The Commuter Advisory Board is still a relatively new organization on campus, and, as every new organization experiences, we have challenges to our development. It can be a slow and arduous process to establish a presence on campus and to get a sizeable group of people to plan & participate in activities. We're in the midst of growth, and as we grow, we need people to step up to play key roles in our development. A core group of people, who can take responsibility for and act to develop programs & activities, is necessary to lay the foundation for a stronger organization. Let's face it... the 5 officers (3 as of the beginning of this semester) cannot do this alone. By rights, every MCLA commuter student who pays his or her activity fee is a member of CAB and this entitles them to "ownership" in this organization.
Our presence is being felt on campus... this is evident by the number of faculty, staff, and residential students who came to our table at the recent Activities Fair to find out more about us, and to cheer us on. Awareness has increased, but our job ahead calls for us to transform the current consciousness on campus to that of inclusion for all students, especially commuters. What does mean? In the long run, it means that when campus activities are planned by other groups and by the administration, consideration is given to the needs of commuter students. With 551 commuter students currently enrolled at MCLA, the continued mindset of on-campus residency is an outmoded assumption.
As discussed in a recent Commuter Advisory Board meeting, we would like to see the barrier between residential and commuter students gone. We would like to see more social interaction, amongst all students (especially commuters & non-trads) regardless of age or residency status. We would like to see coalitions formed -- with "Greek" students and with Faculty, since these are people who are also part of MCLA's off-campus community. Establishing a sense of unity is what is called for, and this will come, as a matter of course, through effort, determination, perseverance and patience.
