Day Students Unhappy with Parking Campus Security Cracks Down on Violations
By Katie Kilkenny ’10
News Staff Reporter
Day student parking has long been a subject of conflict at Choate. Day students who drive to school typically walk much farther to their lockers than boarders walk to and from their dorms. “There is one authorized parking location [for day students], and that is down by the SAC, on Gunpowder Creek Road,” says Fifth Form Dean Nancy Miller. But all day student locker rooms are located in either Hill House or Steele Hall, so that students must walk a considerable distance to put their books away for the day before going to class. “It’s an inconvenience,” comments John Fenney ’09. Many day students would rather park behind Hill House or on Christian Street. “There was a time when a lot of kids were parking back there,” says Andy McComas ’09. According to Connor Murphy ’09, the one time he parked behind Hill House, “I saw four other students parking there.”
Recently, several day students have been discovered parking in unauthorized but more convenient locations. One such student is Andy McComas, who was caught parking behind Hill House: “I normally park at the SAC now,” he says, “because Community Safety called Mr. Stanley [the Fifth Form Boys’ Dean] and he talked to me about not parking behind the Dining Hall.” Connor Murphy says, “I used to park on Christian Street until I got sniped by one of the Campus Security guards. One of the guards found out I parked there for a really long time, and so he e-mailed my dean.” Mr. Stanley also spoke to fifth form day students recently, causing many to rethink parking in unauthorized locations. Others would never have dared to park outside Gunpowder Creek anyway: “I park down by the SAC, as close as I can to the PMAC,” laughs Katie DeFusco ’09. “I never park behind Hill House—my car’s too conspicuous for that.”
Mrs. Miller sees several reasons why day students should park by the SAC: “First, parking behind Hill House is limited, so it should be available to Choate employees. Second, some kids park on streets like Christian and Academy Streets, which limits the parking access of residents. Third, the school allows students to drive from home to school, allows them to park their car and leave it there, not go places in it. There are also liability issues involved with that. Kids think they can drive to school and then use their car to go to Dunkin’ Donuts, and that shouldn’t happen.”
Parking in places other than Gunpowder Creek Road has consequences. “The first time a student parks in an unassigned location, they get a conversation,” said Mrs. Miller. “The next time, they may have to park at the hockey rink,” even farther from most destinations.
The school does, however, allow a few students to park behind the dining hall on a rotating basis. Day student seniors who drive to school have a parking lottery. Through this lottery, seniors get the chance to win the privilege of parking behind Hill House. “Mr. Cobb, the Director of Day Students, initiates the lottery every term,” said Mrs. Miller.
Although some day students understand the reasons for Choate’s parking restrictions, they also dislike the inconvenience. “We’d all like the parking lot to be closer to our lockers,” says Katie. “But that’s not going to happen space-wise, because all the dining hall workers need to park behind Hill House.” Other day students see truth in this reasoning as well. “[The parking] is probably not fair, but I can see their reasons for having the restrictions they have,” said Andy. Connor agrees: “I understand why we shouldn’t be able to park behind Hill House, because a lot of faculty park there.”
Though they understand the Hill House parking lot rules, many students have thought of possible alternative measures to resolve the ongoing parking conflict. “In my mind, Christian Street is public parking,” says Connor. “I understand that Choate wants us to be registered, but I think we should be able to park on Christian Street on a first come, first serve basis.” Andy offers another suggestion: “I think [Choate] should be more flexible, let us have free parking on the weekends, because clearly, nobody’s parking [behind Hill House] on the weekends.” For John Fenney, the inconvenience is greatest after classes when day students are rushing to sports with heavy bags: “[I would like] them to give us a five or ten minute limit to park behind Hill House after school.”
Although younger day students look forward to the time when they will be able to drive themselves to Choate, the current parking situation adds a level of complexity to a supposedly convenient option for upperclassmen.
David Lam ’09 parks his car on Hill House circle. PHOTO/lizzie needham ’09
