Outrider: The History of Cate’s Student-Run Newspaper

By Fiona Pan '27

It has been 105 years since the El Batidor newspaper came to life at Cate School, formerly known as the “Santa Barbara School.” In the first edition of El Bat, released in the 1919–1920 school year, the editors wrote that the term El Batidor, translated to “Outrider.” “Batidor” means scout, or outrider, which is someone who paves the way for others to follow. The past editors wrote that the name for the newspaper was indicating, “a harbinger, or bearer of news from the school to its alumni; it is the school’s herald to the school’s friends.” According to Cate’s archivist, Judy Savage, the newspaper was originally a part of the yearbook until around 1950, when it broke off as an independent school paper. In past editions, photos, poems, and school notes were used to share information about the state of the school.

In the 1949–1950 edition of El Batidor, most articles covered the school's current events. In the winter edition of the newspaper, there was a column called “Mesa Madness,” which discussed Thanksgiving on campus and Cate’s Chinatown. In addition, the newspaper also discussed how El Bat would begin including more images in each publication. 

Past editorials of the newspaper were more bearers of news than strong opinion pieces. They also covered many of the school's renovations, specifically in the 1952 release of El Bat, which covered the Long House changes. The article reads, “New Long House of school holds Juniors [and] Seniors...housing twenty boys, it is of the best quality throughout.” At the time, Long House was one of the most coveted dorms on campus. 

The same 1952 editorial of El Batidor also contained an outline for what the release would entail. The editors of El Bat wrote, “The editors of El Batidor respectfully offer the present four-page tabloid format of the school paper for the appraisal and criticism of its readers.” The newspaper was truly meant to inform and connect with the community. There were student drawings, stories about senior trips, marriage announcements, and much more. At the time, they were informing the community about the ins and outs of Cate. Since El Bat, separated from the yearbook as a commencement insert, and that same year, the first edition of The Mesan was published. El Bat grew from being a print insert to its own publication, and as of the third volume, the El Batidor Commencement issue in 2020, it was fully digital for people around the world to access.  

With Cate’s introduction of co-education in 1981, women started writing their own articles, and the coverage of those stories is similar to what we see in El Bat now. 

The images above are a comic strip in the 1984 publication of El Bat depicting the life of each Cate grade. 

Furthermore, the articles in the 1980s covered a wider range of perspectives, as they featured both men's and women's writing. Articles about Saturday classes said, “While America rests after a long week, we drag ourselves from class to class. After classes, most of us have games against other schools. My weekend begins on Saturday evening at approximately 5:00 p.m. My weekend ends on Sunday morning, when I begin my work for Monday classes.” In addition to the hot topic about Saturday classes, in the 1984 school year, the administration restricted the wearing of sweatpants. 

In the past, El Batidor often had one, two, or three Editors-In-Chief. It wasn’t until four years after coeducation started at Cate in 1985 that they included the newspaper's first female editor, Kristin Zwart. 

As El Bat continues to evolve as a school paper, we’ve seen an increase in the diversity of topics covered in articles and a rise in the number of staff writers/students writing for the paper. The past two years, El Batidor has had a female Editor-In-Chief and continues to use its resources to inform the school community about current events. Past editions have had fun stories, “El Bat Tunes,” and school news, and the hundred-year-old tradition of the paper lives on at the Mesa. As articulated by one of the former Editor-in-Chiefs, Jim Zanze, at the end of the school year, people come closer together because of the paper. He writes, “Maybe it is the all-nighters and accompanying rituals during layout or the pains of coming up with ideas for articles…No matter, by the end of the year, editors who began at intellectual odds and who were separated by unbending egos somehow end as intimate friends.” The anecdotes and experiences El Bat brings enrich our community and understanding of Cate. The school should look forward to the future under the leadership of Jasper Shelmerdine, Elise Tsai, and Lawrence Zhang. El Batidor will continue to be the “Outrider,” bringing new ideas to the table, and escorting the school news, activities, and those ideas from the Mesa to the Cate community.