Trying to find a parking space at the University just got easier.
For student-athletes.
Beginning this term, spots in two parking lots are temporarily reserved for student-athletes who use the recently instated, state-of-the-art John E. Jaqua Academic Center.
As a condition for receiving the learning center as a gift from University alumnus and Nike founder Phil Knight, the University came to an agreement with Phit, a corporate entity created to build the learning center, to provide parking spaces for student-athletes while they are using the center, University spokesperson Phil Weiler said. But until construction on new parking facilities is complete, spaces in already-existing lots have been set aside for student-athletes.
One of the lots reserved for student-athletes is on East 15th Avenue on a former basketball court now used by students and parents of freshmen during Week of Welcome and IntroDUCKtion for easy access to the nearby residence halls. The other lot that contains spots exclusively for students-athletes is at the corner of Walnut Street and Franklin Boulevard. Entry signs will soon read “Jaqua Center Permit Only, At All Times, 90 Minute Limit.”
“Approximately one-third of the spaces in the parking lot are reserved for student-athletes,” he said. “The student spaces are only to be used while students are receiving services at
the center.”
Student parking permits cost $300 for the year, but the permit does not guarantee a parking spot in many lots, so available parking is often hard to come by.
Vernon Carter, a graduate student in philosophy, said the temporary parking plan, which will further reduce parking for non-student-athletes, is unfair.
“I think (the University) is implicitly breaking the rules by providing parking for a specific student group, and that is asking for aggravated students,” he said.
Anna Swicklik, a junior on the lacrosse team, argued student-athletes need the special parking spaces because they will have to adhere to strict study schedules at the learning center.
If you have a lot of tutors in a row, it would be really hard to constantly check the meter,” Swicklik said. “If we miss a tutor, we miss practice.”
Weiler said that because student demand for parking spots on campus is so high, the two lots will temporarily remain reserved for student-athletes only until the underground parking garage adjacent to the new basketball arena is complete, Weiler said. From then on, all student-athletes will park underground.
Until then, Weiler said, students will have to fight to find parking spots elsewhere.
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