According to Samford University’s website, this is the 16th consecutive year of record enrollment for the university. With 6,101 undergraduate and graduate students, and far too little housing to accommodate them, Samford faces the issue of overpopulation on campus.
With new buildings, such as a new first year residence and additional Greek housing, Samford hopes to be able to accommodate 75% of the projected 5,000 undergraduate students in the next few years with on campus housing according to the Samford Horizon’s plan.
However, while these future plans hope to accommodate more students on-campus, they fail to correct the current issue of student overpopulation.
This past year, many students were forced to live off campus in apartments, many of which are paying significantly more than they would if they simply lived off-campus not through Samford.
However, this problem has an easy solution: allowing Samford students who want to live off-campus, off. Many students this past year hoped to live off-campus but did not meet the Samford policy of being 21 years old or having two years of undergraduate study (the policy has since changed to 20 years old at the beginning of the semester).
In light of Samford’s current housing crisis, they could easily fix the issue by simply allowing students that wished to live off-campus, do it. Additionally, this increases the number of commuters at Samford, which only increases the current parking nightmare.
While housing is a pressing need, I would argue that a more pertinent issue is the lack of parking to accommodate the current overpopulation on campus. It is a dilemma students face every day. While Samford has employed the use of parking at the intermural fields and expanding the SamTram, students say this is not enough.
“The ‘solution’ of the IM fields and shuttles isn’t working well. People are waiting in long lines for shuttles, sometimes in pouring rain or 90 degree heat and still have to arrive way before class time if they want to be on time,” senior Ash Currier said.
And even with this “additional” parking, commuter students still struggle to find parking every day.
“I can’t find a spot (if I get to campus too early) which forces me to get there (to Samford) exactly 10 minutes before my class starts,” Catherine Lilly, a sophomore, said. “I am coming into class right at the start time which is not convenient and (is) disrespectful to my professors.”
Coinciding with this is the penalties students face for being late to class or getting parking tickets when they park in undesignated areas due to desperation.
According to one commuter student who wished to remain anonymous, “despite the fact the designated lots are full well before class starts (…) the university continues to issue tickets when students are forced to park in alternative locations,” they said.
This forces many students into the dilemma of facing the academic penalties of being late to class or risk being ticketed.
“This strict enforcement seems counterproductive, it discourages students from attending classes rather than offering a practical solution to the parking shortage,” the anonymous student said.
While designated parking areas make sense to support students that live on campus, there is good reason for Samford to allow commuter students more flexibility. For example, if commuter students cannot find a spot in their designated area during university hours, they should not be prohibited to park in an area outside of their parking zone. Or alternatively, Samford could increase the available parking spots on campus by creating new parking lots or expanding current parking garages.
As Samford students prepare for another likely record-breaking influx of students next fall, Samford needs to employ looser restrictions for off-campus housing and parking. They simply must. In order for students to thrive at Samford, they need to be able to live where they want and take the parking they can.
Staff Writer
