Mississippi State has made a lot of changes for campus residents since I was an undergraduate.Convenience stores, new dorms, the new Union (eventually), a bagel shop, etc.
All of these are wonderful inclusions that make students want to live on campus.
However, there is one policy that remains from my years as a campus resident. I find continually distasteful the practice of forcing residents of Hull Hall to move their cars on game days.
Now, I know that Hull is right beside the stadium. I know this problem affects relatively few people. But it is still an example of how the university favors alumni and other non-students over the students who pay tuition and call MSU their home.
When I lived in Hull Hall, I was always careful about obeying the rules.
I usually went off campus, car and all, until the football game was over.
However, one time I was sick enough that I had to stay in bed.
So, on a Friday night, after midnight, I realized I had not moved my car. The university had requested that we clear the lot behind Hull by 6 in the morning.
I pulled myself out of bed, drove my car to the boomerang dorms and walked sick and completely alone back to Hull at 1:30 on a Friday night.
My alternative was to get up in time to move my car in the morning, which probably wouldn’t have happened, or let my car get towed.
The next day, I raised myself out of bed to look out the window. The game was in full swing. The lot I had vacated contained only two cars. At the time, the lot was used for season-ticket holders, most of whom didn’t know about the lot or brought their trailer to tailgate.
If the university really wants to make MSU resident-friendly, it must treat students as real people, not as inconveniences. The practice of forcing residents to give up their parking spaces for nothing must stop.