True to his persona — selfless and caring — Rich Beebe dowplays the impact he and the significance of one letter have made over the years. Rich, who has been involved with Amnesty International for nearly 40 years  —  the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization that focuses on fighting injustice and promoting human rights — and has served as Westover’s Amnesty Club Advisor for 30 years  — estimates that in that span, members of the Westover community have written between 25,000 and 30,000 letters as part of efforts for Amnesty’s mission. Let that sink in.

“Being one person writing a letter may seem like a small action, but it’s inspiring to know that there are so many others who are out there taking part in the same kind of small actions that collectively can make a difference,” said Rich, who is part of the Westover Advancement Communication team and works in the School Archives.

But it’s the “small things” that have meant big things in the Westover community and beyond throughout the years. During Amnesty International’s 60th Annual General Meeting, held virtually March 12-14, Rich was awarded the Urgent Action Network Hero Award, which recognizes activists for their outstanding casework, as well as exemplary members of the Urgent Action Network (UAN).

“Rich has such a heart and dedication for being part of the solution for human rights,” said Robyn Ames, Westover’s Director of Community Service and co-advisor of the Amnesty club.  “This year is my first time working with Rich as co-advisor for Westover's Amnesty club and I learned so much from him. Now our entire community has the opportunity to know about his dedication and the support he has given our students to be part of a global movement to support human rights. That is powerful!”

Rich, who is originally from Winsted, CT, first became interested in Amnesty in 1977 when it won the Nobel Peace Prize for its ongoing work on behalf of victims of human rights abuse. He explained a few years later, an acquaintance invited him to join a new Amnesty community group that was forming in western Connecticut.

“Over the next few years I started volunteering as a trainer at state, regional, and national Amnesty conferences, and also served for about six years as a volunteer area coordinator who provided support for community and student Amnesty groups in Connecticut,” he said.

It’s inspiring to know that there are so many others who are out there taking part in the same kind of small actions that collectively can make a difference.

From there, it seems like it was destiny for Rich to arrive at Westover and bring his growing passion, dedication and activism to the institution. He explained he first made a connection through friend, and then Westover English teacher Rachel Bashevkin, as she arranged for him to be a guest speaker about the work of Amnesty for one of the weekly Chapel meetings. A couple years later, Rich came back to talk about Amnesty in one of Rachel’s English electives.

“I had brought to the class an Urgent Action case about a reporter who had been arrested in Spain and Rachel’s students wrote letters to the Spanish Prime Minister seeking the reporter’s release,” Rich said. “A few weeks later, one of the students received a letter from the Prime Minister’s office saying the reporter had been released. The students were so excited by the news that they decided to form an Amnesty group at Westover.”

Rich, who married Eileen Tateo in 1990, who worked as a counselor at Westover, officially  joined the Westover community in 1991 and volunteered to take over as the new advisor for Westover’s Amnesty group. His main duties, he said, have been to provide support to the Amnesty student heads in their efforts to encourage fellow students and community members to work on behalf of human rights. Most of the work focuses on the act of writing letters to governments on behalf of detainees or other victims of human rights abuses. Over the years it’s become tradition for most of Amnesty International’s letter-writing and other important matters to take place once or twice a week during meals  at a table in the dining room.

“What I have learned over the years is that I just need to set up the Amnesty table — put out the Urgent Action case sheets, the pens, and the stacks of paper and envelopes — and then get out of our students’ way and let them get to work,” Rich said.

While the letters have piled up, so have the expenses. Rich explained a vast majority of the letters are sent outside the United States, requiring international postage. So to help with the costs, the club has held  weekly sales of Dunkin donuts and muffins as a fundraiser.

“Needless to say, there’s been thousands of donuts and muffins sold over the years that have paid for thousands of dollars of postage,” Rich said.

Also in his role, Rich has organized a yearly Amnesty International Chapel, usually arranging for outside speakers — including Amnesty staff members or other human rights activists, including several Westover alumnae, and even a couple of former prisoners or their family members — to share their stories about their human rights experiences.

“In working with Amnesty for almost 40 years I have gotten to see hundreds and hundreds of people — most of them Westover students and faculty, but also many other people from across the United States and even some from around the world — who have tried to make a difference as individuals in actions (some small and some large) to defend the human rights of strangers,” he said.

While the pandemic has reshaped the way schools have structured learning styles and other traditional in-person events, Westover’s Amnesty group has continued to write and fight for human rights. Rich explained they’ve held several virtual letter-writing sessions organized by this year’s Amnesty Head Isabel ’22, with the help of Robyn, who will take over as the group’s advisor next year after Rich retires this summer.

“I have been blown away by the fact that the Amnesty group has still been able to get letters written,” Rich said. “Having worked with Robyn Ames as co-advisors to this year’s Amnesty group and seeing students turn out for the virtual sessions organized by Isabel, I am confident that the work of Amnesty will continue to inspire Westover students to learn about and advocate for human rights around the world in the future.”

And in true Rich fashion, he credits the hero award for his many years of selfless work, back to the Westover community.

“I was told that the award was given because, out of anyone affiliated with a school or university, Westover’s group had taken the most actions reported in 2020,” he said. “So, in reality, the award truly honors all the Westover students and other members of the community who wrote several hundred letters over the course of 2020.”