By ALYSON KAUFMAN
Tucked in a corner of the student center of Ramapo College, lies a little known lounge for commuter students.
J. Lee’s is Ramapo’s unofficial commuter lounge and offers a fun and peaceful environment for anyone student who needs a break from it all.
The lounge is named after Jerome Lee, a former Director of the Student Center at Ramapo who passed away in 1995. Lee valued high ethics and morals, and human kindness. Lee also has a leadership award named after him. His legacy is now carried out in a lounge that is almost always crowded with busy students looking for some fun.
More than 54 percent of college students in America choose to live at home and J. Lee’s is in the perfect location on Ramapo’s campus for those who commute to the college. Being a public college, Ramapo has a population of about 3,000 local commuter students, equating to more than half of students who attend the college. With this many commuter students, it’s necessary for Ramapo to offer students a place to go when they aren’t in class.
the college commuter experience is napping in your car
— sydney hammond (@sydneyhammond_) February 19, 2020
Located in the central hub, J. Lee’s is found on the second floor of the student center, down the hall from the bookstore and Roadrunner central, and close to the Black Student Union and the Atrium.
“It’s a hidden gem on campus,” said Emily Rotella, 21, a global communications major.
Amenities
For Ramapo Students, it’s known as the lounge that always has free popcorn. But J. Lee’s has seating areas for those who just want to do homework or eat with their friends, and it also has pool and ping pong tables for those who want to play, as well as various video games such as a Wii, PS3 and an Xbox 360. The lounge also has couches, TVs, charging stations, music, board games, and cards.
“I love knowing that if I’m ever hungry for a snack on campus, I always have a place to get some free popcorn,” said Lindsay Kirshbaum, 21, a criminology major.
Monday through Thursday, the lounge is open from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. Friday it’s open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday it’s open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
J. Lee’s is also open to clubs and organizations who want to hold events in the lounge. The lounge can provide a fun change of scenery from the dorms where events are typically held. Between video game tournaments, comfy seats, snacks, and old fashioned board games, J. Lee’s truly has it all.
The sounds of J. Lee’s.
Ramapo commuters and students are lucky to have a fun and relaxing place to go to that has such flexible hours. “It’s a hidden gem on campus,” said Emily Rotella, 21, a global communications major.
Not only does J. Lee’s offer so many games for students to play with their friends, as well as a relaxing place to just hang out, but J. Lee’s even acts as a place to gather for clubs and organizations. This is a lounge that more students need to be taking advantage of, because they will likely not get this lucky having a safe place to go to in the workplace.
As a commuter student myself, I had no idea this existed so it’s cool to read about how much J. Lee’s has to offer for students like me! I liked that you linked a lot of relevant links in your article, and I really liked that you put the reader in J. Lee’s by adding audio of what was happening in the lounge itself. Your headline score was 66!