The Student Government Association met deans from Arkansas State University and passed their first resolution of the semester, a new scholarship, during their Monday meeting.

Instead of their usual start to a meeting, Chief of Staff Martavius Hopkins introduced the Meet the Deans event for the SGA senate.  

“It’s an annual event that we have just to put faces to names and really build that bridge between the staff here on campus and the students,” Hopkins, a senior Criminology major from Portageville, Missouri, said. “We say that we’re a family here, but it’s hard to be a family with somebody you don’t know their name. We get to share ideas and build connections and relationships.”

SGA senators broke into groups by academic major and visited with their respective deans to discuss building faculty-student partnerships.

The senators then moved on to the new business portion of the meeting, which included an at-large seat filling and a new resolution.

Ahtziry Zuñiga, a first-year political science major from Jonesboro, filled the last at-large seat for SGA.

The resolution covered during the meeting was given an emergency clause, meaning they discussed both grammar and content during the meeting before unanimously passing it. 

The resolution proposes the creation of a scholarship called the Love Moore Loudly Scholarship.

The Love Moore Loudly Foundation, where the scholarship idea was derived, is devoted to promoting mental health awareness and suicide prevention, established in memory of Arkansas State University student, Ally Moore. 

Reese McCallum said it is important the resolution be passed in September as September is Suicide Awareness Month.

McCallum, a senior marketing major from Jonesboro, said she was excited to see the resolution get passed.

“It was really important to me because I lost a friend to suicide in February,” McCallum said. “I know we’ve lost a lot of students on campus due to suicide, so just continuing to spread that awareness and just let them know they’re not alone and have resources.”

Avery Meadows, SGA wellness commissioner, was also part of the scholarship resolution, but said McCallum was the primary contributor to its creation. 

“When she brought up the idea to me, I was really excited, just because it was something that I thought our school could really benefit from,” Meadows, a sophomore exercise science major from Searcy, said. “I think that my role is pretty important in the making of that scholarship just because I am kind of in charge of the wellness of the A-State community.”

Meadows said SGA will host events throughout the semester to express their commitment to wellness at A-State. In November, SGA is hosting the Red Wolf Reset, a day of events focused on activities to support mental health.

“SGA is committed to mental health,” McCallum said. “That’s why we also have a newly established wellness commissioner, because we really are committed to not just success, but also the mental well-being of our students.”

ER 24/25-05, a resolution passed last semester by former SGA president Micayla McGowen, created a mental health senate-appointed position and committee. 

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