Graduating in 1967, Marin Bentz embraced every opportunity get got at ASH, and carried those experiences into a distinguished career with the United Nations. From advocating for the use of the UN logo to promoting AIDS education for peacekeeping troops. His journey reflects the values of curiosity, critical thinking, and social responsibility that ASH continues to have and pursue. 

 

 

I was a student at ASH when it was still at Doornstraat in Scheveningen. I completed both my Junior and Senior years at ASH, graduating in June 1967, a long time ago. I loved every minute of my time at ASH because I got involved in as many activities as my schedule allowed. I remember eagerly auditioning for the annual theatre productions, “Our Town” by Thorton Wilder, 1966, and in 1967 “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, in which I played the despicable Reverend Parish. Acting in both plays augmented my confidence and ability to speak in public, which became extremely important later in life as a spokesperson for UNICEF and United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. Participating in the Debate Club, coached by Dr DeWitt, helped too. Though I cannot say I am an accomplished artist, I enjoyed working on the art and layout of the 1967 ASH Yearbook with ‘Chico’ Echevaria. Even though we studied hard, we also launched into daily extra-curricular activities including bowling and other pastimes in Scheveningen.  

 

 

The most valuable quality I took from ASH was to always be intellectually curious, which includes never to stop learning and to keep asking questions.

 

 

All my ASH teachers challenged my thinking and writing to see if I could rigorously support them. I never took offense since I knew they were helping me become clearer and more articulate in whatever I put on paper or in discussion. I was encouraged to test my assumptions, my prejudices, and even my beliefs to make sure they were backed by valid evidence. I learned to never take an opinion at face value. Ask always whether that opinion makes sense and how that person came to that point of view. Look at a situation or problem from different angles. Self-reflection was hard work and upset my worldview. It also challenged the worldview put forward by others as an established fact.

 

When I was working at the United Nations (UN), I questioned why the UN world logo was only allowed on official UN letterhead. In 1985 I saw the logo as a way of promoting the UN 40th Anniversary. I approached the UN Assistant-Secretary General for Legal Affairs, Alice Weil. She agreed with me, and we put the logo on fliers promoting a run and a concert on First Avenue, New York, in front of UN headquarters, events which also had never been done before. As soon as we established that the UN logo was not sacrosanct, the logo was used to promote every official event and even on souvenir items sold at the UN gift shop.

 

Years later in 2001, I asked why training and educational materials about AIDS were not given to UN Peacekeeping troops. Troop-contributing country taboos and prudishness were putting UN troops at risk. Soldiers who had never heard of AIDS were coming home and infecting their families with AIDS. First, we established a universal code of conduct for UN troops. Training in both proper ethical behavior in host countries and the risk of AIDS became mandatory for all new UN troops.

 

Challenging ignorance and entrenched habits can save lives and change the status quo for the better. Any ASH student can gain these same skills and make a real difference in the world.

 

 

I took AP English with Ms. Mildred Lasky. Thanks to her intense curriculum and dedication to her students, many of us did well in the AP exam. Ms. Lasky’s class was very challenging. Amongst the many books we had to read one of the most complex was Dostoevsky’s Brother Karamazov. I pulled an all-nighter working on a college-level paper for her. Ms. Lasky’s note at the top of the paper has motivated me professionally all these years. She wrote, “Very convincing paper. You will be an accomplished writer.” I have tried to live up to her expectations ever since.

 

 

I should preface what I am doing now with what I did after leaving ASH. At that time, we are groomed in high school to look forward to a linear progression, to a great college education, followed by ever-increasing success in a desired profession. I was certainly excited about getting accepted in the colleges of my choice. I did not expect to be diverted by the social upheaval of the late 60’s and early 70’s.

 

I was consumed by the injustices afflicted on African Americans in the civil rights movement and the suffering of the Vietnamese in a nonsensical, far-off war, in which the American casualties were disproportionately the sons of poor families who could not get a college deferment. I left college (we called it dropped out) and looked for semi-skilled jobs, working on farms, in hospitals, in construction, in nurseries, on the estates of the wealthy, in hotels and restaurants. (I was never called up in the draft since my lottery number was very high). Each job gave me a new perspective on how people survived. From my education at ASH, I knew I could contribute more with a college education.

 

These broad life experiences bolstered my acceptance to Columbia University School of General Studies. I am convinced they also helped me empathize with other people’s struggles and made me a better manager. Sufficient to say my career included organizing fund-raising events for UNICEF and managing United Nations Peace Keeping Operations in Morocco, Eritrea/Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and culminating as Head of the Support Office in Kuwait/ Chief Administrative Services for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). I retired from the United Nations in 2011.

 

So, what am I doing now? We moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts in 2015. Since then, I have been increasingly involved with local social justice matters. I actively promote interfaith understanding, stressing the common fundamental principles found in all faiths. I am presently the chair of the Human Rights Commission for the City of New Bedford. Respect for basic human rights is as important now as ever. Fundamental rights are under attack throughout the world.

 

The 78th anniversary of the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights was on December 10, 2024. Rereading the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration gives us pause on how much we take these rights for granted and how fragile they can be when under threat. We should all strive to understand, embrace, promote, and defend these rights in our daily lives wherever we live in the world. To this day, I will be forever grateful to ASH for infusing in me the principles of respect, tolerance and learning I have used all my life.