Last week, Fordham’s Commuter Student Association (CSA) and Commuter Assistants (CAs) partnered to host their first annual Commuter Cookout on Martyrs’ Court Lawn. CSA and the CAs both operate under the umbrella of Commuter Student Services (CSS). Both organizations do programming for commuter students throughout the year, and this is just their most recent successful event.

The event was “Beach Bash” themed, including activities from flip-flop decorating to volleyball. 

“We have a commuter BBQ in the beginning of the year, so this is kind of a tradition that we created to end the school year for commuters,” said Bipasana Poudel, FCRH ‘25, the staff development and training coordinator for the CA program. “This gives the commuters that didn’t go to the Commuter BBQ at the beginning of the year to make friends at the end of the year.”

While the BBQ at the beginning of the year is only open to first-year and transfer commuter students, this cookout was open to the entire Fordham community. Crystal Wu, GSB ’25, the executive vice president of CSA, said that about 150 people showed up, with 70% being commuters and 30% being resident students. 

“We tried to make this event more commuter and resident friendly because we know that there is a divide,” said Wu. “I think our purpose to put this annual cookout on Martyrs’ lawn was to make sure that residents also come as well so they can interact with commuters.”

Wu and other organizers say the event was a great success. There was a good turnout with students socializing and participating in the various activities.

“We had volleyball. We had spikeball,” said Wu. “We also laid out picnic blankets, and all of the students were on the picnic blankets just eating and talking with one another so I think that was a great opportunity for them too.”

CSA and the CAs also partnered with a local small business, The BBQ Pit, which provided the food. 

Wu said Michael Buana, the academic and career coordinator for the CA program, reached out to the BBQ business. It was a group effort to put on the event and the first collaborative event the CAs and CSA had done in a while. 

“You would think that since we’re under the same umbrella, we’d have more collaborations and partnerships, but we’ve actually been split for quite some time,” said Wu.

After the CAs and CSA spoke to a CSS alum, who said they used to host concerts, the current members wanted to revamp the activities. With a tighter timeline this time around, they reinvigorated their partnership and hosted the Commuter Cookout. 

Vanessa Ramos, FCRH ’26, the special events coordinator for the CA program, said she prioritizes creativity and partnerships with other departments at Fordham to keep students engaged with dynamic events. 

“It’s always fun to just try to be creative in terms of themes, activities, decorations just so it’s not always the same thing,” said Ramos. “We’re always trying to do new events and be more creative. We always collab with other departments, in terms of sponsoring and sometimes for academic and wellness.”

They collaborate with other Fordham departments, like Counseling and Psychological Services and Campus Ministry. 

“We always try to incorporate other departments at Fordham to bring awareness to their resources and also for the students to learn more about them,” said Ramos.

The CAs have hosted over 69 events this year. Every year, they consistently host commuter socials and twice a year they host a Midday Breakfast around finals time. Inspired by the beloved Midnight Breakfast, Midday Breakfast offers a similar social experience for commuters, just at a time that’s typically more convenient for them. 

“We try to have different variety of events to target different types of commuters,” said Poudel.

They host events mainly during weekdays and when commuters have gaps between their classes to best cater to their schedules while encouraging them to get involved in the Fordham community. They often post surveys on their Instagram stories asking which times for events work best for commuters. 

“We try to attend to commuter students because a lot of the clubs host their meetings late, like 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.,” said Poudel. “A lot of CAB events, for example, are not very commuter friendly, they’re on Sundays but late at night.” 

CAs focus on programming for commuter students, while CSA acts as a student government for Fordham commuters. CSA does programming but also focuses on initiatives. With an executive board and boards for each grade level, CSA positions are elected. CA positions are application based. 

Their programs offer opportunities for students to socialize and do fun activities. 

“Our events are a great place for commuters and also residents to step out of their shell if they’re struggling to make friends,” said Poudel.

Ramos, Poudel and Wu hope to see the Commuter Cookout continue as an annual event. They also want to look into potential partnerships to strengthen the event. 

“We also want it in the future to possibly be connected to CAB and Spring Weekend if possible,” said Ramos. “We hope that it could be something like a kind of kick off for Spring Weekend events. For now, it was just kind of something we thought would be fun for the end of the year.”

You can learn more about CSA and CA programming on their Instagram pages: @fordhamcsa and @fordhamcommutes.