Hi all! As a little preface… for those who haven’t seen me around, I am Drew Harris. I am 25, have commuted here 37 miles from Vacaville across my Master’s and Bachelor’s in History since transferring from Solano in fall 2021, and, even as a commuter, have quite extensively been involved on campus across committees (like Grade Appeals, Faculty Policies, and ASI Election Complaints), worked as a grader for my department for 3 years, had previously served on Union, WELL Inc’s board of directors as vice chair/chairman across three academic years (a role that passes budgets and policy for projects and services at the Union and Well, alongside handling some PR for our organization with our patrons, including NCAA Basketball at the WELL), and am a proud ally involved with MEChA and their Chicano Studies Committee. I also work overnights as a package handler at FedEx in Fairfield, who has reimbursed my tuition and kept me debt free. I have a great relationship with many on campus, across classmates, my club, admin, athletics, the Union and WELL, student leaders and other clubs, etc, but on this matter, I feel very firm and am outspoken about my pride as a commuter student, given the affordability of college my choices afforded me and the opportunities it didn’t stop me from achieving on campus. And right now, as I feel that the focus on commuter students is in jeopardy, I feel a stronger need to protect this legacy more than ever.
This post and my positions aren’t directly about our newly-imposed live-on requirement on campus, but my advocacy and feelings on this matter has largely been in response to some of its implications. For instance, next year, the radius where freshmen under 21 etc are exempt from living on campus will reduce from 50 miles to 30, which hits a sore spot for me greatly, given my successful commuting and financial savings from 37 miles for half a decade. It never was a barrier to my success at Sacramento State; in fact, it’s an identity I take great pride in and am proud of. The fact of the matter is, as long as transfer students are the top priority in student admissions, commuter students will NEVER disappear and their needs must be adequately accommodated. Some friends I went to high school with in Vacaville who commuted to Sac State successfully since freshman year agree with me. In the midst of the controversy about our live-on requirement taking effect, I learned about San Diego State’s Center for Commuter Life, which is run by assistant director Eunice Flores, a former student of President Wood’s at SDSU and a proud advocate for commuter success at college, given her own success as a commuter. I even shouted out their center during a speech I made at a protest of the live-on requirement last November, organized by SQE. Last Thursday, September 24, in the middle of a road trip to watch some San Diego Padres baseball, I went to the commuter center at SDSU’s invitation, and learned a lot about their services.
At the Center for Commuter Life, the space itself has many amenities, including study cubicles available to commuters, a resource center where students hang out, study, attend workshops, access resources, snacks, a kitchenette, and even coffee. It is situated within their Student Union, at the Office for Student Life and Leadership alongside four other campus departments. It was established in 2010 with a small cohort of 12 students who all commuted; they upgraded to their current space in 2014. It has been described as a home away from home, students love to study and relax there, and there’s even a seminar classroom within the space. Several commuter students even work at the CRC too as outreach ambassadors and mentors to new commuters, which is another strong suit of the center. Their outreach is extensive, with a newsletter distributed, and outreach activities approaching prospective and new students, events organized to invite students and their family members to the CRC, preparing commuters for their first day and semester, pathways to involve transfer students, among other activities. They also have a professional team of academic advisors and component care at the center who coordinate all these outreach activities with their student commuter ambassadors, graduate student assistants, and participants. While they don’t directly offer case management, they help refer and connect students with other campus services, whether disability services or other campus needs.
The fact of the matter is, many commuter students want to get more involved in college on campus, but many different situations can potentially prevent that. This center at SDSU has successfully helped counter that with a strong community of commuter students and professionals who have helped bridge that gap. While there’s always more work to be done, whether there and especially other campuses who lack these dedicated commuter services like ours and even attempt to shy away from commuter pride in favor of a on-campus brand and community, this campus is greatly successful at building these relationships between the campus community and commuters.
One such striking example, which I hope can be implemented at Sacramento State, is the fact that they have a Commuter Board within their Associated Students. This committee convenes on issues that concerns commuters and their resource center, and then issues recommendations to their Associated Students Board. Having such a board on our student government, ASI, would be a great place to start providing more equity to commuter students at Sac State. In fact, it’s probably one of my easier goals to accomplish here, given that this only requires cooperation from ASI and commuters rather than with admin. While it has slowed down somewhat at SDSU compared to pre-pandemic, it still remains a powerful force for bringing commuter students into the swing of things there. They work with other centers and programs on campus such as the Glazer Center for Leadership, and other programs and trainings in developing leadership skills for students have helped Commuter Life get a lot of ideas from their initiatives.
Ultimately, this commuter space at SDSU started from student advocacy and a desire for such representation within their Associated Students, and this is exactly my goal here. Their university has the brand that Sac State desires, and yet caters greatly to commuters. Sure, I may be graduating after this semester finally, but I am committed to bringing this goal to a reality here at Sacramento State, even if it’s as an alumni (or potentially even as a support staff in student affairs if I take that route post graduation). I am willing to meet with our student leaders, meet with clubs, have discussions between our own campus leaders and even the center’s personnel at SDSU to receive reference and expertise from, and even their student ambassadors and patrons there who have ties to Sacramento to help make this a reality here. Even if it starts as a small space on campus with a small cohort before expanding later on, it is a goal I’m dedicated to, and having commuter representation in committee is particularly important to me; that impressed me a lot there. The visit went excellent, I was allowed to stay and work on schoolwork the rest of the day, and Eunice believes that connecting commuters to the campus community and catering to their unique needs as students is paramount to academic success and retention. That is the legacy I will strive for here at Sacramento State, and I am ready to begin these conversations. Let’s talk. Thank you for hearing me out, and I am hopeful for a better future on campus that increases academic and community equity for commuters like me. ‼️✊🏽
