At Marian University, parking is offered for purchase from the police department for everyone, including the freshman class. When the E.S. Witchger School of Engineering started construction back in the fall semester of 2022, this left the campus with limited parking available. MU has a large number of commuters, as well as faculty and staff, and the construction has left these groups little to no parking available to them, which has sparked the debate on whether freshman students should be allowed to have cars on Marian’s campus or not.
According to CollegeJaguar.com, the majority of college campuses in the United States do not allow freshmen to have their cars parked on campus, however, they do have exceptions to this rule. Students who provide medical or employment documentation may be exempt from this rule, although it varies from campus to campus.
Since the recent construction on Campus, many commuting students, faculty and staff are left wondering how they will be able to attend class or work if they can’t find parking. “It was hard for me to find parking on campus for all four years I attended this school,” Tristan Grider, MU graduate and 4-year commuter said, “sometimes I was late to class, sometimes I couldn’t make it to class at all.” 
At MU, the parking lots are designated as commuter or resident lots, with over half of them being designated for residents. There are specific parking spots designated for freshmen as well, as shown on the map circled in red. According to USNews.com, 56% of students commute, and this doesn’t factor in the faculty and staff that also commute. As a solution to the parking problem on campus, many upperclassmen, faculty and staff agree that parking should not be allowed for freshmen on campus, as the freshman class has a dedicated lot to park in that could be used for commuters.
Faculty Member, Joanie Schmidt, agrees with this as well. “I am a disabled person, and with the lack of parking, commuter students have been parking in handicap spots,” she said, “I physically need to be able to park on campus and something has to give.”
In an attempt to create a better parking experience on campus, off-campus parking has been created, and a shuttle service is provided for those that choose to use this option for parking. The shuttle service runs every fifteen minutes between the lots and campus. Students have been opting out of this service, as it adds extra time to their commute. In an article written by Jaylen Grant for The Phoenix, he states that he felt he was, “In elementary school waiting for the bus.”
While talks about eliminating freshman parking are currently not in the works, there is talk about upcoming construction projects that may move this project forward.
