I've often thought about the significance of our mascot, the Knight, and how we as a school are represented through that image. The medieval knight, who guards the entrance to the Perry Gymnasium, whose likeness graces our school uniforms and whose shield is embedded with our school's history and values, is a symbol of the ideals represented in knighthood. If you walk into Brother Oxx's classroom later this semester, you will find it adorned with student shields, created as part of their world history class and embedded with the markers of their own unique history and values.

Medieval knights lived by the code of chivalry. They were loyal to their God and to their king, humble before their superiors, and courageous in the face of conflict. In fact, they were often sent to defend the weak by bringing justice to the oppressors. Their armor was impenetrable, their character unwavering. The Knights of Catholic Memorial have a similar code, embedded in our mission statement and in the culture of our school. We are first a faith community, steeped in the values demonstrated in the Gospels, and manifested in service to God, our neighbor, and our Church. Second, we exist in the tradition of the Christian Brothers, trained like knights to actively promote justice in the world, especially to those who have been mistreated, like the Irish in the 19^th century.

The image of the knight is a meaningful symbol for all of us today. Take the latest "hot topic" in education - bullying. Bullying is fundamentally about justice. Unlike conflict which occurs between two parties of relatively equal power, bullying is characterized by repetition and by a power imbalance. The power differential is played out in many different ways. Maybe a student is physically larger, is considered more popular, has had particular athletic success, or has a good social network. All of these characteristics contribute to one's relative power. To use that power to harm others rather than to help them is fundamentally wrong and violates our code as Catholic Memorial Knights. To combat those outliers requires...[read more]

Related: Bullying awareness efforts at CM.