The CSA’s logo, featuring the 1 train and the New York City skyline. MANHATTAN.EDU / COURTESY
By Barbara Vasquez, Asst. Production Editor
Manhattan University’s Commuter Student Association (CSA) has undergone changes in the past year, and is now up and running full-time under student engagement.
Previously, the group was functioning under the commuter services and outreach division at MU. According to manhattan.edu, commuter services and outreach was a, “One-stop shop where commuters can connect with each other, find resources and receive support.”
MU has a relatively high commuter population, where, “70% of students live off campus,” according to usnews.com. With such a large density of commuter students, the CSA plays an extremely important role at the university. Commuter students may, at times, feel disconnected to campus life, and the CSA hopes to help with this feeling.
“There are many struggles as a commuter on campus, but one specific struggle is feeling like you don’t fit in,” Laisha Delgado, co-president of CSA, wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “It’s really hard to go to any events on campus or make friends on campus when you’re juggling work, commuting and school work.”
However, CSA aims to ease these struggles through their organization. Maria Galindo, the other co-president of the CSA, shared more on the purpose of the group.
“The purpose of CSA is to offer a space for commuters to connect with other students that may have similar interests as them,” Galindo wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “It’s a place for them to feel welcomed and build a community.”
With the disbandment of commuter outreach and a new full-time membership under student engagement, CSA has already begun working on bettering commuter students’ experience at MU. Galindo explains that the group may have experienced some changes.
“Students should expect the organization [CSA] to be different in a good way– we’ve been trying to create more events and collaborate with other clubs,” Delgado wrote.
As for how the organization coordinates with student engagement, Delgado explained that student engagement meets with the CSA regularly to discuss any issues that need addressing.
“In regards to our relationship with student engagement, we work with Vaiden Ferraro, who is VP of commuter affairs,” Delgado wrote. “We coordinate via a group chat and bi-weekly meetings with Vaiden and she relays anything we need help with to student engagement.”
This change has had a positive impact on the group and its members already, according to Galindo.
“Working with student engagement has helped us create the experience we want our
commuters to have,” Galindo wrote.
Both CSA and student engagement are hoping to work towards creating more opportunities for commuter students in order to better their time on campus and to further expand the community of CSA.
“Now that we’re fully under student engagement it should be easier to reach more commuters,” Delgado wrote. “But other students at MU can show their support for CSA by simply going to our events and promoting our club through their own clubs or just by word of mouth.”
Galindo also expressed that CSA is open to new students year round.
“All students are welcome to join CSA,” Galindo wrote.
In the near future, the CSA has events planned, including an empanada social on October 21 and collaborations with other clubs on campus such as the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE).