With the spring semester taking off at Marshall University, some students stated they have noticed problems with parking on the campus. 

“Parking on campus anymore is a hassle,” Marshall student Scott Ray said. “Trying to find a place on campus close to your actual classroom is almost impossible.” 

While it may seem easier to simply park anywhere near campus with an open parking spot, local businesses and their management teams are simply saying do not. 

Patricia Watson is the manager at the Pizza Hut located on 3rd Avenue, just across the street from Smith Music Hall. While she specifically takes action against students parking on their lot by warning, with a note, that vehicles will be towed at the vehicle owner’s expense, she said “many students believe that we will not tow, but I have seen it before, and I am certain I will see it again.” 

Watson said, while she understands that it’s cold outside and feels sorry for the students and the walks they must make to get to their classrooms, she simply wants to ensure they do not have another fee coming their way. 

“I know they’ve paid for parking passes and are paying tuition,” Watson said. “I just try to warn them as many times as possible to try and give them a chance before they have another fee for being towed. But you can only get so many chances.”

Similarly to Watson, Sergeant Scott Ballou, with Marshall University Police Department, has some suggestions, advice and warnings for students.

 “After a certain amount of tickets on Marshall’s campus, we will take action and put an academic hold on your account, which can hinder you from not only getting transcripts, but also [from] registering for classes,” Ballou said. “Students need to really pay attention to where they are parking to ensure that one day these parking tickets do not come back to haunt them.”

Along with this, Ballou states that students need to take advantage of the stadium parking lot, because unlike those neighboring it, it is rarely full. 

“Students will go to the mall and walk around all day, but they have issues with parking more than 10 minutes away from their class,” Ballou said. “We have a lot of adequate parking on campus, and students should be smart about where they’re parking and take advantage of it. We get so many complaints about parking, for and around our campus, and honestly, it could be a lot worse.” 

Mackenzie Jones can be contacted at [email protected].