Despite having no classes, campus was as busy as ever during this spring break. Large trucks and many cars filled the campus getting in the pathway of students.
Neumann’s dorms do not close for spring break as many athletes and students who live hours away need to stay on campus.
Upon turning into the Mirenda Center parking lot on Tuesday, people in neon vests out on the street came up to the car I was in. The driver asked about where our sticker was and what we were doing. We had to explain we were students who needed to get by.
The next day when trying to get food with people at the only dining place open during the week, we parked in the lot behind Bruder Life Center. We were once again asked about this “sticker” by another person working. When we explained we were students we were then asked to leave even though the parking lot was not even halfway filled.
The man had a walkie talkie and used it to confirm that they did “own the parking lot,” implying that the group paid the University to use certain areas.
People from the University have given no comment on what was happening but regardless of the reasoning, Student Affairs should have given students the courtesy to provide basic information of how their day-to-day lives would be affected by outside rental groups.
The University sent students a form to fill out if they were staying on campus. In this they explained that rules still applied and what the dining situation on campus was like for the week.
They never mentioned that there was going to be a bunch of semi trucks and people monopolizing our campus with some kind of false authority.
When students are paying thousands of dollars to be here, the University should be required to inform us of these things.
This calls to question the transparency of the University and how students deserve to be informed of such events that directly affect students.
For example, students living in Glen Riddle Hall were required to enter the building using the back entrance instead of the front entrance. This caused an inconvenience to certain students whose ID swipes did not work with the back entrance.
The restrictions on certain buildings and parking spaces without an explanation calls into question the transparency of the University. Students deserve to understand and be aware of events occuring on campus, even if they are outside rental groups as they directly affect the everday lives of students.
