The Student Senate approved three registered student organizations Wednesday night during its meeting in the Arcola-Tuscola Room in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The Construction Club, African American Achievers Club, and Eastern Euphonics pitched their purpose and significance as well as their goals as RSOs.

Matthew Mullins said, a junior education major and Construction Club member, said he hopes his group can grow in the future.

“We’re all learning and there’s always opportunities to learn,” he said.

Ryan Naples, president of the Construction Club, said the group’s mission is to engage students in opportunities to share their talent and refine their skills.

Naples and Mullins also discussed future community service projects intended to improve the campus as well as the Charleston community and the addition of new members.

“It’s a learning experience for everyone involved. It’s for the kids that want to learn how to work with their hands,” Naples said.

Corinthian Bethel, student president and founder of the African American Achievers club, discussed the goals that his club strives to accomplish on a daily basis.

The club is nationally based and its purpose is to initiate discussion regarding the African American experience from a historical context and to the present and provide a favorable environment for academic learning of African culture through conferences, seminars and museums.

“We want to raise black awareness and create successful communication between other social organizations,” Bethel said.

The club also plans to participate in functions on and off campus, make contributions to the community and involve other groups with activities.

Eastern Euphonics, an A Cappella group, was also approved as an RSO and plans to explore varieties of music and give members a hands-on approach to composing, teaching and sharing music.

Brian Hartman, a junior geography and journalism major and president of the group, said the music is arranged and taught by students.

“We do arrange our own music, but we do give our students the chance to create their own music. We’re pretty snazzy,” Hartman said.

The group hopes to compete, recruit more members and perform in front of larger audiences.

Ariannah Lambert, university enhancement chair, said the approval of the new RSOs is a great opportunity for students on campus.

“It’s a bonding experience for students. You get to meet new people and make friendships,” Lambert said.

Senators also participated in the first event of Senator Sidelines, an initiative started by graduate adviser Brinton Vincent.

The goal is to encourage communication among senators as well as team building.

Senators broke off into their committees and practiced their skills at event planning by creating an event and then regrouping and presenting that event.

Vincent said the event was a success and the senators learned a lot about their strategies for planning, things that need to be done before hand and how to execute the event.

“It’s a good eye opener to what is to come,” Vincent said.

Senator Collin Dobnikar, sophomore chemistry major, said the activity was a learning process and gave senators the ability to prepare for certain aspects of event planning.

“We learned a lot and its things like this that make you think about the process it takes to plan events,” Dobnikar said.

Senate committees competed against one another to see who created the best event and executives commented on what each committee did right or what could be improved.

Student Body President Shirmeen Ahmad talked about the establishment of a new Freshman Leadership Council.

The council will help freshmen find their place on campus.

They also recruited a new web design master to help update the website and promote marketing.

“We want to be ahead of time,” Ahmad said.

Analicia Haynes can be reached at 581-2812 or achaynes@eiu.edu