OPINION

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By Alex Thalhimer

What does it mean to be a senior? At Collegiate, being a senior means privilege, leadership, and freedom. Seniors are seen as the kings and queens of the Upper School after earning respect by grinding out the past three years. Seniors get their Kindergarten buddies, are captains for sports teams, lead student sections, give Senior Speeches, participate in Capstone courses, and more. Another important senior privilege at Collegiate is parking; specifically, in the “Senior Lot.” Right? Wrong. 

Parking is Upper School Dean of Students (“Prince of Parking”) Mark Palyo’s favorite topic. Although the “Senior Lot” is not actually enforced or regulated, it has become an unwritten rule among the Collegiate student body that the upper, or northern portion of the East parking lot is reserved for only seniors, demonstrating respect from the lower grades. While it may not seem like much, seniors treat it like a privilege to have a short 2-3 minute walk to class or the café in the morning, instead of the 4-7 minute hike from the bottom of the junior lot. 

Collegiate School map. Image credit: Collegiate Director of Campus Safety and Security James Bandy.

For many years, however juniors parking in the unofficial Senior Lot has caused problems. Former Collegiate student and Match staffer Bird Murray (‘20), in his February 2020 opinion piece “A War For High Ground-The Senior Lot,” shared his thoughts, stating that, “it is not a right to park in the Senior Lot, but a privilege, and I believe the current junior class needs to start seeing it that way.” This is still an existing problem, ready for change. 

This year, along with many of my peers, I have often found myself walking from the bottom spaces of the East lot to class, usually resulting in a tardy. But what makes this issue worse is that we seniors have discovered multiple junior vehicles on our walks up. 

The “Senior Lot” viewed from the bottom portion of the East lot. Photo credit: Alex Thalhimer.

Let’s take a look at some numbers.

The senior class of ‘23 is 142 students, and the junior class of ‘24 has 145 students. As of now, (October 2022), there are a total of 276 parking spots, including the 27 additional spots that were added this past summer to the East lot. (24 spots were also added onto the bus area. These are to be used for special event parking and parents, but they are not supposed to be used by students on a regular school day, according to Collegiate Director of Campus Safety and Security James Bandy). The top portion, or “Senior Lot,” has 131 spots, and the bottom, or southern half, of the lot holds 145 others. 

Along with the East lot, there are parking spots by the Business Office and at River Road Presbyterian Church, which have both been kind enough to reserve a total of 36 spaces for students. As organized by Palyo, rotations of 35 juniors are to park in these spaces for a specific amount of time throughout the year. 

So now let’s clarify what all of these numbers mean. Keep in mind that not every junior and senior drives to school daily, or even at all. 

It seems that it may actually be impossible for seniors to fully realize their dreams of a Senior Lot. There is just not enough space in the top portion of the East parking lot for every senior. But that does not excuse the disrespect shown by some juniors, making the subject more difficult. With this data, there is no reason juniors should be parking in the top portion, as there are plenty of spots open in other areas. But because it is not an official rule, juniors technically have the freedom to park wherever they can. 

Palyo also pointed out that “a large portion of the seniors choose to park in the lower portion of the lot so they can exit campus quicker and easier. Many of them go to the Robins Campus for practice, so they want to get out and not get stuck in the Middle School carpool line. They can’t have both.”

I wanted to get a count of what the senior class thinks in an unofficial GroupMe poll.

The question was, “Should it be a rule for only seniors in the top lot?” With a total of 57 votes, 53 seniors voted YES, and only 4 voted NO. 

GroupMe Poll. Image credit: Alex Thalhimer.

With this data, I wanted to talk to those drivers with additional thoughts. Senior Sadie Brooks (‘23) explained that “walking from the junior lot is just an experience we all have to encounter as juniors, and you’ll eventually get the privilege.” Grayson Hepp (‘23) also expressed that, “I should be able to enjoy my senior year without worrying about my parking spot.” Junior Charlie Cheek (‘24) agreed with Brooks, explaining that “it’s an inconvenience,” but he respects “seniors’ rights.” 

Junior Warner Lewis (‘24) states he doesn’t like the rule but at the same time agrees that “seniors should have priority.”

So, what are some possibilities for change? Collegiate has always struggled with parking availability, due to the fact that we are limited by wetlands behind the East parking lot. Besides this area, there is really no other extra land near the Mooreland Road campus that Collegiate could utilize for parking spaces.

One idea is to eventually build a parking deck or garage for students and faculty. We can’t expand the perimeter of our current parking lot, so a parking garage is one of the only ways we could add more spaces. However, this would be a significant project for the school involving a great deal of time and money, so it’s unlikely to happen any time soon. 

Is a parking deck in our future? Photo credit: Alex Thalhimer.

Another idea, and much more affordable, would be to codify the Senior Lot as an official rule, so that the senior privilege of parking closer to the Upper School would exist as a policy. 

Lastly, a simple solution for seniors who are upset about their situation is to arrive early enough to get a closer parking space. As Tucker Smith (‘23) said, “Simply put, early-bird gets the worm!”