Before an audience of around 50 in Ryan Auditorium, the chairman of Special Olympics, Inc., talked Monday evening about honor, respect and inspiration.

“[Special Olympics] is a not a movement about people with special needs, but a movement about all of us,” Timothy Shriver said. Shriver came to speak because NU’s Special Olympics celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The group is the biggest and oldest college-level Special Olympics in the country, and funds and helps with the annual Illinois Area 5 Track and Field Meet, which hosts over 650 athletes.

Throughout his address, Shriver stressed the fact that the Special Olympics shouldn’t be about taking pity on people, or feeling guilty that you have it good in life, but about what you can learn. Shriver said the overwhelming response of volunteers is that they got back more than they gave. Special Olympics, Inc., works with 2.25 million athletes in about 160 countries.

When volunteers see athletes excited to be competing and getting silver medals, or no medals at all, Shriver asked, “What really matters?”