First-time incoming and transfer students who were unable to attend orientation because they were more than 250 miles away from the college, met other students in the same situation Jan. 28 at the Distance Student Meet-Up hosted by the Office of New Student Programs.

Commuter Crush was an event hosted Jan. 30 to help commuter students get information and network with other students in the 916 S. Wabash Ave. Building.

Although the majority of students at Columbia are commuters, this year holds the record of the highest number of students living on campus, according to Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs. Approximately 75 percent of freshman this year live on campus, with approximately 27 percent of the entire student body living in on-campus housing, according to Kelly.

“It’s so important that our students become engaged on the campus,” Kelly said. “It’s something that the student has to be thinking about and be very purposeful in their actions.”

Kelly said there are approximately 400 incoming freshman and transfer students this semester, a significantly smaller amount compared to the fall semesters that typically has approximately 3,000 incoming students. He said incoming students and commuters can engage themselves by joining student organizations, attending events at the Office of Multicultural Affairs or working with other students on projects pertaining to their major. Kelly said areas such as the Loft in the 916 S. Wabash Ave. Building are the centralized social areas on campus where students can always find other students.

“What we believe is that you have to be involved with the campus,” Kelly said. “I would argue with what [students] can’t do is just go to class and then leave the campus, because that becomes deadly.”

Caro Griffin, the distance orientation coordinator, said the Distance Meet-Up event is part of Weeks of Welcome, a series of events the college hosts at the beginning of every semester to get new students involved in the campus community. She said the purpose of the meet-up is to give incoming students an opportunity to meet each other and start forming their creative posses.

“This is really just a chance for them to sort of socialize,” Griffin said. “I think distance orientation students in particular, need that extra hand, so this is kind of a pilot for that.”

Sigrid Ryan, a sophomore arts, entertainment & media management major and a transfer student from Norway, said she attended the event to meet new people and is excited to explore her major.

“[Columbia] looked like a really good school,” Ryan said. “I really like their mission and that you can learn by doing. I couldn’t find any other school that had the same culture.”

Caleb Humphrey, a sophomore audio arts & acoustics major and an incoming transfer student from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., said he is actively looking to meet more people and fully engage himself in Columbia’s community.

“I’m transferring from a really small school from Massachusetts,” Humphrey said. “I’m from the country side, which is not the city in any way. So, I was definitely ready for a change of pace and wanted to be around more people and have things to do all the time.”