Students snap up more than 20,000 parking permits each year at the University of Mississippi.
Now, just imagine as many as 4,000 parking spots suddenly becoming available every day on campus. That’s what would happen if the university followed Vanderbilt University’s lead. Vanderbilt requires students to live on campus, but leave their cars at home.
“This policy is to assist First Year students in making the transition to university life. We feel that by utilizing this first year of college life to develop a sense of community within the university will help them make that transition successfully,” said Lance Hale of Vanderbilt University Police Department Parking Services in an email.
For 15 years, Vanderbilt has made parking spots a privilege for juniors and seniors and some lucky sophomores.
Madeleine Moorhead is a student at Vanderbilt University who lived through freshman parking frustration.
“Well, I mean, I borrowed other freshman friends’ cars, but if they hadn’t had them, then yes, I could have used cabs but they’re so unreliable,” she says, “I didn’t really like the rule at the time, but now, I don’t think it’s a big deal because upperclassmen can drive freshmen.”
But Ole Miss freshman Carly Causey says a “no cars for freshmen” rule would have been a deal breaker for her.
“I think it’s very convenient when you have your car, so if I couldn’t have my car, I probably would not have come here,” she says. “It’s really useful to have my car for errands, like groceries and going to CVS or Walgreen’s, so I think it’s very useful to have your car as a freshman.”
Of course, there are transportation options available on campus, such as the Oxford University Transit buses, Rebels Pedals bike rentals, Zipcar, Zimride and Break shuttle to transport students home on the holidays, so many people ask, “Why not have fewer cars on campus?”
Taylor Smith, a junior at Ole Miss, is all for a ban on cars for freshmen.
“Freshmen are inexperienced drivers. Also, less cars are on the road which means less traffic, fewer accidents and more parking. Since freshmen are required to live on campus anyway, it’s not like they are required to commute to class. They can get on the bus or walk to avoid Freshman 15,” said Smith.
Mike Harris, director of Parking and Transportation at Ole Miss, says the idea of a freshmen car ban has been taken into consideration.
“The issue has been discussed as we have added residential halls,” says Harris. “Residential students who bring a vehicle is 65 percent of the total residential student number. The residential students get one permit per one space.”
Harris says the university’s location is a factor in the discussion about banning cars for freshmen.
“We have had the discussion, however, with our university being in such a rural area and with so many students coming from out of state, this would not be a practical decision at this time,” says Harris.
Smith says there are plenty of reasons why a freshmen car ban is a good idea.
“It would also look really good on the university if they imposed some sort of vehicular restrictions because it would make them look more environmentally conscious and ‘going green’ would lessen the carbon footprint left by the students of the university,” says Smith.
Stephanie Weiss is a student in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media and can be reached at sweiss@go.olemiss.edu.
