With six parking lots on campus, four and a half available to students and another one awaiting approval by the Saint Mary’s administration, parking has recently become a struggle for students with vehicles.
Some speculate an increased number of enrolled students, or an excessive allowance of cars this fall semester. The answer, however, is none of the above, as Saint Mary’s saw a three percent decrease in enrollment with this year’s incoming class of 2028.
Returning students have found the “parking problem” to be a hot topic of conversation, sparking widespread frustration over the lack of available parking spaces. Sophomore Analycia Camarena shared her dissatisfaction with the current situation, voicing concerns about its impact on daily campus life.
“I feel like, for the amount that we paid to have our car on campus, the parking sections are nowhere near as big and close enough to our residents building,” Camarena said. “I have two off-campus jobs and work really late, and so when I get back it’s already dark. Usually, all the parking lots are full, so I always have to make a far walk back. It honestly makes me want to stay home.”
For commuting students, the price for parking passes is a baseline fee of $50, while on-campus residents can be expected to pay up to a registration fee of $200, according to the student handbook’s section of parking and traffic regulations. Parking violations have also been included in the parking lot discussions.
“Last year, I received plenty of tickets as a freshman due to me parking in the closer lot of Regina Hall, and it took me a while to realize that because they don’t really discuss that much to you as a freshman,” Camarena said.
According to the student handbook, any student were to be in violation of these fees or other ordinances that the handbook states, the security team has full jurisdiction to ticket or tow the car at fault.
Senior safety executive Phil Bambenek agreed that the parking lot issue has been felt across campus.
“This year, we have about forty or forty-five additional cars on campus compared to the same time last year, and that really has created a bit of a problem,” Bambenek said. “We don’t limit students bringing cars to campus, so it’s always a little bit of a roll of the dice to see how many kids come to campus with a car.”
Junior nursing student Sarah Mae Markley said her clinical and shadowing experience has made having a car on campus a necessity, making the parking issue unavoidable for her.
“My car is currently parked in Opus Lot right now, but it’s still a pretty far walk from campus, and I don't want to walk that far with the weather being this cold in my scrubs,” Markley said. “I use my car every day. So I have that issue almost every day, until there's a day or two where God's on my side, and I find a spot in Regina, just technically the closest.”
The distance between parking lots and residential buildings has also been a main complaint for car owners on campus.
“I see tons and tons of spots open near the dining hall on the other side of Regina and the Student Center. And can I just say that the closest lot is to a freshman dorm? McCandless, which is an issue, because I would say most of them don't have a car on campus.”
The Student Center parking lots are currently labeled as faculty, staff and visitor parking lots. The second half of the Regina parking lot is considered faculty and commuter student parking.
Bambenek explained campus safety has taken additional measures to make parking more accessible to students this semester.
“We have made available parking in the grass areas, in the commuter parking area and are looking at some repainting of parking lots that will help expand a little bit of parking. And second semester, with students going abroad, there's always a drop off in terms of parking demand,” Bambenek said. “So we feel like it will get better, but certainly it is a problem that we are monitoring. We appreciate everybody's cooperation [and] patience. It is a little bit of a trying time, and if they run into problems, they can always call campus safety and we'll attempt to find them a space to park in.”
