Shivering in the cold, arms heavy from dragging my suitcase to my dorm, I returned to Wellesley after winter break. It was only when I tried to swipe my OneCard and saw a blinking red light that I remembered I’d forgotten to sign back into the housing portal. It’s not an uncommon occurrence and for many of us, it’s an easily resolvable issue. When it happened to a friend, I told her that it was probably because she hadn’t signed in, forgetting that she’s a commuter. After much back and forth with LTS, she was eventually informed that her status as a commuter meant she no longer had access to residential buildings.
At first glance, this is nothing more than an inconvenience for the seemingly small number of commuters on campus. If anything, access to dorms simply requires the extra step of waiting for friends to open the door. Perhaps this would be the case if there truly were just a handful of students who commuted or lived off campus. After some research in Wellesley’s common data set, though, it becomes evident that the number isn’t as small as many people assume. In 2024, Wellesley recorded that commuters made up nine percent of its entire student population of 2,300 students. This means 207 students commuted in 2024.
Wellesley, as a primarily residential campus, inevitably hosts a significant number of community events within residential buildings. Think of how often you attend events held inside a residence hall, whether that be SBOG bingo or movie nights hosted by student orgs. Wellesley prides itself on a tight-knit community, consisting of activities hosted by Reslife and other student organizations. What’s more, it advertises the accessibility of this community: as a campus that primarily lives together in dorms, closeness is bound to be created. What happens when nine percent of your student body lacks easy access to — or is quite literally barred from — that community?
An equally disconcerting issue is the lack of information provided to commuters on campus. My commuter friend had no idea about the policy regarding residential building access until her OneCard stopped working at the start of this semester. At first, she thought it was an error, and it wasn’t until the LTS staff asked their supervisor why she didn’t have access that she was finally told anything. She even asked members of Reslife, including RAs and HPs, if they knew anything regarding the building access policy. This lack of communication goes beyond OneCard access. There was no information provided to her or other commuters when they decided to live off campus; no one explained to them what the process of commuting entailed. In fact, because they’re not on-campus residents, they’ve received none of the recent e-mails sent out from the Office of Residential Life and Housing regarding the broken pipe in the Davis Garage — astonishing, considering that a major part of commuting is driving to campus.
There is something to be said about the lack of care and guidance provided to commuters. How can Wellesley claim to care about their student body when they fail to include nine percent of them? It goes beyond the simple ability to enter a building. When participating in student life requires having access to residential halls, it means something to have the ability to enter. Having to ask other students to let them in sends a message that commuters are guests and visitors — not the very same students who make up the Wellesley community. I can attest to the fact that a good portion of my friendships on this campus can be attributed to living in and having access to residential halls. When that access is taken away, the only real way for people who live off campus to create these friendships is through their academics. This transmits the message that Wellesley doesn’t care about commuter students beyond their academic participation.
This feeling of isolation from the community becomes an issue of transparency. Wellesley ought to inform their students of the policies that are applied when they decide to commute. It could be as simple as providing students with a document on how being a commuter works or creating a forum for commuters to communicate with each other and ask questions. If we are to truly show up as a community that is accessible to all members of this institution, it begins with communication and attention to even the smallest minorities.
Contact the editors responsible for this article: Caitlin Donovan, Avery Finley
