Campus Safety is trying to resolve the issue of students with Orange Lot tickets having
to park in Overflow.
Orange Lot parking has left Brother Leopold and RSM residents irritated for many years
now. These students are sometimes forced to park in a lot that is not the lot they paid for.
Interim Director of Campus Safety Neil White said that his department is looking into the
issue. “The issue is that there are more people with vehicles in those residence halls than there
are parking spaces. The problem we run into then is where do we send those people?”
White emphasized the attempt to not have students park in the Orange Lot that never use
their vehicles. “There are a lot of people who never even move their vehicles. They come, they
park, and the car is there for two months until break. There was a proposal to ask those people to
park in other lots at a reduced rate to free up spots in the Orange Parking Lot. They have not
acted on the proposal, but it may be still out there.”
The fact that Brother Leopold and Residencia Santiago Miller residents are not allowed
to park in their respected lots is making many of those residents upset. One of those residents is
Robert Tiedemann, a junior who currently lives in Brother Leopold.
Tiedemann is a part of Men’s Tennis, which has many late practices throughout the week.
“I have experienced this problem multiple times where I come back around 10:30 at night from
tennis practice, and then I drive around the parking lot three times to find that there are no
parking spots available.”
The issue frustrates Tiedemann the most in a colder climate. “It is really bad in the winter
when I have to drive all the way back to Overflow, and then walk all the way around the baseball
field instead of parking in the lot I paid for.”
Maxwell Champa, a Residencia Santiago Miller resident, has been dealing with similar
issues that Tiedemann has. “It is very irritating because it has affected me multiple times this
year, and the issue still occurred three to four years ago when my sister attended school here,”
Champa said. He went on to say that he has been worried that he is going to get a ticket parking
in Overflow when the lot shuts down at night. Therefore, Campus Safety tells Champa to park in
the Red Lot if he is unable to park in the Orange Lot.
Tiedemann and Champa both said that they have talked to Campus Safety about the
issue. White explained that Campus Safety deals with many students that complain about the
issue.
“We tell the students that there are just too many students that want to park out there than
there are spots. They set up a priority system this year in which seniors had priority for parking.
If people got a late sticker for their lot, it is their fault. The school is looking at possibly adding
more parking out there or a different way to set up the lots.”
Tiedemann gave his opinion on how the issue could be resolved. “Campus Safety says
every time you go talk to them that they do not overbook the lot which could be true, but then
they have to do a better job keeping cars who do not have stickers out of the lot. It is either that
they have to build more parking for guests or do a better job keeping cars without orange stickers
out.”
The main thing Campus Safety wants Saint Mary’s students to know about the issue is
that the process takes time. “We would just ask for patience,” White said. “It is not like we are trying to make money. We do not make nearly enough money in ticketing to pay for the upkeep for roads and parking lots. Also, our parking is dirt cheap. Most other schools are almost double the cost…We understand the frustration.”