By Eliot Schiaparelli

The Commuter Student Association (CSA) held its annual Commuter Student Week last week. The week had eight events for commuter students and residents alike surrounding the theme of time travel.

The week’s festivities were supposed to kick off Monday, Mar. 4, but due to a snow day, the stone-age event was postponed for a week.

The first event ended up being a Rockin’ Dinner in Dagger John’s with a jukebox and milkshakes on Tuesday. It was followed by a roller rink in McGinley Second titled “Rolling Rams Boogie Night” and a ’90s fitness event on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Mar. 7, they held a Year 3000 party with laser tag and glow in the dark painting. Vanessa Reyes, FCRH ’19, CSA executive president, said the Year 3000 party was her favorite event and the week overall was a huge success.

“It definitely was one of the best Commuter Weeks here at Fordham for me,” she said. “I think we went over and beyond this year. We said let’s do as much as we can.”

The week culminated with the annual talent show, “Ram’s Got Talent,” on Friday and El Grito de Lares’s “Under the Sea Latin Gala” on Saturday.

Reyes said the week’s events were a great way to unwind right around midterms. They offered free food and shirts.

All the events were held at commuter-friendly times but were open to everyone. Reyes also said CSA made an effort to include members of the Bronx community by distributing fliers off campus and had a few parents show up as well.

Planning started last semester with discussions about themes and shirt designs. They also tried to use their entire budget to have as big of a celebration as possible, according to Reyes.

“We’re getting our name out there,” she said. “We’re making sure people know that commuter students are very much alive on this campus and we do have a voice and a lot things going on.”

The CSA executive board this year wanted a theme that could cover a large number of events. Past themes have included Fordham-opoly, Through the Decades and Broadway. Reyes said the point of Commuter Week is to make everyone feel included. Usually, she said, university events occur later in the evening, so many commuter students are not able to attend.

“Just because we want events to happen earlier in the day, that isn’t a crime,” Reyes said. “We just want residents to take commuters into consideration when making certain events because it feels like we’re the ones who invite them to a bunch of things but we don’t always get that same relationship back.”

She said Commuter Week is a way to lessen the divide between commuting students and students who live on campus.

“We’re trying to bridge that gap between residents and commuters and also in event planning making sure everyone is invited and being thought of,” she said.