Student Selected for Prestigious Senate Page Position

Morgan Heck ’14 has been selected to be a page in the U.S. Senate for the upcoming fall semester, following sponsorship by Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. The prestigious page program was started by Daniel Webster in 1829. It remains the only Congressional page program, following the discontinuance last year of the larger page program in the House of Representatives as a cost-savings measure.
 

The Senate page program is limited to 30 high school juniors from across the country. Academic standing is one the most important criteria in final selection of pages. Because there are only 30 page positions to serve 100 senators, not all senators are able to appoint pages. Due to the limited number of positions and the high volume of interested students, competition is keen and highly selective.
 

The duties of the pages consist primarily of delivery of correspondence and legislative material within the Capitol complex. Other duties include taking messages for senators, calling them to the phone, preparing the Senate chamber for sessions, and carrying bills and amendments to the desk. A rotation system is used so that every page has an opportunity to experience all areas of service.
 

A page’s day typically begins at 5 a.m. for classes starting at 6:15 a.m. in the U. S. Senate Page School. Classes extend until 9:45 a.m. or one hour prior to commencement of the Senate, when pages report for duty and work until 5 p.m. or until the Senate adjourns for the day, whichever is later. When sessions extend past 10 p.m., the next day’s classes may be postponed. In addition, pages are expected to do three to four hours of homework daily.
 

Some notable previous pages include former Senator Chris Dodd (CT), current Senators Lee (UT) and Pryor (AR), Representative Boren (OK), and former Vice President Spiro Agnew.
 

“Serving as a Senate page will be an unparalleled learning experience for Morgan,” said Senator Lieberman. “The knowledge that he will gain has the potential to shape the course of his future as an outstanding American citizen and avid participant in the political process. I am confident that Morgan will make a valuable contribution to the page program, and I look forward to seeing him soon in Washington.”
 

Morgan, a Fairfield, Conn., native, attended elementary school at Eaton Square School in London and graduated from Fairfield Country Day School as Ranking Scholar. He enrolled as a Third Former two years ago at Westminster, where he’ll return next January following graduation from the Page School. Although Morgan regrets that he will miss a semester on the Hill, he is grateful for all that Westminster has done to allow him to be on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for a term.
 

Morgan has had a lifelong interest in American history and government, and he’s already visited the U.S. Senate several times while in session. This summer, he worked as a volunteer at the Horizons program at Greens Farms Academy and as an intern at a marketing company in Westport, Conn. In advance of his page duties, he was also busy with one of the pages’ requirements: memorizing the names, and faces of all 100 senators.
 

To say that Morgan is excited about this new opportunity is an understatement, and he feels it’ll be particularly interesting to be in the Senate every day during this fall’s presidential and senatorial elections. He appreciates the exciting chance to work for Senator Lieberman even in a small way, especially as this will be Senator Lieberman’s final term prior to retiring from the Senate. “This is going to be a great learning experience, and it also sounds like a lot of fun, if I can remember everyone’s name,” said Morgan.