MADDIE LEUBKE
COPY EDITOR
While students were home for the summer, Alma College made significant changes to both their parking policy and their decorating policy. As emails went out to students notifying people of the changes, some students were upset with the new policies.
The changes to the parking policy include many of the individual dorm and house parking lots being combined into one pass for different sections of campus. Freshman now have access to buy a north lot parking pass upon enrollment at Alma.
The main south campus parking lot behind Wright Hall now has the same parking permit as all of the Greek Life houses and other small-housing on the south side of campus. If a student purchased a Maroon parking permit, they can park in almost any campus owned space on the south side of Superior St.
The parking lots located in the west side the north campus dorms have been combined into one parking pass. The new Teal Lot used to be 3 different parking lots, with people only being able to purchase specific parking passes based on room location and grade.
“I lived on South Campus this year, and the fact that they’ve changed it all to one parking permit makes it pretty difficult to find parking next to my hall,” said Laney Alvarado (‘20). “I get why it could be easier for some people, but personally, if I’m paying $300 for parking, I’d like to be able to park by my hall.”
Many students in small housing are having similar complaints. “I live in Maccurdy this year, and another problem with parking is our back-parking lot,” said Gracie Lloyd (‘22). “It is a parking lot directly behind our house, but anyone with a maroon parking pass is allowed to park there.”
Small housing students feel like the people living in their house should have priorities for the parking spots next to their house. “I feel that any small-housing that has a lot [of residents] like we do should be able to have those spots directly assigned to them,” said Lloyd.
The changes to the decorating policy include the banning of tapestries and many kinds of adhesives that students use to put things on their walls. Hanging anything from the walls is banned in the newly renovated Opera House.
The email to students outlining the new policy was sent to students on Aug. 15, which was also the day student move-in started for the fall semester. Many students already have the decorations set for their room before their planned move-in day, and the lack of personalization has some students upset.
The personalization of a student’s room is one of the things that can make a college dorm room feel like home. “Coming to college can be so stressful and uncomfortable for some, and to tell people that they cannot make their rooms their own is saddening,” said Lloyd.
Many of students’ complaints are not just about the changing of policy, but the lack of communication between administration and the student population around these changes.
“I get why they want to enforce those rules but from a student perspective, it just seems like the school is starting to take away more stuff than giving,” said Alexia Miller (‘20). “We pay a lot of money to go here. We should be able to decorate our rooms and hang stuff up.”
More information about these new policies can be found on the Alma College website, or through contacting a housing staff member.
