As the doors of the fall semester begins, a new wave of students make their way onto Shepherd University’s campus. With an eleven percent increase in student population, it has been four years since the Ram family had this many students. With being only four weeks into the semester, challenges have stirred amongst the campus making it difficult for students. From parking tickets raising up to ten dollars per ninety minutes and even Wi-Fi issues, it is no match compared to the overcrowded areas that are surrounding the campus.
When students think of the growth that’s on campus, some may not see much of an issue while others see the difference in what they are used to. Jay Robinson believes that there should be limitations to how many students should attend the university. To limit some of the crowded areas, she also believes that the Dining Hall (DHall) should be turned into a new set of dorms for students. When asked about priority selection on campus, she believes that many accommodations aren’t being prioritized among students who have certain preferences. Room selection is one thing, but Robinson believes that some students aren’t being treated fairly, especially when they are upperclassmen.
Olamide Adegbamigbe began to shed light differently as he talks about the parking on campus. He stated that he feels more students are worried about the west and east side of campus. Resident students have more access to parking on the west side of campus than the east side of campus due to the residential dorms are placed. Since the school is a commuter-based, many of the parking spots on campus are for those who do not live on campus. When getting from one side of campus to the other, the walk is approximately ten to fifteen minutes. The EPTA bus takes students to and from different buildings on campus with the help of a bus schedule. He also believes that there should be a new parking lot built on campus.
Being an international student from Nigeria, Adegbamigbe thinks that international students should have some priority when living in any of the residence halls on campus. Having some spaces available for international students to cook their homemade meals should be an option due to the fact that they come from a different background. To have a kitchen available to them would be within reason for the students considering they are in a completely different environment. In addition to the residential halls, he believed that if someone is living in the apartments, they shouldn’t have a meal plan if they are being offered a full-size kitchen.
Alanzo Perry who is a commuter student on campus believed the increase on campus is a positive outlook for the university. The biggest issue he’s faced since the new semester is the need for parking. He quotes, “It’s pretty rough with this new influx of people, but I’m happy to see a lot of new people come over to Shepherd.” To decrease the overflow of campus he suggested a parking garage and began to question some of the older buildings on campus. Perry would like to see better distributions among campus grounds, and it has become harder for people to have much flexibility. Hopefully, he believes there can be something done to relieve the congestion on campus.
With the increase of students on campus, the only hope left is that students make adjustments to the changes the college has faced. By doing so, Shepherd will continue the fall semester and waiting to see what 2023 has in store for the spring.
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