I have a serious question, one that every student, faculty member, and visitor at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater should ask themselves: Why Can’t Parking Be Free at UW–Whitewater?
I have attended several UW campuses across the state, Madison, Milwaukee, Waukesha, West Bend, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Green Bay. And while the story is the same everywhere, high parking costs and minimal benefits, there was at least one exception. In Milwaukee, I paid roughly $120 a month for a heated garage. It was clean, safe, and efficient. For once, I felt genuinely cared for as a student, spoiled, even. That comfort, however, vanished the moment I transferred to Green Bay, where the convenience was simply having my car parked a mere ten feet from me.
Then came Whitewater. Here, I pay around $200 per semester, yet my car sits a full 1.2 miles away. In Wisconsin winters, that is not just inconvenient, it is punishing. Snow, ice, freezing winds, and all before I even start my classes for the day. And if I forget to move my car, even accidentally, as I did recently after being sick, I am met not with understanding, but with a $25 ticket. Issued at 4:00 a.m!
How does this make sense? Why can’t parking be a free, included service, just like access to the gym, the library, the pool, or the student printers? We already pay for those through tuition and segregated fees. Nothing is truly “free,” of course, but parking could at least be fair.
It is frustrating that a university can claim to care for student well-being while forcing them to trek through snowbanks just to reach their cars. It is frustrating that we have to choose between convenience and affordability, as if higher education isn’t costly enough already. And it is beyond frustrating that, while we work, study, and try to stay healthy, we still have to worry about being ticketed in the middle of the night.
Imagine, instead, being the first university in Wisconsin to offer free parking. First-come, first-served. Simple, fair, and freeing. No constant anxiety about permits, tickets, or towing. No students were punished for being too sick or too exhausted to move their car before dawn.
We are here to learn, to grow, and to prepare for our futures, not to be nickel-and-dimed for basic access to our own transportation.
Therefore, I ask again: why not make parking free? Why not lead by example, and prove that the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater truly stands apart?