An Interview with Wayton: A Glimpse into the 2025-26 Presidency

By Tori Kim '27

Last spring, members of the Class of 2026 battled it out on the Cate stage to determine who would become President and Vice President for the upcoming 2025-26 school year, positions previously held by Joba Samson ‘25 and Riley Valente ‘25. After a close and hard-fought campaign, Barron Crayton ‘26 and Jen Won ‘26, with their slogan of “Branching Beyond Boundaries,” emerged as the victors of the presidential ballot in what was described by Joba as “the closest election in Cate history.”

Now, as the duo navigates the trials and tribulations and the victories of senior year and leadership, Cate School waits again, this time in anticipation of what the upcoming year under the Wayton presidency will bring. With their presidency underway, the two reflect on their campaign process, current struggles and achievements in office, Cate culture, and what’s to come for the rest of the school year. 

What inspired you to run for President and Vice President?

Jen Won: I think for both of us, we had a goal of running for the presidency since freshman year, but also we just really wanted to keep the spirit and the culture of Cate alive, especially for our senior year, because we know how big an impact our seniors had on us, and we wanted to recreate that. We both think that’s the best part of Cate. 

Barron Crayton: We’ve both had this dream since freshman year—we met at Pyles and became close and said, “Yeah, let’s run for president,” and it all came true.

How do you work well as a pair?

Barron: I feel like we do a decent amount of things together—we do work or just spend time with our friend group. We’ve kind of developed a sort of chemistry and a way we can distribute work that’s most efficient. Over the years, this has increased and has helped us be better at managing work.

Jen: We have different work habits and ethics. Barron’s definitely better at talking to people and trying to involve himself, and I like to do more behind-the-scenes work, so we balance each other out pretty well. 

What challenges did you face during your campaign, and what challenges are you facing now that you are in office?

Barron: We were both really busy—I mean, junior year is not an easy time to do pretty much anything. That was pretty hard, just managing time along with the campaign. There were some strong candidates, too, so we were just figuring out how we could appeal more to the student body than they could.

I feel like right now is a bit of an awkward year—there’s been so many new policies and new rules…Some students are happy, and some students are unhappy, so [it’s hard to] try to find that middle ground with the faculty and get everyone’s opinions and ideas along.

Jen: While we were doing the campaigning, it was kind of a struggle between us two, like managing our time. Now, we’re working fine together, but we just feel like we can’t do anything right now—we’re in a position where there are so many changes that it’s totally out of our control, but we’re hearing so much feedback from students, and we’re supposed to act as the communicator.

To follow up on that, how are you choosing to approach the alcohol policy and new schedule?

Barron: I feel like the new schedule’s been fine—it’s the first full 7-day rotation, and I feel like it’s been fine, people are enjoying it. I haven’t heard too many complaints about it, but I have to talk more to the academic reps about it. As the year goes on, it will be fine with the rotating classes—you won’t miss the same classes for sports, and things like that. With the alcohol policy, we have our own opinions. Most schools just have it at major school events, which I think is what we should do—I feel like after that, we should just let students be independent and make their own choice, and if they make the wrong choice, that’s on them. But it’s also such a complex topic. 

I was talking to Ms. Lockett about it yesterday. There’s this thing of an image—Cate is so about the prevention of alcohol, and she was talking about how far they want to go to prevent it, or does she want the label of Cate to seem like a mess right now? In my opinion, I think Cate’s a little bit of a mess, but the alcohol policy is a little unnecessary. I think we only need breathalyzing before dances.

Jen: The alcohol policy isn’t going to go away, the breathalyzing isn’t going to go away, and they made that pretty clear to prefects, senate, etc. But I think we can work to adjust the amount of breathalyzing we’re doing, where we’re doing it, and how we’re doing it, and try to get the students and faculty to understand both sides of the topic. 

What advice do you have for juniors and underclassmen who are considering running for President or Vice President?

Barron: Definitely put yourself out there. People say [the election] is kind of like a popularity contest—I kind of agree, because when you know the most people, it’ll help. Not just knowing people like they know your name, but trying to genuinely get some connection with everybody, it definitely does help—people will support you and actually trust that what you do will actually support the future of the school.

For underclassmen advice in general, kind of just try everything—I feel like in these four years, you feel like it’s such a long time, but it goes by really fast, and I feel like people limit their experience by being like, “I’m not gonna do this because I’m scared that people are gonna judge me,” but I feel like you should just shoot and try everything you want.

Jen: Similar to what Barron said, I hope that they realize Cate isn’t like a lot of schools in the way that you run—like I know that at my old school, the same people run for presidency or senate, just knowing that anyone can run—Barron and I weren’t in senate, and we still both ran because we wanted to, and we actually felt passionate about this place. So just having that passion and conveying that. 

What is one aspect of Cate culture that you think needs to change or be reinforced?

Jen: I think one thing is micromanaging right now with the students. I know the administrators have their reasons for the rules, and it makes total sense, but I think watching out for freshmen and making sure it’s not to the point where the administrators and the school are … turning it almost into a junior boarding school. [When] we came to boarding school, we chose as thirteen or fourteen-year-olds to have this independence. And sometimes there are some things—like alcohol—where breathalyzing and managing that is fine, but maybe [we should let them learn] how to use their time well throughout the year so they can prepare themselves for harder years, rather than learning during the harder years. 

Barron: I’d agree. I feel like the teachers right now just need to let the freshmen kind of figure it out by themselves—there’s no reason to switch some rules for freshmen, and it’s only setting them up for a worse path, because it sets them up to have a stressful time at Cate. Freshmen, of course, need to have a kind of backbone, but we need to step away and let them figure it out for themselves.

What events and initiatives are you looking to implement this year?

Barron: We’ve been talking about a “Sunday Sunset,” where [Jen and I] will get food and snacks for you guys and come out. We’d probably do it on Pars Lawn or Sunset Bench, and just talk and get the community together. It’s a good time to get a breather before study hours and before dorm meeting, and a time to reflect on the week and see how you’re doing personally.

Jen: We were also thinking about doing feedback forms [from the student body] more frequently, but something I’ve heard a lot is that people don’t have time to fill out forms, or filling out forms is such a hassle. So we're kind of figuring out what other ways we could do that.

Best part of being President and VP?

Barron: For me, I’d say it’s kind of being a role model right now. I just want to show the underclassmen that in a position of power, you don’t have to be, like, perfect. You can still be silly and have fun, but there are moments where you have to be serious, and it’s important to know that they can have that sort of balance. 

Jen: This part, for me, is kind of hard, but also interesting, and it’s knowing the insides of Cate now—like figuring out why things are put in place and how things work. When I compare my thoughts on specific policies to those of other people who might not actually know more about it, I can tell there’s a big difference, so just knowing that leads to us giving more leniency to the faculty is helpful sometimes.

Message to the school?

Jen: Love your neighbors as yourself.

Barron: Try anything, don’t let anybody push you away from the things you love. You only have one life, so do whatever, have fun.

Jen: YOLO!

It is clear that many initiatives and changes, driven by students and faculty alike, will come in the future, from the new alcohol policy and schedule to Sunday Sunsets and student feedback. 

What started as a freshman year dream at Pyles has now developed into a duo that serves as a strong bridge between faculty, administration, and students—looking forward as the Cate community navigates policy shifts and evolving traditions, students can be sure that they are in the passionate and capable hands of Jen and Barron’s presidency.