Alli Coleman, Contributor

SMART kicked off the school year by participating in the Homecoming decorating contest. The decorating was in the Mortensen Hall lobby, and was mainly focused on the Augsburg mission statement. The big statement in their decorating has to do with the calling of Augsburg students and sexual misconduct. The statement said, “Auggies are called to call out misconduct”.  Following the big statement was the Augsburg mission statement rewritten to apply specifically to raising sexual misconduct awareness: “Informed Citizens: Ask for Consent, Thoughtful Stewards: Don’t Let Their Friends Leave Alone, Critical Thinkers: Know the Statistics, Responsible Leaders: Believe Survivors”. SMART won part of the decorating contest for being most representative of the Augsburg mission statement. SMART also participated in the Taste of Augsburg homecoming week. At the Taste of Augsburg, SMART served a build-your-own mac and cheese with different toppings to choose from, which was a hit to the people who attended and tried the dish.

Currently, SMART is planning future events they would like to do this semester and next semester. Coming up this month, SMART will be hosting a pumpkin painting event on Thursday October 24th. This event will be a fun fall festivity involving painting mini pumpkins as well as doing a Kahoot to learn more about the organization. SMART has also been thinking about having an event to pair up with other student organizations or departments or centers such as KAUG, QPA, EP!C, Women’s Advocate Center, and more. SMART plans to have a cocoa night, painting and drawing events, tea time and events that revolve around mindfulness and stress reducing tips. SMART is also planning on hosting some discussions around mental health, sexual misconduct, consent and bystander training.

SMART is excited to have had such a great start to this school year and we can not wait to see what we will be able to accomplish next. Make sure to stop by our meetings every other Thursday in OGC 100 at 6pm and be on the lookout for some fun and informative SMART events. Come be a part of our team and help raise awareness about sexual misconduct, we would love to have you!

This article was originally published in the October 11, 2019 issue.