The focus of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona meeting on Feb. 8, 2017 was engagement with UA students.

The ASUA was asked to lend a hand during Mental Health Awareness Week by UA student Rasheda Poe to help spread the message about mental health during the week of March 27-30. 

Poe told the ASUA that the biggest difference between last year’s event and this year’s event is going to be the attention from UA students.

“I as a student of the University of Arizona didn’t know there was a Mental Health Awareness week,” she said. “So many students didn’t, so many who could have used it didn’t.”

Poe noted that during a meeting with other cultural and resource centers about the awareness week that some felt that they had not seen the amount of engagement by the ASUA as they would have liked. 

RELATED: ASUA joins Pac-12 in conference wide Meningitis B vaccination awareness campaign

She felt it was important that the ASUA have a big presence during the week to show fellow UA students what the ASUA does for the university. 

ASUA member Tatum Hammond understood that there was some level of disconnect between UA students and the ASUA but thought the awareness week would help bridge the gap.

RELATED: Candidate announcement for the 2017 ASUA elections

“We need to reach out more because people feel like they don’t understand what we do yet,” Hammond said. “It’s an effort to make sure the word is out there.” 

Other topics of outreach were discussed during the meeting such as participation in the March for Science which will take place on Earth Day, April 22, and The Festival of Books on March 11.

There was also a presentation by the Bobcats Senior Honorary, an organization founded on Feb. 22, 1922, that plans the homecoming festivities and works closely with Alumni to better serve the current UA population.

Follow Micheal Romero on Twitter.