Hamilton students can look forward to the installation of a new parking lot on campus; it just might not be here any time soon. “A new parking lot is absolutely in the master plan for the campus…many years in the future,” said Frank Coots, Director of Campus Safety. Coots told
The Spectator
that he hopes the school will be able to expand parking in the summer of 2024.
Parking has become a source of frustration and inconvenience for a large number of Hamilton students. As finding an open parking spot in a student lot has seemingly become a rarity, the “Park Anywhere” raffle last week prompted enthusiasm in the student body. The third annual raffle organized by Student Transportation allows the winning student to park almost anywhere on campus without getting a parking ticket for one semester. All proceeds were donated to On Point for College, a non-profit organization that helps first-generation students gain access to a college education.
Students seem overwhelmingly concerned about the parking situation. Alex House ’26 stated that he believes “parking is one of the biggest problems that students face on a day-to-day basis here at Hamilton” and that “because of the school’s isolation, having a car is almost necessary, and when there aren’t enough spots for people, that causes students to get frustrated.”
Maggie Condon ’26 reported often being late to class because she can’t find a parking spot after returning to campus from physical therapy appointments. Multiple students expressed a fear of leaving campus or taking their car out past 4 p.m. because they may lose their spot.
Ticketing is also a topic of annoyance for many students, as some commented on the fact that parking tickets are “being issued at the earliest hours of the day” and “bringing the school upwards of $50 per parking ticket.” A senior admitted to receiving 15 parking tickets last fall.
Some might attribute the parking shortage to increasing numbers of cars as the number of students at Hamilton grows. But in reality, the number of vehicles, at least registered ones, is roughly stable, says Coots. However, he noted that “there’s a couple of things that come into play that [he doesn’t] really have any control over.” Coots explained that “[students with unregistered vehicles] try to game the system because if I don’t know who they are and they have their vehicle, then even if I write a ticket, they’re not going to get charged.” Even though he does not think the number of students with unregistered vehicles is large, every car that adds to the number of cars on campus affects overall parking availability.
Furthermore, the installation of Glenview in 2020 took away around 60 parking spots from Root Student Lot, one of only three authorized student lots on the dark side of campus: Root Lot, Major/Macintosh/Minor Lot and half of the parking lot near Babbitt Pavilion. “There’s no question about it…this affects the availability for students,” Coots said. Students parking in unauthorized lots such as faculty and staff lots has been the main cause of ticketing. Faculty and staff call and email Coots regularly to ask why students are parking in their lot. “My goal is not to write a bunch of tickets because it doesn’t serve any purpose other than being a deterrent,” Coots said. “When it comes down to it, it’s the education and the enforcement of those policies. I’d rather not write tickets, but sometimes I have to.”
Campus safety has not begun to tow vehicles yet, but Coots reports that it will be occurring soon. If the student’s vehicle is registered, it gets towed to a location in North Lot. The cost of the tow will be added to their student bill. If a student’s vehicle is unregistered, then it gets towed off campus and they have to pay for it directly through the tow agency in Clinton.
Coots believes there is still plenty of parking at Hamilton, even though he acknowledges that not all of it is convenient, especially for those living on the south side of campus. “You’ll always find a spot in North Lot,” he said. “It doesn’t matter time of day, day of week, there’s always going to be ample parking there. But if you’re rushing, you don’t want to have to walk 20 minutes from your car to your classroom that might be in KJ or KTSA.” Coots recommends giving yourself as much time as possible if you are going to be searching for a parking spot. Additionally, he points out that that parking never runs out in the gravel parking lots directly across from the baseball and softball fields.
The assessment of parking needs across campus has reinforced the fact that Hamilton is at its core, a pedestrian campus. “The College is made to walk,” Coots explained, “Yes, it can be a bit time consuming, especially when the weather is a little bit inclement or you’re in a rush. Yes, it is difficult, I will not argue that point. But it is a pedestrian campus and I try to encourage people to walk wherever they can walk.”
To alleviate parking stress, Student Transportation has set up Jitney shuttles on weekday mornings and evenings to take students anywhere on campus so they do not have to use their vehicles. Frank Coots said he appreciates students’ patience when it comes to parking. “It’s never going to be perfect,” he admitted. He joked about sounding like a broken record as he emphasized for the final time, “I just ask that students park in a student lot.”