Photo by Brooke Ayscue
By Brooke Ayscue
You’re running late to class, your backpack is already weighing you down, and only one thing stands between you and your seat: finding a parking spot.
You pull into campus with class starting in ten minutes and begin circling the lot. Every row is full, the clock is ticking, and you’re still looking for a spot.
When students returned to campus for this new semester, parking issues, fueled by growth in student enrollment, became part of the daily routine for students balancing classes, work, sports, and everything else that happens on campus.
Alexandra Cortez-Cortez, a sophomore criminal justice major, shared their experience with parking at Peace.
“It’s pretty difficult to find parking on campus, especially Tuesday and Thursday because I come to campus a little early during the day. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have classes early, so I find parking pretty easy,” said Cortez-Cortez.
The parking availability can depend on the time of day. Some students say they have to circle multiple times before they can find a parking spot.
Kate Prettyman, a first-year biology and criminal justice major, shared their insight on the parking at Peace.
“I always drive through the parking lots behind Davidson and Ross to see if there’s a spot,” said Prettyman, “but it’s usually not. I usually have to park behind Delway.”
Parking affects not only the faculty, staff, and commuter students, but also students living on campus.
Aiden Woods, a first-year exercise and sport science major, shared their parking experience on campus.
“My experience with parking this semester has not been the greatest. I feel like there aren’t a lot of spots,” said Woods. “I’m always having to park far away. I don’t particularly enjoy it.”
But students aren’t the only ones dealing with this parking. Some faculty and staff find themselves searching for a parking spot before heading to work.
Katie Otis, a history professor, shared their insight on campus parking.
“I’ve noticed the main parking lot looks fuller this semester than in previous years, but I haven’t had trouble finding a spot. I arrive in the morning, which probably helps,” said Otis.
The university responded by asking faculty to park outside of the main lot, and renting parking off campus. At an event this month, President Dr. Jennifer Walsh assured students the situation will improve as the university continues to explore parking options.
“But I would also ask just please be patient with us a little bit because parking in downtown is really difficult to come by,” Walsh said, “but we’ll continue to monitor long-term solutions are going to take a little bit more time to put together.”
Woods suggested returning to a controversial idea that was at least temporarily shelved due to issues with city permits.
“Maybe take down the softball field and replace it with parking,” said Woods.
-Brenson Greene, Kylie McWhorter, Jeanpierre Mbale, and Kaylin Gooch contributed to this article.