During the past few years, the growth in student enrollment has allowed for improvements to campus infrastructure, a stronger student body and economic growth in Starkville. According to a press release put out by the MSU Office of Public Affairs in November 2024, Mississippi State University saw record high enrollment of 23,150 students this school year, surpassing the previous record of 23,086 set in 2021.
However, increased growth has brought new problems, particularly issues with parking, traffic and the lack of reliable public transportation. With the construction and renovations of buildings around campus, such as Azalea Hall, the Jim & Thomas Duff Center and Perry Cafeteria, many have complained that this has led to a decrease in the number of parking spaces, creating headaches for faculty and students who rely on their vehicles to commute to campus.
I think that MSU’s increasing parking problems could be alleviated by one radical solution: prohibiting freshman from bringing their cars to campus. While I sympathize with those who feel they need a car to function in Starkville, allowing freshmen living in the dorms to bring cars unnecessarily adds to the overcrowding of campus parking. This overcrowding takes away parking spots from students who live off campus, increases traffic, poses increased danger to pedestrians, dicincentivizes public transportation expansion and prevents students from wanting to travel to campus.
While conducting research on the parking woes at Mississippi State, a few details stood out to me. When looking at the MSU Parking Services website, I found it quite surprising that parking spaces allocated to commuters, many of which have to drive to campus, are on a “first come first served basis,” while freshman, who have the luxury of walking to classes, are given priority.
The layout of the parking zones on the Parking Services website also surprised me, as many of the commuter lots are located further away from the main core of campus, which increases stress on those already struggling to find adequate parking. While MSU Parking Services has played a role in worsening the strain on our parking lots, there are more fundamental issues that need to be addressed.
The lack of convenient and expansive public transportation has been cited by freshman as a reason for bringing a car to campus.
“All the time, yes,” said Nathaniel Henson, a freshman civil engineering major who works in Starkville, when he was asked if he would be open to using the bus system if it stopped near his workplace.
While many argue that having a car allows for freedom and convenience, most freshman driving needs can be addressed by an expansion of the bus system and the existing partnership between MSU Student Association and Uber Student to provide more convenient, affordable options for commuting in and around Starkville.
An expansion of MSU Uber is more intriguing, as unlike the buses, it can come close to providing freshman with a sense of freedom without the stresses of parking, sitting in traffic or filling up the gas tank.
Caden Clark, a freshman majoring in electrical engineering, suggested making the parking lots available to both residents and commuters, instead of dedicating different lots to each purpose.
“Maybe make some [parking lots], such as the Griffis parking lot, more mixed, instead of just being residential. Have the bigger parking lots be mixed,” Clark said. “I have never seen that parking lot [Griffis] even half full, except for football gamedays.”
However, both Clark and Henson also commented that not having a car would make it more difficult for them to go home and mentioned how difficult it would be for their parents to make the drive to Starkville. This poses an interesting argument, as even with all the improvements to commuting options within Starkville, a hindrance to the ability to go home could prove problematic for freshmen living away from home for the first time.
A solution could be allowing a select number of permits to be given to students who live over 150 miles away and where flying is not viable, giving priority to those with the greatest need. Expansion of airport shuttles in addition to the existing S.M.A.R.T. bus service to Golden Triangle Airport, to Memphis, Birmingham and Jackson should also be considered with an increasing number of out-of-state and international students.
While many could argue that the car is necessary for freedom and comfort when adjusting to college life, the net negatives contribute to a lack of community, increased strain on existing infrastructure and leads to basic services such as grocery and convenience stores being constructed far away from campus. While the solution above would improve the parking situation at MSU, it raises a broader question on the type of campus and community we want to have in the future.
Ken Daniels • Feb 6, 2025 at 3:38 am
MSU is suppose to be such a great engineering school but why haven’t they built parking garages? The University of Alabama has had parking garages for over 40 years . Duh