CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error the student group was incorrectly identified. The group’s name is the Transfer Student Union, and the story below has been altered to reflect that.
Transfer students tired of not having a voice formed a new group this semester: Transfer Student Union, an organization aimed at promoting the interests of students who traditionally have not been given a say in university affairs.
Although the Student Government Association instated a transfer student legislator at the end of last semester, the position remains vacant. And although applications for the position are being accepted, SGA Chief of Staff Michelle McGrain said no one has applied for the position so far.
Tuesday night, both organizations had a chance to reach out to about 60 transfer students at a transfer student mixer jointly hosted by the SGA and Off-Campus Student Involvement, which gave these students a rare chance to connect with one another and learn about opportunities for involvement with the university groups.
The Transfer Student Union is not officially recognized by the SGA or the Office of Campus Programs, but the organization maintained a presence at the two-hour mixer. Group co-founder Drew Carroll said he hoped the event would help generate interest among undergraduates who attended.
The organization was formed to lobby for transfer students, a historically overlooked portion of the student population.
“It would be a way for transfer students to connect with one another and at the same time advocate for issues that affect them,” said Carroll, who transferred to the university from a community college and now serves as director of administrative affairs for the SGA.
Many of those at Tuesday’s event pointed to a lack of affordable housing as one of the biggest issues facing transfer students.
“I couldn’t get on-campus housing at all — it’s basically impossible,” said Brandon Schoppert, a sophomore computer engineering major who transferred from the College of Southern Maryland.
Schoppert, who lives in the University View, added that while it was easy to get off-campus housing, the higher cost of living in an apartment versus a dorm was disheartening.
Joining clubs, making friends and being social among students who have already formed relationships at this university is not easy either, several students at the mixer said. Some attributed this problem to the limited choice of housing.
“If you want the full college experience, you have to get involved,” junior psychology major Alicia Madlala said. “But joining clubs that meet at night can be hard since I live farther away.”
Madlala also said transfer students deserve a chance to live in the dorms because they, like freshmen, often don’t know anyone upon arriving at the university.
“I think it’s kind of unfair that freshmen get priority for housing, and we as transfers don’t,” she said.
Even with the struggles, transfer students expressed enthusiasm about the university community.
Madlala, who transferred from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, emphasized that the combination of diversity and unity made her feel at home.
“It feels like you’re in a little city,” she said.
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