An Interview with Student Senate President, Luul Adam
By Lexi Davis and Mia Timlin
The leadership roles available to students at St. Kate’s are abundant, but very few touch the level of visibility as the position of President of St. Kate’s Student Senate. Luul Adam is a senior on campus. She’s a Biology major with a potential Philosophy minor. She drinks matcha and likes doing spontaneous things with her friends and family. She loves rice and salmon day in the dining hall. She’s also the 2024-2025 Senate’s current Madame President. Adam sat down for an interview with The Wheel to discuss her third year as a student senator and her first year as the leader of the whole ordeal.
Adam first joined the Senate as the chair of the Environmental Issues Committee. The position allowed her to learn about and advocate for sustainability on campus and attempt to innovate new ways to encourage environmental consciousness and sustainable practice into the everyday life of students on campus. The way she was able to turn her position on Senate into one of activism is a theme she brings with her into her position as President.
“I was driven to take on this leadership role by the systemic injustices and barriers that have impeded students' abilities to self-actualize and have a good academic experience,” Adam says. “I was drawn to St. Kate’s by the advertised Katie experience of community and loving thy dear neighbor without distinction. I’ve come to know that many students do not, in fact, have the opportunity to fully integrate into our university's values and that there are structures in place that are not oriented toward them.”
A lot of her work is dedicated to realizing and directing attention and resources to the intersecting identities that students have, especially when it comes to attending a university with a primarily white faculty that doesn’t match up with the diversity of the student body.
“Think of commuter students and the many challenges that commuters face,” Adam says. “Now imagine being a BIPOC student in combination with being a commuter. I don’t want to make any assumptions, but speaking from my own personal experience, I will say that it is very challenging.”
Adam, in conjunction with her leadership team which consists of Senate Chair Jamie Buckler and Senate Official Madeline Bjonskaas, aims to make life easier for the students she represents, and she draws inspiration from her own experience as a student.
“The potential for exhausting all of my internal and external resources [is] quite high. There are intersecting identities alongside intersecting factors that may hinder a student's success. I hope that this year we can work together to support issues faced by students such as commuter challenges, food insecurity, transportation (bus cards or shuttle vans), DEI issues throughout campus, especially in the classroom further community engagement on campus, PSEO student concerns, improve senate operations, create a succession plan for the future and more! The goal is to support the day-to-day life of students and support them in overcoming some of the barriers to their education.”
The nitty gritty of Adam’s role involves overseeing the Senate as a whole, but also acting as a point person and advisor for the Diversity, Academic and Environmental committees. She says that in her work on Senate, all of it takes place in a team structure.
Beyond the administrative tasks, Adam views her role as a community-based one.
“Senate is one of my favorite student organizations,” she says. “I really enjoy being in a community with students who are eager to understand campus operations and student concerns to improve the campus community and support students in their time at St. Kate’s. There are many students outside of the senate who are passionate about making this community a better place and they have influenced a lot of the decisions made by the university.”
As far as passion goes, Adam feels that there is a lot of it at St. Kate’s—especially when it comes to advocating for change. She sees Senate as an extension of those efforts.
“I feel a sense of hope about the future of St. Kate’s. I know that there are issues and challenges that our institution faces (and so do many other institutions) and being in conversation about what we could do to support these issues is very nice. I think we can make progress by acknowledging some of the things that are going well. Educational inequities exist and some students may have a more challenging time in their educational journey. Senate mainly operates as a support network that creates connections and bridges the gap between things.”
As for how her time so far as Senate President has changed her, Adam says that it’s broadened the way she collaborates and works across groups, departments and organizations.
“My favorite part about being Senate President is having the opportunity to work alongside different people—whether that is students, staff, or faculty. You are sort of forced to look at things from multiple perspectives and are challenged to not work alone and always look at collaboration as a way of fostering community and transparency.”
Adam wants to lead a Senate that is truly looking out for its constituents. She wants it to be a true representation and reflection of the people who elected her into the seat in the first place. She wants to make real change. For her fellow students wanting to do the same, she has some advice.
“Experiment and ask questions along the way,” she offers. “The first step to anything is a question and there sometimes is no concrete answer. Make the decision that you think is best, and you’ll learn something new. I find that things filled with obscurity are usually what add to the meaningfulness of our lives. So listen to your heart and move forth without fear. As philosophers say, turn your fear into hope!”
