The Student Government Association executive officers and senators welcomed a new year, and new members with the SGA Kickoff Sept. 3 in the Clark Student Center.

”I’m glad we had such a great turn out and that a lot of people came. I feel like going forward we have a lot of goals and getting around is the big thing.” Melody Coffey, SGA president, said.

The meeting was filled with a variety of organizations and a few individual class representatives. A majority of the senators that attended expressed concerns about campus involvement.

“I think that if we get a whole lot of spirit and pride about MSU that all the other problems will fix themselves, like involvement and knowing about events,” Clayton Brown, sophomore in mechanical engineering, said.

This year Coffey plans to gain more involvement by collaborating organizations, better advertisement and starting a new program called Talk to You Tuesdays.

“Talk to You Tuesdays will allow students to come out and voice their opinions that aren’t often heard,” Coffey said.

“Meetings are open to all, so just show up on Tuesdays and your voice will be heard.” Tiernan Harris, junior in political science, said.

Leona Sandiford, SGA vice president, had senators get out of their comfort zones by talking to other senators and getting to know the people in their club. Other offices agreed this would help create unity within the group.

“It’s not easy for us organizations to go out and get the word out by ourselves. Together it is easier for us to accomplish more things,” Ktee Erwin, junior in social work, said.

To help make a difference on campus, executive officers urged the senators to inform other students to get involved by becoming senators and being a voice for student body.

“I definitely want to get more people involved. You already paid tuition so why not get involved and make the best experience? What I plan to bring for my group is to create more awareness and get people involved,” Samuel Yahaya, senior in management info systems, said.

Many people are unaware of how Senators are elected.

There are two types of senators, organization senators and class senators. Senator positions are available to any student or organization on campus.

Organizations are allowed one senator, and they choose who they want to represent them. While each class (freshman through senior) is allowed two senator positions, a student must campaign and be elected for by his or her peers.

“As of right now we have a few open spots for class senators and we are hoping to get more people to fill in those spots,” Coffey said.

While SGA is working on recruiting members, they are also thinking of future plans.

“SGA and my sorority, Kappa Delta Chi, do things like academic workshops and community service. We are representatives so that we can help the community,” Heather Vasquez, sophomore mechanical engineering, said.

While future plans and ideas are still in the making, SGA will hold another meeting Sept. 17 in Bolin 100 to begin making changes.

“I’m learning about new people in just the first meeting. Just coming to one meeting has allowed me to know about other things on campus that I didn’t know about. So I would encourage people to come,” Vasquez said.