Parking in the front lot feels like a privilege granted to upperclassmen. We wait patiently yet sometimes even being an upperclassmen is not enough to secure a spot in this lot.
Everyone must apply for a parking pass to achieve the right to park here. In the past few years this lot has been overcrowded with cars. This makes it a challenge to even find a spot as an upperclassmen who has a parking permit.

There are multiple ideas for the main causes of this recent increase of cars in the lot. Some think it is the growth of the incoming classes, others think it’s the upperclassmen parking in the lot unpermitted, or even the result of sophomores over-confidently abusing this privilege and parking their new cars in the front lot.

The increase of incoming class size is definitely a valid argument. More kids translates to more drivers, more drivers equals more cars needing to use the front lot.

The problem with increasing class sizes is that everyone must receive a permit to park in the front lot. Only 130 permits are available and only 107 student spots are in the main lot. If only cars with permits parked in the front lot, then the increase in class size would be an irrelevant argument.
To gauge how many upperclassmen park in the front lot unpermitted is difficult because it varies day-to-day. What we know is that kids are doing it.

This definitely could tie into the rise in class size because the more kids, the more one’s abusing the privilege and parking in the front without a permit. But the number of upperclassmen abusing the privilege is not large, it’s just enough to contribute to the issue.

It’s tough to say that upperclassmen parking unpermitted are the main cause of the overflow, but it’s definitely a contributor.

This brings us to the overly-confident sophomores. Only a few are old enough to have their licenses. It is highly unusual that a sophomore is old enough to have their license at the time of year permits are distributed, so they are parking without a permit.

No sophomore should ever park in the front lot during school hours. This is a privilege, one that they have not earned. It’s simple, if you are a sophomore, park on Fern, Saunders, or anywhere other than in the front lot could easily be causing the issue.

Although not parking in the main lot is simple, some sophomores have decided that they want to park in the front lot anyway. Sophomores cannot legally drive kids to lunch, to school, or home for that matter, because you need to have had your license for a year. This exclusive group who decides to park in the front lot could easily be causing the issue.

Between the unpermitted upperclassmen and the overly confident sophomores, it is easy to infer the reason for the recent overcrowding of cars in the front lot over the past few years.

To solve this issue it won’t take much. Just the presence of a security guard in the lot every morning scares away the sophomores. Giving the unpermitted students tickets might just be the way to keep the front lot pure with permitted upperclassmen. Eventually I believe there will have to be more parking to compensate for this problem.