A full parking lot behind Shay Hall
David Scibilia/The Bona Venture
BY: JULIA BABCOCK, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After a 4 a.m hospital visit, St. Bonaventure University freshmen Kayla Felder and Kaleb Rudderforth returned to campus and couldn’t find a parking spot near their dorm in Robinson Hall. This forced them to park in Lot F by Bonaventure’s tennis courts, about an 11-minute walk. Rudderforth had been examined for a concussion, and had to make his way with only the support of Felder.
“In times like these, it would have been much more helpful to have parking closer to our dorm halls,” said Felder. “Not only did I have to climb the stairs, but I had to walk across campus in the middle of a freezing night.”
Bonaventure does not currently have any commuter parking lots.
“Commuter parking could take spots away from overnight students,” said Felder. “Spots cannot be left empty for longer than a minute without someone else taking them, and the overflow lots are almost always full.”
Other students have voiced similar concerns to Felder’s, They said they hoped their concerns would be addressed in this semester’s first Parking Committee meeting on Monday.
The members of the committee met to respond to campus concerns.
The committee is made up of One faculty member, two student representatives, and two administrators.
Kishan Patel, one of the student representatives,has had a car on campus since arriving at Bonaventure as a freshman in fall 2020. For two years, Patel shared his car with his brother, which Patel claimed gave him a broader experience with parking on Bonaventure’s campus.
Patel believes that there are already enough spots on campus for students to park.
“I never really find it a problem,” said Patel. “Especially without campus being so closed off and small, the walk is max 10 minutes from anywhere I did park.”
Patel doesn’t see the walk as an issue.
“Our campus is pretty small, closed off, and the walk anywhere is gonna be extremely short,” said Patel.
It could take years to plan and add a new lot and more parking, according to a Parking Committee member.
“I do advocate for more parking,” said Patel. “It’s just hard. I feel like a lot of people just say ‘Add more parking lots’ — it’s never that simple.”
Some students took a stronger stance regarding the addition of parking closer to Bonaventure’s residence halls.
Gabby Mancuso, a freshman triple-cert education major, said she will have to leave campus numerous times during the winter months for observation hours.
“I am not really looking forward to the middle of winter when I have to hike across campus to get back to my dorm,” said Mancuso.
Mancuso has suggested the addition of designated parking spots, so that students do not have to spend so much time searching for a spot each time they come back to campus.
“It’s sort of like a blood bath trying to find parking spots,” said Mancuso.
As students continue to voice their concerns about parking on campus, Patel said change may not be seen in the immediate future. A major change to campus parking, he said, requires lots of planning.
babcocjl23@bonaventure.edu
