On Thursday, October 3, 2024, former CIA agent, Republican House representative, OpenAI board member, and 2024 presidential candidate Will Hurd spoke to Belmont Hill students and faculty in Hamilton Chapel as the second moderate partisan speaker for the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election.
Mr. Hurd’s career in service began in 1999 as the Texas A&M Student Body President. He ran because he was “pissed off” about a parking problem and that professors weren’t publishing grades. After college, he joined the CIA, serving as an operations officer in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan during the early 2000s. There, a colleague of Mr. Hurd didn’t know the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Mr. Hurd recognized that the men and women making decisions that affect the men and women on the ground simply must be more knowledgeable; he immediately knew he had to pivot his career to politics.
After losing by 2,500 votes in 2010, Mr. Hurd won the Congressional election in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. In Congress, Representative Hurd focused on cybersecurity and technology on the Committee on Intelligence and as Chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Information Technology. Ciro Rodriguez, former representative of TX-23, explained, “He is a hard worker. He is extremely conscientious.”
Mr. Hurd explained that American democracy requires educated citizens. He encouraged the community to be curious and hopefully sparked interest in public service. “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.” Even amid immense political polarization, Mr. Hurd advocates for the ideal of working across the aisle to get things done. Tiago Matos ’26 added, “I thought it was incredibly eye-opening to hear his perspective on politics and life.”
Many have praised Mr. Hurd for his decency and commitment to conversation across the aisle. His talk offered three take-home messages: “Get off the ‘X,’ think hyperbolically, and do something meaningful and hard.” Wherever there are issues, take action—fight. Start thinking about human development in a way that humanity has never considered. Last, act authentically and care deeply about your work to achieve true happiness and success. Tyler Smith ’26 explained, “He really went in depth…it just gave me a different way of thinking about politics.”
Mr. Grant explained the speaker committee’s choosing of two moderate speakers to provide “someone accessible that we can understand [and] go home to talk about.” Mr. Grant included that the best Chapel speakers engage 12 to 19-year-olds; Mr. Hurd’s self-deprecating sense of humor—he stuttered until the 8th grade and wore a Size 17 shoe—was undoubtedly relatable to the whole student body. Mr. Grant exclaimed, “He had us at ‘howdy!’”
Mr. Hurd spoke to Belmont Hill simply out of his commitment to conversation and curiosity; he chose to speak free of charge. Faculty and students from all sides of the political spectrum have explained their appreciation of Mr. Hurd’s speech. Belmont Hill students and faculty will undoubtedly consider these valuable lessons when voting and learning about this year’s election.
