The Riordan administration has doubled their efforts for the student body to be informed about what respect is and how it can be implemented into daily life.

The recent push culminated in a speech given by Nathaniel Simon ’98, Director of the Resource Specialist Program, which was in part inspired by the circulation of a controversial video posted on YouTube by a group of Riordan students.

Although he was a little nervous that his message may not be interpreted in the exact way he wanted, Simon accepted the administration’s request.

He said, “I was excited about it. I like talking to the guys at Riordan just because I feel that being a graduate and having some experiences a lot of [the students] have had is helpful.”

In his talk, Simon focused on several contemporary issues with society, particularly the difficulty of just listening to one another and empathizing with others.

He explained, “I was thinking about my wife and daughter and how I have a voice here, and I was just thinking of what I could say that they couldn’t say and how I could get it across in a way that guys understand.”

He continued, “If you devalue something, you’re willing to do anything to it. If it has no value to it, you can throw it away, hurt it, ignore it. So a lot of times we have to remember the value that people have and to be empathetic with him.”

The value of respect reaches far beyond Simon’s speech, however. English teacher Diana Assereto expressed, “I think it is important to think about how we speak to each other, be more thoughtful about how we interact with each other, and the kind of message we send to each other, whether in the classroom or on social media.”

She also explained how respect goes both ways, in a sense, and that in order to be respected,one should act in a dignified and respectable manner.

Junior Theo Reese said,“Students can show respect by understanding that people have different opinions and by not insulting the person for having different opinions, but by having a civil conversation about the topic at hand.”

Another key part is listening and looking to others as role models, acknowledging that humans are flawed and can always improve.

Michael Vezzali-Pascual ’88,another English teacher said, “I think there is a lot to the values that we are trying to teach and reinforce here, including the Marianist characteristics of education, and Mary as a model of respect. So, I think students can emulate respect by looking to Mary as a model, of course, andevery guideline and policy [at Riordan] is pointed at respect… and if we follow these basic tenets we’ll be in really good shape.”

This revamped emphasis on respect has found its way into the Summer Reading assignment.

This summer, all students will read the book Speak, which is a story about a girl who is afriendless outcast and only finds joy and a feeling of normalcy through her art project.

According to Principal Tim Reardon, “After Nate Simon delivered his speech about what it means to be a good man, we thought it would be a good idea to incorporate that theme into the overall curriculum of the school. We’ve since had a couple of Mentor Group meetings that have reiterated some of [Mr.Simon’s] ideas, and Speak is a great book for further exploration of these complex ideas. If the whole school reads the same book, we’ll hopefully be able to have great dialogue in our Mentor Groups when we come back from vacation.”

By having the whole school read the same book, the administration aims to help facilitate more widespread discussion among the student body and to help students more fully exhibit empathy and respect towards others.