Christina McTheny

Christina McTheny

By Dakota Smith, The Whetstone

As she came rushing into the commuter Lounge she made it clear to all sitting in the area she wanted to get this interview done quickly.

“Hurry up, let’s get this going,” Christina McTheny said. “I want to go get food and I’m tired of being on campus.”

She was in a rush, hair up in a knotted pony tail, brown eyes tired, and an exhausted look, a tired-out, in-need-of-sleep look.

For the last six months, McTheny has been painstakingly putting together and organizing a new student organization.

The Commuter Student Union (CSU) was officially recognized as an organization on April 11. Its goals are to bring together the commuters at Wesley and get them involved with campus activities. McTheny, 20, the group’s president, also wants them to feel more at home.

“She is passionate about helping fellow commuters get better adjusted to college life,” said Alec Alicea-Rivera, secretary of CSU. “She has a vision to improve the lounge and make it a place for just the commuters. A place where they can relax and study”

“I believe that Christina is a great president for the CSU,” said Raiisha Jefferson, the group’s treasurer. “She’s headstrong and knows how to fix the problems she sees.’

McTheny said she chose Wesley because it was cheaper than the University of Delaware.

“I’m stuck here for four years and I’m tired of being out of the loop, sick of not being involved and I am definitely tired of that disgusting microwave,” she said.

She rose and walked over to pop open the microwave to reveal the horrifying rainbow of browns that infested the plate and walls.

“That’s really what drove me, that disgusting mess,” she said. “I want to make this lounge nicer, add a TV, a new microwave, more outlets. I want commuters to feel at home here because I know if they’re stuck here for four years they would want to feel at home here to.”

She wants to be a teacher after she graduates. But it better not be with little kids.

“I’d rather just teach like eleventh or twelfth grade English, something I am interested in,” she said. “I refuse to teach little kids, I don’t even want kids. I don’t think I would ever want to teach them.”

Teaching students will take a lot of planning and work, something she has demonstrated strongly since coming up with the CSU.

“I like to explore, climb trees, be high,” McTheny said. “Not that kind of high – you know what I meant since I was talking about trees.”

Then she had to go and get food – Chipotle specifically – federal investigation notwithstanding. She’s always there getting something.

She returned an hour later.

“The line was too long,” she said. “There was no way in hell I was waiting there to get you guys chips.”

McTheny worked with Director of Campus Life, Carol King to form CSU.

“Christina McTheny is a wonderful young woman who I have had the privilege of working with,” King said. “She has a lot of great ideas. One thing that we look for in all students is not only their excitement about an idea but also their willingness to follow through and she has shown me that she does have that capacity.”

Jefferson can’t understand why McTheny thinks of herself as lazy.

“When she sees something she goes for it,” Jefferson said. “If she hadn’t started the CSU, no one would have.”