Over a month into school students have already received several tickets for parking incorrectly on campus.
Mia Uvaldo, a sophomore business management major, has received four parking tickets this semester for parking on the curb within Commons apartments parking lot.
“It is more often than not, that I don’t have a parking space,” said Uvaldo.
She is one of many students that struggle to know where to park on campus without being ticketed. Due to there being a population of students that either own cars or use one to commute; for them, this knowledge is essential.
Often, students are not aware of the regulations they are violating, but lack of campus parking knowledge does not warrant an appeal. When a student is ticketed on campus they have the opportunity to file an appeal if they feel that they have been wrongfully ticketed.
An appeal form can be found at the police station. The Langston University Parking Handbook cautions, “Please be mindful that pleading ignorance of the regulations will not excuse violators of citations.”
The most common reason students receive tickets is for parking in spots that are for faculty and staff. Mckenzie Connor, a senior biology major, claims to have just recently been informed about the meanings of parking zones on campus after visiting the police station.
“Otherwise I probably still would not know and I haven’t known for the past three years,” said Connor.
She believes that parking on campus, whether it is to attend classes or park in residential areas, is an obstacle that students face on a daily basis.
“Every day it is to the point that I walk anywhere that I can, because when I come back anytime past two o’clock in the afternoon there is absolutely no parking,” said Connor.
Lack of parking spaces coupled with a lack of knowledge about campus parking regulations can lead to students being ticketed more frequently. Some of the other more common reasons students receive parking tickets are for parking on the curb in non-valid parking spaces, parking in campus parking lots outside of the permitted hours, and for not having a current parking decal.
The most reliable place to park, for students attending class, is parking spaces with non-colored curbs. Students that can not find parking in residential areas should park in their designated overflow parking lot.
To avoid being ticketed students must familiarize themselves with the regulations provided in the Langston University Parking Handbook. The handbook is available on the Langston University website under “parking and transit.” Students can also ask for a copy at the campus police station. The handbook features a curb color parking key, detailed regulations, permit information, and the breakdown of fines.
The curb color parking key shows that curbs without color are for student parking, orange curbs are for faculty and staff parking, grey curbs are first come first serve faculty and staff parking, red curbs are fire zones, yellow curbs are no parking, and blue curbs are for handicap parking.
Both on-campus and commuting students must also have a current parking permit decal. According to the handbook, parking on campus without a current parking permit sticker can result in a fine of $30. On August 31, the office of public relations announced in an email that the 2022-2023 parking decals are now available at the police department.
To obtain a parking decal, all students as well as faculty and staff must provide their vehicle insurance, registration, and driver’s license. According to the email, “Enforcement and ticketing will begin September 1, 2022”.
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The Gazette serves as the student voice of Langston University. It is produced within the Department of Communication as a teaching tool and local news source for the campus community. The views and opinions expressed within are those of the writers whose names appear with the articles and do not necessarily represent the views of Langston University.
