by Katherine Mullarkey
SGA and the Commuter Council hosted a Commuter Students’ Brunch to pay special attention to those not living on campus, and thus often are less included in many campus activities. Being a commuter can have social drawbacks because it is not as easy to make friendships with students on campus and commuters may feel disconnected to a large portion of the college community, but events like a simple brunch are attempting to bridge this gap.
Robert Benjamin, Director of Residential Life and Cultural Affairs, feels that all commuter students should attend to “become more engaged” in campus life. For freshman commuters in particular, being surrounded by new people in a new place can be intimidating, especially when there is a lack of the connection most students have by simply living down the hall from one another. Benjamin feels that pushing oneself to attend events specifically for commuters is a great way to start the new year regardless of class status.
ENC has caring students, faculty and staff that are devoted to make students feel at home while at school. They do their best to embrace students with open arms, and make this time in college the best combination of study and fun, but this is difficult to accomplish for students who spend very little time on campus.
SGA and the Commuters Counsel both hope that non-resident students come to at least one event, if not more this semester, and they are putting it on themselves to make more events available to commuters.
“Commuters are an important part of this campus,” SGA’s Administrative Assistant Libby Nyquist said, “They may not be as prominent or known as some students who live on campus and are highly involved, but that doesn’t mean an effort should not be made to include the commuter student population in our events and even put on events specifically geared towards them.”
The brunch was held on September 11 in the Commuter Lounge of the Mann Student Center.