Shannon Murray '24
Over the past three years in Senate, Cate’s form of student government and the way in which presidents and vice presidents have led their senators and representatives, has been more of an active organization rather than a proactive one. This year, student body president Liz Sutter and vice president Cyrus Symmington are striving to change that. Along with this want for change comes the “New Student Government.” There are two main ways Senate will be run differently this year. The first is how you, as a Cate community member, can access money from Senate to fund a campus event, such as a club meeting or community event. The second concerns the more formal gatherings that will occur within Senate meetings using a type of forum called ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’.
In terms of how you will access money from the Senate budget: senators are given a set amount of money every trimester they are tasked with allotting to the Cate community during Senate meetings. In order for you to access this money for an meeting and/or event that is happening on the Mesa, you must write a bill. This is standard practice and has been the case for as long as the Senate system at Cate has been around. However, you may no longer present this bill yourself; you must go through one of the grade senators. This senator doesn’t necessarily have to be the one who your grade has elected, just one of the eight. Your senators for this first half of the 2022-2023 school year are Coco Kliman and Eric Jin (9th Grade), Colette Chang and Chris Soto (10th Grade), Shannon Murray and Riley Pan (11th Grade), and Carlo Kim and Harry McAdam (12th Grade). Any of these eight people are more than willing to present your bill during those Tuesday meetings. In fact, they have to…it’s their job. Once you pick your senator to represent you, your bill must be emailed to Oona Summerford-Ng (Recording Secretary) no later than 8pm on the Sunday evening preceding the Senate meeting at which you intend to have your bill presented.
A common question that comes with this whole process is, how do you even write a bill? In order to write an adequate bill for senate you must include three main sections. 1: a brief (2-3 sentences) explanation of what you need the money for. What club, what event, and when. 2: A break-down of all materials needed with each amount, including tax. 3: grand total of all funds needed from the senate. Compile all of this information inside a google document and that is your bill.
Senate is also changing by conducting meetings through ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’. This has been implemented to help have more productive and meaningful discussions during Senate that use time wisely for the greater benefit of the school. Essentially, if you attend a senate meeting you must be called on by our president in order to voice your opinion. This goes for all members of Senate, students, and faculty.
Finally, Senate meetings are an engaging space where important information about Cate life is communicated through many different representatives, senators, and teachers. Even if you do not fit into one of those categories you are more than welcome to come to the Johnson Library at 6:30pm on any Tuesday night and make your opinions heard. Senate is open to anyone in the community!
In this new era of student government on the Mesa, the ideals of proactive professionalism are at the forefront. Senate wants your voices to be heard. Whether you come to Senate or you voice them to one of your many Senate members, your ideas matter as Senate works to build the Cate that you all wish to call home.
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