Commuters visited the Kent State Student Center this week to participate in activities, win prizes and meet new people as part of the annual Commuter Appreciation Week.

The Center for Student Involvement holds this event each semester to show commuters the importance of being a part of the Kent State community, and students participated in activities including arts and crafts and a scavenger hunt.

Rebecca Kapler, assistant director of Kent Student Center Programming and UCommute, helped plan the event along with members of CSI, and she said her favorite part of Commuter Appreciation Week is watching all of the students come together as a community.

“Watching the students have a good time and have a sense of involvement is always something that we hope for in the events CSI plans,” Kapler said. “There is such a large focus on residence hall events and getting on-campus students engaged in the community, and while that is important, I think it is just as important to give commuters that same opportunity.”

Events occurred each afternoon and, students visited the Nest to participate.

Alexis Chukanye, a sophomore pre-nursing major at Kent State’s Geauga campus, planned to come to Kent’s main campus to attend the event.

“I had originally planned to stop by Monday before one of my late classes, but I had so much fun I decided to go again on Wednesday,” Chukanye said. “The Center for Student Involvement does a really good job of making every student feel important even if they aren’t always on campus everyday.”

Kristen Scowary, a junior psychology major, said Commuter Appreciation Week is something new and unheard of.

“I didn’t even know Commuter Appreciation Week existed,” Scowary said. “The fact that Kent State dedicates a whole week to commuters is really important to me and I’m sure to other commuter students.”

CSI hosts daily events for students to participate in, and Kapler said she considers Commuter Appreciation Week one of their biggest events.

“CSI’s main goal is to get students involved and to bring students closer to one another, which is why we host events almost every day in order to do so,” Kapler said.

Kapler said any student who wants to get involved on campus can visit www.kent.edu/whatsup to learn about events happening through CSI and UCommute.