Story by Katlyn Mackie, Staff writer

The Murray State Student Government Association (SGA) kicked off the school year by passing two resolutions and establishing a lineup of campus activities for students.

Tori Wood, SGA president, said SGA is making efforts to have more legislation and hopefully bigger events for students this year.

SGA passed two resolutions: 81-17-R1 and 81-17-R2.

The first resolution, 81-17-R1, pertains to the solar eclipse that happened on August 21. It states that the student senate of SGA supports faculty deciding to excuse the absences of students who want to watch the eclipse or dismiss class altogether.

The purpose of 81-17-R2, the second resolution, is to support the “Student Body Presidents for UVA” signed document.

It states, in light of the events that have recently happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, that students should uphold the basic principles of diversity, “accepting one another, learning from one another, creating an atmosphere of positive engagement and challenging bigotry.”

“As we move forward, we will continue to write legislation that is relevant to what is occurring,” Wood said.

Wood said the student government is also planning to improve publicity to promote involvement in events organized by the campus activities board.

So far, SGA sponsored events such as the hypnotist, Explore Murray and a movie night in the Curris Center theatre.

Upcoming events that have already been planned include:

• The American Red Cross Blood Drive on Aug. 24-25
• Emotion Matrix Simulator on Sep. 19
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Oct. 31

“We want to ensure that the student body knows about what events are occurring, as well as improving on our presence on social media – which we already began to see when we hosted the hypnotist this past Wednesday,” Wood said.

Other members of SGA are concerned with outside student involvement and communication with senators and the executive board this year.

Jeanie Morgan, SGA advisor, said the senate  is always trying to be more active in serving the students and being their voice.

“We always want to see more interaction between the student body and the elected officials and more participation in the any of the events sponsored by SGA,” Morgan said.

Connor Moore, senior from Dix, Illinois, said he would like to see more involvement from constituents so that SGA will know their concerns and be more successful in their efforts to help.

Similar to Moore, Claudia Burcham, sophomore from Jefferson City, Missouri, said she would like to see more members of the student body attend senate meetings, as it is a great way to stay connected.

“I believe one of the main priorities of SGA this year is to emphasize the importance of voicing your opinion to the appropriate people,” Burcham said. “Murray State University truly cares about their students and what their opinions are.”