Isolation of commuters not only physical

By Mike Loza

On the opening page of the 2002-2003 Santa Clara Community Handbook, President Paul Locatelli, S.J., writes, "You are now a member of the Santa Clara community. Over the next four years - or less if you are a transfer student - you will experience what this means."

Well, I am sorry to report that an important constituency on our campus - the commuter students - has yet to experience what this means. According to data collected from a survey distributed to commuters last quarter, 74 percent of commuter students feel disconnected from the Santa Clara community. Only 13 percent reported that they felt connected to the university community, while another 13 percent felt that they were somewhat connected.

There were a number of reasons cited for feeling disconnected to the community including: a lack of spending time on campus after classes, a lack of social networks and the presence of other obligations such as raising a child, working full-time and managing a household.

But the most provocative and often cited reasons commuters feel disenfranchised from the community are the ones that question whether commuter students are in fact full members of the university community. The following quotations, echoed throughout the survey, are indicative of this particular concern:

- "I feel as though I am limited to who I can even talk to or approach."

- "I feel that because we do not live on campus, we are looked down upon."

- "The community is campus oriented."

- "Off campus students need to travel, use gas, and are not very flexible, which gets on campus people annoyed."

- "I always feel outside when I am with on-campus students."

- "Santa Clara has made no attempt to recognize or aid students who commute."

- "On campus students form their own cliques. Commuters do not get informed about activities that go on in school."

- "Commuters do not feel the campus' warmth."

- "Inconvenient professor office hours for commuters."

- "There isn't a place for commuters to hang out."

- "People who live on campus tend to not associate with commuters."

In light of these findings, the question can be asked: does the university facilitate the full integration of commuters with the campus community and treat them as equals to their counterparts?

On page 28 of the Community Handbook, it clearly states the importance of community to the university: "These values, which center on the themes of creation, covenant and community, include the equality and inalienable dignity of all persons; the recognition that human life is life in community and that human beings develop, not in isolation, but in interaction with others."

The inconsistency between the university's advocacy of community and the disconnection felt by the commuter has brought to surface the following issues: what does the university's administration and faculty owe commuter students in regards to community integration? As part of a Jesuit community, do non-commuters have an ethical obligation to reach out to commuter students and facilitate a sense of unity? What ought commuter students do in order to become full members of the community?

Some remedial steps that might be taken include the creation of an on-campus commuter student lounge, better communication among commuter students by e-mail or other means and the creation of a program for commuters equivalent to the RLC programs.