Trevor Mulholland shares his goals for SAC

Trevor Mulholland might be coordinating events for a different university if his parents had purchased a smaller book.

"I honestly just flipped through a book and picked a random school," Mulholland said. "My parents bought me a big college book, and they said 'Pick where you want to go.' I flipped to Missouri because I didn't want to go too far away. I closed my eyes and pointed to a random school, and here we are. Somehow it worked out perfect. It's kind of cliché, but Southeast has turned into a home."

The junior from St. Louis is president of the Southeast Missouri State University's Student Activities Council, a group that plans recreational on- and off-campus events for Southeast students.

The group brings musical groups and comedians to campus, shows movies on campus or coordinates with Cape West 14 Cine for its Midnight Movie events at the theater.

The group also holds more interactive events for students, such as the Open Mic Night and the Decorate Your Own Cactus event held on Aug. 22.

Mulholland joined SAC as a first-semester freshman and soon became the group's music coordinator when the incumbent left.

He served in the position throughout his sophomore year before being elected SAC president his junior year.

"It's been fun to watch him grow for the last couple of years," coordinator for campus programming and SAC adviser Joanna Shaver said. "He came to the very first SAC meeting two years ago, volunteered for the very first event, volunteered to be the homecoming chair as a freshman and just totally went with it after that. He's kind of been 'Rock Star Trevor.'"

Mulholland ran uncontested for SAC president in the Student Government Association general election in April. He said that his duties as president include overseeing SAC's executive and general meetings, checking in with event coordinators during SAC events and serving as a liaison between SAC and the university.

Mulholland's goal is to make SAC appear more approachable to Southeast students. SAC's plan for this is what Mulholland called a rebranding. This includes a new logo, more diverse events and connecting to students through social media.

"We are delving more into social media," Mulholland said. "We are trying to use Facebook a lot more, we are trying to use Twitter a lot more and essentially get people into the meetings, get them involved with SAC."

Mulholland said that SAC wants to increase its attendance at events and its general meetings. SAC meets at 7 p.m. every Tuesday in the University Center Redhawks Room.

Mulholland said that he wants to bring more non-traditional programming to Southeast, such as the Iceless Ice Rink event scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Student Recreation Center-North. The surface of the rink is synthetic ice that acts as a skating surface at any temperature.

Mulholland said his favorite memory with SAC is a moment during the We The Kings concert that he planned and coordinated in November 2011.

"There was a lot of stress and a lot of sleepless nights," Mulholland. "But ultimately seeing the faces of the people at this concert was just fantastic. It seemed to make it all worth it. I got to sit right on the side of the stage during the concert and just watch the crowd. And it, I couldn't even describe it. It made everything worth it to see the smiles and the people in the crowd rockin' out."