The Bellarmine Commuter Committee holds events, including Commuter Coffee and Donuts, Lunch and Chill and others, to help make commuters feel at home.
The Commuter Committee’s goal is to make Bellarmine more commuter friendly. With 61% of Bellarmine’s students commuting to campus, it is harder for them to make friends, be involved in many events and have an authentic college experience compared to students living on campus.
“The people I’m living with now I met in the residence halls, and it was really easy to meet them because we were on the same floor,” Joe Rains, a senior who commutes, said. “If I didn’t have that, I would have had to really socialize in my classes, and in a lot of classes you can’t even do that.”
The Student Government Association put together a team to help meet these needs of commuters by creating a group dedicated to give commuting students a better campus experience.
“The goal was to single out commuters and have something specifically for them since a lot of commuters felt left out,” Commuter Committee chair Katie Kmetz said. “We host at least two events each month as well as (give away) T-shirts and prizes and other events we promote and not host.”
Nick Meiman, a freshman commuter, has been able to make many friends by going to the Commuter Committee events. Meiman said going to these events is a great way to be involved and meet people on campus. Commuters can go to these events, eat food, earn prizes and get to know other commuters on campus.
Giveaways are not the only perks of going to a Commuter Committee event. Kmetz also said students can earn prizes based on how many events they attend. If a student goes to three to six events, he or she can get a small prize from the bookstore. Going to 10 or more events earns two movie tickets to Baxter Avenue Theaters Filmworks and an entry into a drawing for a bigger prize.
Every month the committee holds Coffee and Donuts where commuters can hang out, eat donuts and drink coffee in the morning. The next Coffee and Donuts will be held Feb. 23 from 10 to 11 a.m. in Centro.
Bellarmine is unlike many other schools because it provides these types of events for commuters. Megan Murphy, graduate assistant of commuter and transfer student services, said compared to the school she previously attended, Bellarmine does a great job getting commuters involved in campus.
Events like Coffee and Donuts, Friday Night Live, and SGA’s St. Patrick’s Day event are opportunities for commuting students to meet and spend time with other Bellarmine commuters.
The Commuter Committee sends a newsletter out to each commuter’s email to promote all SGA events. Students can also learn more about commuter events on Engage and on Instagram @bu.commuter.
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