Parking Difficulties Cause Student Controversy

By Erin McGuinness | Posted by September 18, 2019

Parking continues to cause issues for Kean University students in the new semester, though the administration said new parking spaces have been made available. 

“Nearly 4,000” parking spaces are available across the Union campus, said Margaret McCorry, director of media relations for the university. 

The number includes 51 new spots next to the Liberty Hall Museum and Academic

Center, where students can take a shuttle service to the main campus, though 22 faculty spots have been lost to new construction on the Science Building, she said. 

Kean serves an enrollment of over 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students, according to the Kean University website.

Over 6,000 students have registered for parking e-permits for the 2019-20 academic year so far, McCorry said. More students will have the opportunity to register their vehicle in the Spring semester. 

“Those students attend classes from morning to night throughout the week so parking spots turn over frequently throughout the day,” McCorry said. “Students are strongly encouraged to leave extra time for parking and to take advantage of parking on East Campus, where a shuttle bus can take you over to the main campus.”

However, students said they are leaving early and the issue continues to exist. 

Jessica Ryan, a Kean University student since 2016, said the parking situation has gotten even worse.

“I have had a horrific experience with parking on campus,” Ryan said. “There have been numerous times where people threatened to fight me over a spot, someone has hit my car in a parking spot and fled the scene, and the lack of spots in general.”

Ryan said she leaves her home, approximately 25 minutes away, two to three hours in advance to ensure parking. Parking is not only a source of stress for her, but the fall semester has been the most difficult parking situation she has seen at Kean so far.

While the shuttle bus system is available to take students to and from the main campus and other parking options, including East Campus and Kean Hall, Ryan claims the system “is convenient on a good day.”

“Otherwise, it takes too long to arrive and it has made many students including myself, late to my next class,” she said.

Emily Kyne has been a student at Kean since 2017. Finding parking has grown more difficult, she said. 

Kyne, who commutes 45 minutes to Kean, often has to leave two hours in advance to find parking. She claims this limits her ability to complete homelife responsibilities, including taking care of her dog.

Online petitions have been shared throughout the Kean community encouraging school officials to limit spending on unneeded buildings and instead provide enough parking for the ones already in existence. Last May, a rally was largely attended surrounding the Board of Trustees meeting, where students and faculty protested the firing of GE lecturers and other issues they felt were being ignored. Parking was the number two issue listed.

President of the Kean Federation of Teachers James Castiglione is a longtime advocate for the creation of a parking deck. Castiglione notices his students arriving late because of parking difficulties, he said.

“Students should know that their faculty are fully supportive of the issues that matter most to them, and that includes faculty support for building a student parking deck,” he said.

In his 22 years at Kean, he claims the parking situation has grown worse each year. 

“Faculty recognize that if students can’t get parking they’re going to be late to class and it has a negative impact on their academic performance,” he said.

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