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Volume 74, Issue 3
A Student Publication of the Belmont Hill School
October 9th, 2025
Eric Kapitulik Delivers a Rousing Speech on Leadership By Jaiden Lee ’26 Panel Staff “But only when I started to swim, did I feel true fear”: these words, repeated several times, formed a key part of Chapel speaker Eric Kapitulik’s impactful story about the harrowing experience of being trapped in a sinking helicopter during a training mission gone wrong at sea. With this story as his opening, Kapitulik took the stage on Friday, September 26th, to provide key advice on leadership and teamwork. In 1995, Mr. Kapitulik, having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy as a student-athlete on the lacrosse team, went on to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Special Operations Officer with the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Division. After several of his colleagues tragically passed away in the helicopter accident, Mr. Kapitulik began competing in triathlons, notably completing eight Ironman competitions, the Canadian Death Race Ultra Marathon, and the American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon, among others. Through competing in these endurance events, Mr. Kapitulik aimed to raise enough money to provide college scholarships for the children of all of his deceased friends. After eight years, Mr. Kapitulik left the service
Eric Kapitulik Sharing The Program’s Mission in Chapel and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2005. He then founded an organization called The Program, which seeks to help young men build character and grit. According to Mr. Kapitulik, “leadership is a contact sport.” He demonstrated this by instructing the boys to stand up and hug the people immediately adjacent to them. Using Tyler
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Smith ’26 and Thomas Danahy ’26 as onstage models, Mr. Kapitulik emphasized that “ if you want energy, you have to be the kind of person who gives it. And if someone does give you energy, you better make sure you give it right back to them.” Next, Mr. Kapitulik emphasized the importance of leading by example, declaring, “As a leader, don’t ever ask your teammates to do something
you’re not willing to do yourself. The best teammates set the example, and then we hold our teammates accountable to it.” Mr. Kapitulik went on to warn against the danger of simply being “nice friends,” describing how only resorting to kindness could morph into laziness. As great teammates, we should tell each other the things we do not want to hear, in order to improve each other. Finally, Mr. Kapitulik proved how uncomfortable changing a habit could be through a simple arm-crossing activity. Talking about the three main areas of courage that he found most important, physical, mental, and emotional courage, Mr. Kapitulik presented a photo of him and his wife standing at the base of Mt. Everest on a beautiful day. He asserted that feats like completing triathlons, climbing towering mountains, and being a good leader ultimately required all three types of courage (physical, mental, and emotional), and that each are essential tools needed for success. Mr. Kapitulik emphasized how significant making good habits was both as an athlete on a sports team and beyond in the outside world.“All it has to do with is a choice—we must make every morning that we wake up, a morning where we decide to be the best leader that we can be. I hope you make the right choice.” ☐
BH Hosts International Boys School Conference By Adrian Chen ’28 Panel Staff Last June, Belmont Hill became a bustling hub of global education, uniting over 650 educators from across the world under one theme: “Better Together.” Over four days, the school hosted the 2025 International Boys’ School Coalition (IBSC) Conference, welcoming attendees from as far as England, South Africa, Thailand, and New Zealand. Belmont Hill held hundreds of workshops led by educators and administrators from member schools, featuring key principles such as Belonging and Collaboration, Character and Masculinity, Innovation and Learning, and Leadership and Strategy. These sessions provided a platform for diverse educators to share ideas and promote boys’ education. In addition to workshops, Belmont Hill hosted a myriad of distinguished speakers in the Jordan tennis facility, which was beautifully transformed into an auditorium. Speakers
Letter from the Editor Welcome to Issue 3 of Volume 74! This Issue marks our first as we kick off the new school year. With this new edition, we would like to once again encourage boys of all forms who have an interest in writing articles to thepanel@ belmonthill.org. All writers are welcome, and we are constantly recruiting new students to join and contribute to our subsequent issues. In this issue, our news section features four spotlight articles on incoming faculty additions
Mr. Schenider Introducing IBSC Members to Campus
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included Shabana Basij-Rasikh, founder of a school for Afghan girls now relocated to Rwanda, who spoke about the human right to education; Noubar Afeyan, local entrepreneur, biochemical engineer, and Belmont Hill parent, who discussed leading a good, successful life; and Alan Garber, current presi-
dent of Harvard University, who joined the presidents of MIT and Williams College for the Higher Education Panel. Beyond speakers and workshops, Belmont Hill immersed guests in school traditions. Educators and administrators participated in walks through the Habitat, visits to the woodworking
this year, including returning alums Mr. Murphy ’98 and Mr. Palandjian ’13. Additional articles cover new school policy updates and recent developments from the senate. Our sports section features Nick “Moose” Fiumara ’26 as our Athlete of the Issue and also features articles focusing on sports updates from our Fall teams as well as alum Jack Winnay ’22’s drafting to the Red Sox. In this issue’s center-spread, we have created a collage of all the Form trips this Fall with photographs taken by students and faculty from various locations.
Next, our Arts section places a spotlight on the Landau Gallery’s recent featuring of Ms. Bradley’s paintings, recent theater developments with the new play All Quiet on the Western Front, and October’s Playlist of the Issue (Dad Rock). Our Ops writers focus on domestic politics with Trump’s policing actions and international politics with the exit of three prime ministers. The Debate of the Issue, spearheaded by Bradford Adams ’26 and Justin Li ’26, centers around the best method for students to take notes—by hand, or on a device.
studio and Robsham Art Center, a reception at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and early morning rowing on the Charles River. Director of Culinary Excellence Chef Tony Maws ’88 crafted a gourmet menu for attendees across the four-day event. Highlights also included a skydiving exhibition featuring Mr. Liston and former faculty member Mr. Feldman, who jumped from a plane and landed on the field beside the music building as spectators gasped in awe. The success of the 2025 IBSC Conference was the result of years of preparation by faculty, most notably Head of School Mr. Schneider and Ms. Larocque, Senior Associate Director of Admission and Financial Aid. Without Ms. Larocque’s organization and the help of hundreds of volunteers, many of them Belmont Hill students, the event would not have been possible. Mr. Schneider capped off the confrence by stating that he hopes the conference “offers us a chance to learn and grow with boys educators around the world.” ☐ We’d like to thank all of the new writers, editors, faculty, and staff who helped make this first issue of the year possible. Again, anyone who is still interested in joining the newspaper but hasn’t reached out is strongly encouraged to reach out to thepanel@belmonthill.org or to any of the Executives---Eli Norden, Jaiden Lee, TZ Snail, or Nathan Zhang. The Panel is excited with a great start to the year and looks forward to covering school/world events in the months to come! We hope you enjoy the issue!