On Friday, March 6, Colorado College Student Government Association (CCSGA) announced its council for the 2026-27 academic year, including the new student body president. Sophia Murphy ‘27, a psychology major from Newton, Mass., will serve as the college’s next student body president.
Murphy, who is affectionately known around campus as “Smurph,” sat down with The Catalyst on Thursday, April 2, to discuss her path to presidency, the state of CCSGA and what she hopes to accomplish over the next year.
The Catalyst: Good morning, Sophia Murphy.
Murphy: Good morning, Lilly.
The Catalyst: Why did you decide to run for CCSGA president?
Murphy: I actually was not originally going to run for president. I was gonna run for VP of [Internal Affairs] up until, like, 8 p.m., 9 p.m. of the night where applications were due. I was really scared that I wasn’t gonna do well, and I was scared of running because of losing. I was scared [that] once I got in the position, not doing it justice, but then I had a lot of people before that last day coming up to me and telling me that they wanted me to run. I was, like, ‘Oh, I’m not doing it.’ And the real reason was because I was just really scared.
And then eventually, I ran into Chiara [De Felice Villalón], who’s the VP of Outreach this year, so I’ve worked with her. I ran into her going into my apartment, and she was begging me to do it. And she said she would help me with anything and [help] with a campaign, and I think her really strong confidence in me was the final push. I don’t have any other valid reason besides the fact that I’m scared. [I thought] I am not gonna do well in it, but I have somebody telling me that they really, really believe in me.
So then, in crunch time, like, with two hours left, I made my application and was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do this.’
The Catalyst: Do you still feel like you have those concerns, even though you were elected?
Murphy: Yeah, I definitely do. But I just have to keep reminding myself that I’ve been on CCSGA for a really long time. And at the end of the day, I really trust myself to lead this organization. Seeing that other people trust me too, I just have to believe that. I think I am just gonna harness that fear into doing a good job, because I’m so scared of failing.
The Catalyst: What was your campaign strategy? And since you started a little last-minute, did you go into it with a campaign strategy?
Murphy: In the past, I’ve used social media a lot. When I was running for representative positions, but I knew I needed to do a little bit more this year, because, in the past, reps are just voted for by your class, and I know a lot of our class follows each other on social media, but I was like, ‘I don’t probably reach the freshman. So I’m gonna [make] a social media post.’
I made my Instagram account public… and then one Sunday, I just printed out a bunch of posters and put them all around campus. I live in Antero and we have a big outward-facing window, so I put [the posters] in the window, because I thought this [would] reach so many people, like freshmen walking from the gym to Loomis. Junior’s walking, people who live in the small houses [and] sophomores. This is a really good spot
Murphy’s sign read “Smurphy for Student Body President” on printer paper in bold letters.
Murphy: I work at the fitness center, so I had a sign there with a QR voting code and [read] vote for an AFP fitness monitor. So, basically, just trying to reach all these realms that I already exist in. Really, just getting a lot of it out there with information on the posters, so it’s not just vote for me with no knowledge, but this is actually why you should vote for me.
And I was talking to a lot of people as well. I was talking to random people about if they voted, and then would tell them about what I was running on, which I feel like is probably a great campaign shot.
The Catalyst: What do you hope to accomplish as CCSGA president over the next 13 months?
Murphy: One [thing] I want is a really smooth transition from our current VPs, exec team, as well as our representatives. Because in the past, some of the first few meetings in the fall sometimes get a little stifled by ‘this is how we do this?’ So, I set an expectation. I have an expectation of attending at least half of the meetings that we have left in the year of full council, just so people can see where we’re at right now, the problems that we’re facing [and] the ways that meetings run. So that’s one thing I hope to accomplish in the fall so we can hit the ground running. I want to start communication early over the summer, since people kind of have plans established once the year starts.
Another thing that I really want to do, which has been a huge goal of Royce [Hinojosa]’s this year, is to utilize the money in our reserve, which built up over COVID-19, because funding wasn’t being used for anything. I want to use it to find really creative ways to give back to the students. I think a lot of the time, CCSGA does fund things that people don’t know about like Dance Workshop and Outdoor Ed events, and is a part of the process. But for the most part, people don’t always know what we do.
I want to use the reserve in ways that students can point to something and say, “CCSGA did that” or “CCSGA is making an effort.” I think that goes for everything that I want to accomplish next year, helping students actually feel like their lives are improved or can be improved by the resources of CCSGA. We do have a lot of advocacy that we can do with offices or just pure funding for something a student wants to put on.
The Catalyst: I didn’t know that we had that much reserve left over.
Murphy: We’re completely renovating the Worner student basement, which is another thing that I’m accomplishing because we’re gonna be finishing it. It was totally spearheaded by Royce. I don’t think I can take that as my own accomplishment, but I will be finishing it next year.
The Catalyst: What is it going to be used for?
Murphy: It’s just a student center with cozy couches. I tested out a lot of couches, and that was so much fun. We will have some game tables, some study spaces.
The Catalyst: What do you think will be your personal biggest challenge as CCSGA president?
Murphy: Like I was saying before, I’m really scared that I’m not doing well, so I think a challenge is gonna be feeling good about what I’m doing, and really being intentional about celebrating small victories. And keeping that confidence in myself because I know the job can get hard, like feeling like our council isn’t being effective, or a club is mad at us. I can’t [take] things personally, and just know that part of the job is that you’re not gonna please everyone, and it’s my first time doing this. So, being patient with myself.
I think a challenge is just going to be feeling good about the decisions that I’m making. Our council is pretty big, so there’s a lot of opinions, and there’s a lot of different goals, and just being able to meet all those needs, as well as the students’ needs. And, again, knowing that I’m there for a reason is gonna be a reminder that I need to keep giving myself.
The Catalyst: What is the biggest challenge CCSGA currently faces?
Murphy: I would say probably efficiency, and that’s not on anyone. Because the full council is composed of about 25 students, and that takes up about half of our time in CCSGA [meetings] a week. The other half is when we meet with our individual committees, which are only four to five members, where we get really nitty-gritty work done.
In full council, sometimes, a lot of the time on discussions, and I think they’re super important, but sometimes I think that the decisions that are brought to full council could be made within smaller committees through CCSGA. This can be voted on in full council briefly, but, we don’t necessarily need to spend all this time to discuss.
I think currently it’s harder to get tangible things done that might be because of that, but that might also just be because of institutional barriers and stuff. I’m just hoping to make our full council more efficient.
The Catalyst: What do you hope your legacy as CCSGA president will be?
Murphy: I really want students to actually feel like their needs are being met, and that they can come to me or anybody on CCSGA. They [can] trust CCSGA to get stuff done, and they trust CCSGA to be able to meet their needs. I think a part of the process of people feeling like they can trust CCSGA, knowing the stuff that we can do for them and increasing transparency.
Overall, legacy-wise, I want students to feel that because they elect people, they should feel represented. And I don’t always think the entire same body feels that way. So, [creating] a legacy of really having CCSGA truly representing its students and truly giving back, using the money for students.
I want to be professional, but I also really want to be personable. I don’t want people to feel like they can’t come to me for big things or small things.
The Catalyst: How are you going to try to make yourself approachable and personable for students who might not know you already?
Murphy: I’m really hoping that next year, when freshmen come in, or people that don’t already know me, [we’ll] have various table talks, and I think just showing face at those. Having multiple events at the beginning of the year where I’m just showing face and talking to people walking by, so they know we’re very approachable.
I’m involved with a lot of clubs and organizations across campus. I’m hoping that with my relationships with those people that I’ve established outside of my role as CCSGA, they can see who I am as a person and therefore, be able to feel more comfortable.
The Catalyst: What are you looking forward to about being CCSGA president?
Murphy: Okay, this is a really stupid one, but I really like organizing things and planning, so, I’m low-key really excited to make the schedules and send out invites and emails. That’s a weird thing to look forward to, but I’m excited for the organizational aspect of it.
I’m also really excited for all the new [council] members. They came in last week to our full council meeting, and people were already participating. They were super engaged. We have a lot of people coming in next year that have never been on CCSGA before. I think we have three exec members that have been on CCSGA, and then, besides that, the numbers kind of dwindle of people who’ve been on it. It’s just so many new perspectives that are dealing with the same issues of using the reserve, or making Worner Student Center. All of our projects are going to get so many opinions and it’s going to be so fulfilling. I think it is gonna be awesome, and that new energy. We’re not talking about the same stuff, so it’s gonna be super valuable.
I also think a lot of the new people come from so many different spheres around campus. We have somebody from a fraternity. Nobody can remember the last time we had someone [from a frat] on CCSGA. We have the sororities represented. We have varsity sports represented. The composition of people next year is so awesome.
The Catalyst: Last question. What is something about you that people don’t know that you want them to know?
Murphy: I didn’t know this about myself, and my roommates told me this. But apparently, I’m never silent. I’m always humming or singing to myself. I’ll be washing the dishes and hum. We were doing impressions of each other, and Ava [McCormick] did that. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ She told me, ‘You’re always humming to yourself.’ There’s never a silent time.
The Catalyst: Okay, well, thank you so much for joining me, Sophia Murphy.
Murphy: Thank you, Lilly.
Murphy will begin her tenure as student body president over the summer, before speaking at both New Student Orientation and Opening Convocation in August.
Editor’s Note: Interview transcripts have been edited for clarity. The interview content has not been changed.