Max Katz ‘23 and August Starr ‘23 are Urban’s newest co-presidents, taking the place of Ava Desouza ‘22 and Ben Kenvin ‘22 for the 2022/2023 school year. Co-presidents are responsible for planning events that promote the well-being of the students, school spirit, unity, and education.
Starr and Katz were elected after giving speeches at an all-school meeting. Starr, an avid flame thrower, and Katz, a talented horseback rider, attend meetings during lunch and stay late after school—two examples of the many sacrifices they make on top of their already hectic schedules.
Katz said, “I feel like it’s not really about the first thing we’re going to change or improve, it’s really about building at this stage,” speaking about the first thing he wanted to do next year. “Ninety-nine percent of the job is making sure that you trust and feel connected with the people you’re working with; if that’s Stuco, if that’s relationships with teachers or other peers at Urban. I think that right now August and I are working to build those relationships and build that trust.”
Katz also spoke about the chemistry that he and Starr have, saying “we will just be talking, brainstorming ideas, and something will come up and we’ll both latch onto it. It’s crazy how it feels like we latch onto those same things and it’s going to be easy to pick up the ideas that we want to run with so that’s been really cool.”
Additionally, in a conversation about what he loves about Urban, Katz said, “this is possible; that two people that you might not think ‘president’ off the top of your head get to be in this situation and get to prove to Urban that we are the best people for this job. I think that that’s super unique, super special, and super valuable.”
Starr spoke about specific steps he would take to ensure that voices are heard. He said, “something I’ve learned through performing is that a performer is not so much a subject, but rather a catalyst to find connection and to have an audience find themselves. So sometimes that means taking a step back… A catalyst is like, I’m not the main ingredient, I’m just getting the ingredient there.” Urban looks forward to what Starr and Katz will bring to the table next school year as co-presidents.

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