Etown’s Record-Breaking Freshman Class Means That No One Can Find a Parking Space

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – For many college students, good parking spaces are a right of passage.  Traditionally juniors and seniors can park in almost every lot, while first-years are condemned to the large overflow lot, far away from academic and residence halls. However, this year things look different for those who brought their cars to campus.

Elizabethtown college has a unique policy that allows freshman to have their cars on campus. However, with the college recently welcoming the Class of 2027 with 580 students – the largest class since 2009 – students of all years are struggling to find parking spaces.

In previous semesters, first-years were only allowed to park Lot 7, known as the Brown lot. It is the largest lot on campus and is located in the northeast corner near the Brown facilities building. However, this year, due to the sheer size of the class, first-years are now allowed to park in Lot 17 as well, which is behind Founders Residence Hall. But that seems to not have solved the lack of parking spaces.

Many upperclassmen have reported seeing first years’ vehicles (which are identifiable by their gold parking decal) in lots that are reserved for upperclassmen, notably the lots beside the Hackman apartments. Campus Safety enforces parking regulations by ticketing vehicles in the wrong lots, but upperclassmen argue that it does not stop the sheer quantity of freshman parking in the wrong lots.

One anonymous senior living in Hackman said, “I ran to CVS for maybe 20 minutes – came back and the Founders lot is full, all parking by the tennis courts, all parking in front of Founders, and everything around the apartments is full.” Other seniors and grad students agree that they have never had problems with parking up until this year.

First-years argue that they cannot park anywhere else because Brown Lot is filled with vehicles belonging to juniors and seniors, and they have no choice but to find other lots to park in. Upperclassmen argue that they would not have parked in Brown if first-years were not parking in the lots reserved for them. It is still a remaining debate who caused the parking problems first.

Parking difficulties are not limited to resident students either. The lack of parking spaces means that students are flooding into the commuter parking lots as well, which are reserved for students who do not live on campus. The lack of parking spaces means that commuters are spending more time finding parking, and are therefore rushing to class. This creates a safety issue as cars are speeding down driveways trying to find parking in time for class, and not watching out for students walking around campus. Lynsey Goodnow, a junior who has been committing for many years, said, “I’ve almost been hit - both in my car and while walking - more times this semester than in the previous ones, and I think it has to do with the influx of students and the lack of parking to accommodate them.”

The main sentiment shared between upperclassmen is to “send the freshman back to brown lot where they belong.” Other students have advocated to apply policies found in other universities, where students are not permitted to bring their cars to campus until they are sophomores.

While some students blame the first-years for parking in the wrong lots, others blame the school for admitting more freshman than the parking lots can accommodate. The Hackman senior asks, “If there isn’t a parking space available for every student enrolled in this school, what are we supposed to do?”