For the Muslim Student Organization, increasing member engagement through weekly events is the main priority, President Farah El-Jayyousi said.

“We want to spread awareness about what Islam is all about,” MSO spokesman Alhussain Yusuf said.

Yusuf said there were a lot of misconceptions about the Islamic faith, and MSO wants to remove those assumptions.

MSO elected its new officers this semester. Filling the positions are Salman Mahmood as treasurer, Yusuf as the chairman of public relations, Hafsa Lodhi as web manager, Fatima Haider as head of the sister social committee and El-Jayyousi as president.

According to the MSO website, the organization has two main purposes. First, the organization wants to help students carry out Islamic practices in the pursuance of Islam as a way of life. Second, it will carry out educational programs and activities that help establish a relationship between Muslim students and the community. These relationships are based on mutual respect and understanding.

The officers have their calendar filled with one to two events planned a week. The majority of those events fall on Thursdays. Halaqa, an Islamic gathering where those in attendance discuss theology, will be held once a month in the Multicultural Center. The event is being held twice in February.

Apart from theological discussions, MSO has planned out some light-hearted social events, such as the scavenger hunt coming up this weekend.

MSO has a fair amount of its social events split up on a gender basis, such as the Brothers’ Basketball Social on Feb. 22 and the Sisters’ Movie Social on March 21. The organization also has a general body meeting once a month in the Multicultural Center.

“Our goal is to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for our members,” El-Jayyousi said. “We want to collaborate more with other faith organizations on campus. Also, we want to focus on our main goal of educating ourselves and the campus community about Islam and Muslims.”