By Brianna Saylor, News Editor
Originally Published April 9, 2024
On Tuesday, March 26, the Commuter Club hosted an Easter egg hunt for students in Melvin Platz from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Commuters were invited to have fun collecting Easter eggs filled with candy. They were also encouraged to join the Citrone Family Commuter Center (CFCC) on Wednesday, March 27, for Easter treats before the break.
Bridget DiVittis, Assistant Director of Campus Ministry and Coordinator of Commuter Outreach, and Alec Barlock, senior Ed Curriculum and Instruction major and Graduate Assistant to Commuter Outreach, have worked tirelessly to put events together throughout the entire semester. They were excited to bring this event back again after having to pause it during the pandemic. This is the fourth annual Easter event the club has sponsored.
During the 2023-2024 academic year alone, the club has sponsored many events, such as a poll tournament, the annual chicken nugget eating contest, ice skating at Kirk S. Nevin Arena, several movie nights, and most recently, even an Easter decorating event earlier in March. DiVittis and Barlock were also excited to see the speaker series hit the ground running this year. Through their combined efforts, they welcomed and hosted several special speakers that included a free dinner with students. The special guests discussed a variety of topics, including Title IX.
In sponsoring these types of events, especially for commuters on campus, the Commuter Club hopes to provide a welcoming atmosphere where students have the space to decompress and relax but also blow off a little steam in between studying and going to class if they would like.
“Honestly, I’m just trying to make it more involved for students because it was not always this big, especially when I was a freshman compared to now a graduate student,” Barlock said. “Now I see juniors and seniors I have never seen before stopping in, and this speaks to the idea that we have always said we are a Commuter family and are always trying to make our family bigger.”
With over 400 commuter students on campus, the Commuter Lounge alone sees about 100 students daily in foot traffic. Barlock has been an integral part of this community for the past six years, first during all four years of his undergraduate and now through the past two years of his master’s degree at Saint Vincent.
“Whenever I was going through my undergrad, I wanted to be this amazing teacher and a good influence,” Barlock said. “But then as you get older, your area becomes more niche, and for me, I realized that doing so much SGA and community work was so amazing. It inspired me to continue to want to do more work inside SVC and through that work it has influenced my professional work as well.”
As the semester ends, the Commuter Club has many exciting events in store. During Spring Family Weekend, they will be handing out popsicles to passing students, playing field games, and more. Then, on May 4, they will host the last event of the semester–the annual end-of-the-year pool party. Residents and commuters are both welcome to come to this event. It will be Star Wars-themed, and they plan to head back to the Commuter Lounge afterward to watch Star Wars.
Lastly, there will be one more guest lecturer in their speaker series, which will function as a commuter town hall.
“This is a great opportunity for people who live on campus but are looking to move off,” said Barlock.
Students are invited to come and talk with commuter students to see what it’s all about, to help them realize living off campus entails.
Barlock and DiVittis want to remind students that they are always welcome to stop in the lounge. A great community of students is here and happy to lend a hand, whether it be for the club, networking, or even a break.
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