenever possible. Other talks are shared publicly on occasion, but the primary audience is the internal community of students, faculty, and staff.
kai bynum
October 2, 2020 | Cum Laude Guest Speaker Dr. Bynum is the current Head of School at Hopkins School in Connecticut. He was formerly an English teacher and director of Community and Diversity at Belmont Hill (2007–2012). Dr. Bynum spoke to the entire Belmont Hill Community, and welcomed and recognized the newest members of the Belmont Hill Cum Laude Society. He spoke fondly of his time at Belmont Hill and urged students to not just be exceptional thinkers but also to apply sound action to leadership in the world today.
harry goldberg
October 9, 2020 | COVID-19 Presentation Dr. Goldberg joined the Belmont Hill Community at the beginning of the 2020–2021 school year as the chair of the Science Department. In October, he shared a presentation with students, faculty, and staff on COVID-19, focusing specifically on the transmission and physiology of the disease. Describing the science behind the precautions that we were taking on campus, Dr. Goldberg reminded the community about the importance of staying vigilant in using face coverings and social distancing.
michael thompson
October 27, 2020 | Parents’ Council Presents: Modeling Civility, Supporting Community: Parenting Through the Election and Beyond Dr. Thompson, Belmont Hill’s consulting psychologist and a regular speaker on campus, spoke to the parent community about the challenges of parenting during the pandemic. He addressed parents’ concerns about their sons’ social development, how to manage anxiety in uncertain times, and how to establish guidelines and limits for their teens that work for their family.
caroline randall williams
October 29, 2020 | Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP) Speaker Series Ms. Williams is an award-winning poet, young adult novelist, and cookbook author as well as an activist, public intellectual, performance artist, and scholar. She is the author of Lucy Negro, Redux and Soul Food Love, and is currently a writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt University. In June, Ms. Williams contributed a powerful New York Times opinion piece, “You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument. The black people I come from were owned and raped by the white people I come from. Who dares to tell me to celebrate them?” Ms. Williams kicked off the inaugural MAP Speaker Series, which was moderated by Will Forde ’05 and Caleb Collins ’93. www.belmonthill.org
winter–spring 2021
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