(Madison Chang / Fourth Estate)

With only 1 in 5 students living on campus, Mason’s student life still caters to residents over commuters

BY MADISON CHANG, STAFF WRITER

At George Mason University, most students do not live in dorms. In fact, according to U.S. News & World Report, only 21% of undergraduates live on campus.

The vast majority of Mason students are commuters. They fill the parking lots every morning, grab lunch between classes, and disappear by sunset. However, campus life seems to move on without them.

Despite most students living off campus, Mason often presents itself as a residential school, and its campus culture still reflects that. 

For commuters, the challenge is not just the daily drive. It is the feeling of being on the outskirts of a campus culture that often assumes you are around at all hours of the day and night. Many students make the best of it, but they are missing opportunities to connect simply because campus life is not scheduled with them in mind. 

Tiffany Lu, a sophomore who commutes daily, put it simply: “I guess I feel like I belong at Mason, since most people who go here commute,” she said, “but I wouldn’t say I feel really connected.”

For Rachael Hargis, a junior commuter, the daily routine can be draining before classes even begin. Each morning starts before sunrise as she gets ready to face nearly an hour-long drive from Loudoun County just to make it to campus.

“I have to wake up around 6 a.m. And I have to leave really early, so I am always tired. And there can be a lot of traffic during the drive back home,” she said. By the time she gets home, she said she is too drained to think about going to events that start hours after her classes end.

That exhaustion makes it harder to engage with campus life. “I don’t join as many clubs or do as many social events because I have to factor in the time it takes to drive home,” Hargis said. 

Effort often becomes unsustainable. Events and activities tend to start in the evening, at a time when most commuters have already gone home. The result? Commuters are left out of the experiences that are supposed to define one’s college years. 

A fix doesn’t require completely overhauling Mason’s identity; it just requires rethinking how the university schedules student life. Imagine if more club meetings, social events or campus traditions were held during the day — when commuters are already on campus for class. A student with a three-hour gap in their schedule might actually stay and participate, instead of driving home to fill the time. Even smaller efforts, like more lunchtime socials or midday resource fairs, could go a long way in making campus feel like a place where all students belong, not just those who live down the hall. 

Commuters are not a small population asking for special treatment. They are a major part of what makes Mason unique; yet, the student culture doesn’t always feel that way. When campus events, residence life and even casual conversations revolve around the assumption that all students live here, commuters feel invisible.

If Mason truly embraced its identity as a commuter school, it could be a leader in redefining what our college community looks like. Rather than viewing commuters as a group to accommodate, the university could design student life around them. 

More events during the day, stronger visibility for commuter programs and intentional peer mentorship — especially for first year students — would not only help the commuter majority feel connected but also create a culture that reflects the reality of who Mason students are.