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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

A home away from home

For the University's commuter students, the distance between home and campus creates a divide greater than the twenty minute drive: a barrier between students and the mainstream campus social life.

Students who commute to Tufts are required to reside at home with their parents, according to Veronica Carter, the Coordinator of the Commuter Program.

Without the benefit of a dorm the center for undergraduate commuter life at Hillside House is a focal point for all commuters. Located at 32 Dearborn Road, the Hillside House offers an on-campus residence for students who live at home. The 15-room house is equipped with cooking, studying, and recreational facilities and is available for use whenever school is in session.

Though the economic benefits of being a commuter are unparalleled, commuter students are quick to point out some of the difficulties in being a commuter student. "I think your college experience is very different than that of other students if you live at home with your family," senior commuter student Sonia Sorabella said.

Junior Joshua Kersting experienced firsthand the difficulties of being a commuting freshman. "If you commute your first year, those friendships that everyone makes the first few months in the dorms aren't ever formed for commuters," he said. "It means you know less people than most from the beginning."

Sorabella agreed that meeting other students is a difficulty that commuter students face. "Personally, I feel that it is extremely difficult and that commuters are often isolated," Sorabella said. "By not living on campus, we miss the dorm experience, and do not meet as many people. It is also much more difficult for us to take part in groups and clubs that meet late at night because of the commute involved."

The difficulties of being a commuter student extend beyond simply meeting others. "Some events are late in the evening or night and that makes it a pain to stay for because you know you will be getting in the house late," senior Sabine Jean-Louis said.

"I actually have felt like I have lost touch with some of my friends because I no longer stay at Tufts overnight. It's the little things, like going to the Campus Center in our PJ's for a late night snack, or sitting up in each other's rooms until the break of day, that really bonded us," Jean-Louis said.

Sorabella points out that commuters "are constantly involved in family life and have family ties and responsibilities that most college students on campus don't have."

Sorabella is a co-manager of the center for undergraduate commuter life and said that Hillside House greatly benefits commuters.

"It allows commuters to be at home, cook meals, shower, invite friends over to study, and watch television," Sorabella said. "The Hillside House is the only place commuters have to go between classes, to study, or to meet other students that are having the same difficulties they are."

Sophomore Steven Boutrus utilizes the Hillside House and believes it to be "an excellent resource where commuting students can stay overnight if necessary or hang out or prepare meals. I think the Hillside House provides a better service than most colleges offer commuters."

Alumni who were commuter students remember their experiences as commuters and how the Hillside House affected their experiences. "The program was very disjointed; students didn't feel like a part of Tufts' life as a commuter," Alan MacDougall (LA '65), the President of Tufts Alumni Relations, said remembering the semester he attended Tufts as a commuting student.

"For those students that took advantage of the Hillside House, it was a very good experience," MacDougall said. "There weren't many organized events, but it fulfilled the role of a fraternity for commuting students."

Dr. John Martin (EN '65) agrees that the Hillside House "was, in many ways, a frat house. There were intramural leagues and parties on weekend nights. There were twelve beds available and students could stay for three consecutive nights. It was in a sense a home away from home. It meant that every student had a home on-campus, whether or not it was in a dorm."

Another resource for commuting students is the Off-Hill Council. Founded in 1963, the council coordinates academic, athletic, and other special activities for commuting and residence students alike.

"It is an organization through TCU that all commuters belong to," Sorabella explained. "The organization holds events, goes to shows, and has group parties and meetings."

Over the years, the number of commuting students has significantly declined. Sorabella estimated that there have been only ten new freshmen commuting students in both the class of 2006 and 2007.

"In years past, the commuter population of each class was close to 100," Sorabella said. "Currently there are very few commuting students and [they] make up a miniscule percentage of the Tufts community."

Although more students commuted to Tufts in previous years, few made use of the house. "Not many commuting students took advantage of the Hillside House," MacDougall recollected.

Women were especially underrepresented in the house in the past. "At the time I attended Tufts, only male commuting students could stay overnight, so relatively few women took advantage of the Hillside House," Martin recalled. "Probably no more than ten percent of the students that utilized the house were women."

Today, however, almost all commuting students participate in the available programs. "Almost 100 percent of the commuting students use these programs," Kersting said. "It's just that it's not a lot of students."

However, this does offer the benefit of a tight-knit commuter community.

"We all know each other and pretty much everyone uses the Hillside House in one fashion or another and all have participated in the Council as well as group functions," Kersting said. "I make good use of all commuter-offered programs."

Sorabella commends the program and hopes that more students will make use of it in the future. "The few students who use the house love it," she said. "I wish more of the Tufts community knew about the house and that more commuters would use it."