With six parking lots on campus, four and a half available for students and another awaiting approval by Saint Mary’s administration, parking has recently become a challenge for students with vehicles.

Some are speculating about an increase in student enrollment or an excessive allocation of cars this fall semester. However, the answer is none of the above, as Saint Mary’s experienced a 3% decrease in enrollment with the incoming Class of 2028 this year.

Returning students have found the “parking problem” to be a hot topic of conversation, sparking widespread frustration over the lack of available parking. Sophomore Analysia Camarena shared her displeasure with the current situation, expressing concerns about its impact on daily campus life.

“I feel like for the amount 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 I work very late. When I get home, it’s already dark. Usually all the parking lots are full, so I always have to walk a long way back. Honestly, this makes me want to stay home.

For commuting students, the price of parking passes is $50 base, while campus residents can expect to pay up to $200 in registration fees, depending on the section of the student handbook on parking and traffic rules. Parking violations were also included in discussions about parking lots.

“Last year I got a lot of tickets as a freshman because I parked in the parking lot closest to Regina Hall, and it took me a while to get there counts because they don’t really discuss much with you as a freshman,” Camarena said.

According to the student handbook, any student who violates these fees or other orders stipulated in the handbook, the safety team has full jurisdiction to ticket or tow the offending car.

Phil Bambenek, senior security officer, acknowledged that the parking problem has been felt across campus.

“This year we have about forty or forty-five more cars on campus compared to this time last year, and that has really created a bit of a problem,” Bambenek said. “We don’t prohibit students from bringing their cars onto campus, so it’s always a bit of a crapshoot to see how many kids come to campus with a car.”

Nursing student Sarah Mae Markley said her clinical and shadowing experience made owning a car on campus a necessity, making the parking issue inevitable for her.

“My car is currently parked in Opus Lot right now, but it’s still pretty far from campus, and I don’t want to walk that far with the weather so cold in my scrubs,” Markley said. “I use my car every day. So I have this problem almost every day, until there is a day or two where God is on my side, and I find a place in Regina, technically the closest.

The distance between parking lots and residential buildings is also a major complaint among car owners on campus.

“I see tons and tons of open seats near the dining hall on the other side of Regina and the Student Center. And can I just say that the closest field is a freshman dorm? McCandless, which is a problem, because I would say most of them don’t have cars on campus.

Student Center parking lots are currently labeled as faculty, staff, and visitor parking lots. The second half of Regina’s parking lot is considered parking for commuter faculty and students.

Bambenek explained that campus security has taken additional steps to make parking more accessible to students this semester.

“We have made parking available in the grassed areas, in the commuter parking area and are looking at repainting the car parks, which will help make parking a little bigger. And in the second semester, with students going abroad, there is always a drop in terms of parking demand,” Bambenek said. “So we think the situation will improve, but it’s certainly an issue that we’re monitoring.” We appreciate everyone’s cooperation (and) patience. It’s a bit of a difficult time, and if they have any problems, they can always call campus security and we’ll try to find them a place to park.