On September 13, Representative Pat Ryan stepped onto the chapel stage and began by revealing his insider knowledge about Belmont Hill: Students don’t like St. Sebastians, and love Milk and Cookies. Mr. Ryan’s introduction set the tone for the rest of his speech. Despite his somewhat intimidating role as a representative and combat veteran, he was candid, kind, and articulate. In light of our current struggles as a nation, Mr. Ryan focused his speech on how to stop the growing political divide in our country and emphasized that the next generation of leaders must show compassion for one another, even if they do not agree on policy.
Mr. Ryan was born and raised in Kingston, New York, some 90 miles north of New York City. After graduating high school, he enrolled in the United States Military Academy. While attending West Point, the whole nation witnessed the horrors of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Upon graduation, Mr. Ryan served two tours in Iraq as an intelligence officer.
Following five years in the military, Mr. Ryan founded Praescient Analytics, a company that identifies the strong and weak points of a company’s technological systems, before running for Congress for the first time in 2018. Although unsuccessful, he ran for political office again in 2019 as County Executive in his home county of Ulster; he won the election. After his three-year term as County Executive, Mr. Ryan ran as the Democratic Representative for New York’s 19th district and narrowly won the election with 51.1% of the vote. He beat out his opponent, Republican Marc Molinaro, by just over 2000 votes. Mr. Ryan currently represents New York’s 18th district after a redrawing of districts and serves on the House Armed Services Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Mr. Ryan touched upon two members of his West Point class, John James and Wesley Hunt, his peers in the House. Despite the fact that both are Republicans and he is a Democrat, they are still able to have discussions about policy with one another while maintaining a close relationship. He emphasized that people are more than their political views and that having friends with different opinions is beneficial.
Mr. Ryan explained how civil discourse is crucial to the continuation of democracy, adding how social media furthers the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans. He encouraged Belmont Hill to continue engaging in civil discourse and difficult conversations while not identifying each other based solely on political beliefs. Furthermore, while discussing his duties within his home district, Mr. Ryan noted that in order to have a say, citizens have to vote. He especially encouraged young people—a demographic that voted three times fewer on average than senior citizens in the 2020 presidential election—to vote and make their voices heard. He mentioned that the people who impact policy are the ones who email and talk to their representatives. Without input, representatives are unable to assist their constituents.
Mr. Ryan’s speech opened the eyes of many students to the inner workings of their government and was very informative about the roles that Belmont Hill students have in an ever-evolving democracy. Nathan Zhang ’26 remarked, “Hearing the insightful views of Mr. Ryan from a moderate standpoint was really refreshing considering the political polarization we see today on the news and social media.” Realizing how relevant the topic was, some teachers took time to discuss the chapel with their students and further Mr. Ryan’s points. In light of the upcoming election, The Panel would like to thank Mr. Ryan for taking valuable time to speak to Belmont Hill.
