Rho Lot is packed with cars March 16. Junior Aliyah Lemos said parking on campus is a “mad dash” every morning. Photos by Millie Auchard
The University removed 83 parking spaces from Rho Lot on March 27, the Public Relations Office wrote in an email to the Pepperdine community. Meanwhile, students said they continuously struggle to find parking on campus with limited parking options.
The University is removing spots from Rho to prepare for the construction of The Mountain at Mullin Park, Public Relations wrote in the March 20 email. The Mountain will include a seven-level parking garage, an area for community gatherings and additional athletic facilities, according to the Department of Planning, Operations and Construction website.
“The University continuously seeks to identify opportunities to minimize the impact of closing Rho Parking Lot and will continue to do so throughout the project,” wrote Andrew Clark, director of administration for the DPOC, in a March 24 email to the Graphic.
The University expects to finish construction on The Mountain’s parking garage in fall 2024, while the rest of The Mountain will finish construction in fall 2026, according to the DPOC. At the height of construction, spring and fall 2024, the University will lose fewer than 200 parking spots, Chief Operating Officer Phil Phillips said in the November President’s Briefing.
Building Toward a Solution
To offset the effects of progressing construction in Rho, the University is building a parking lot by the baseball field, the Enhanced Parking and Storage Project, according to the DPOC website. The project will add 300 parking spaces to campus. The University expects to finish summer 2023, according to a March 20 email from Public Relations.
The University hoped to complete the Enhanced Parking and Storage project by August 2021, but COVID-19 delayed it, according to previous Graphic reporting. Heavy rains in December and January also delayed the project, Clark wrote in a Feb. 10 email to the Graphic.
Despite fewer parking spaces in Rho, Public Relations wrote there are enough parking spaces on campus for the Pepperdine community.
Public Relations wrote students can park along Benton Way, in the Terrace Parking Lots, the Drescher Graduate Campus Parking Lots or the Drescher Parking Garage as alternative options to Rho.
Students’ Thoughts on Construction
Sophomore Elizabeth Robison said she struggles to park on campus due to construction and the enrollment of a large first-year class.
The class of 2022 enrollment was 1,003 students, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness wrote in a Feb. 16 email to the Graphic. From 2018 to 2023, student enrollment increased 12%, according to data the OIE provided the Graphic in a Feb. 16 email.
“This [construction] is going to directly impact the student body and their ability to go to class and be a student,” Robison said.
First-year Zander Nichols said the University is making a very poor decision removing 83 spots from Rho. He said finding parking is already difficult, especially when he leaves campus during the day.
Nichols said the University should have waited until summer to begin construction on the parking garage.
“It would be probably useful where there’s less students so less people need [parking] spots,” Nichols said.
Robison said her off-campus responsibilities also affect her ability to park on campus. She said she has to leave Pepperdine Tuesday and Friday mornings at 8 a.m., which puts her back on campus around 9:30 or 10 a.m. At that time, Robison said she has to park on Benton Way or in the Drescher Parking Garage.
“The livelihood of their [commuter students’] success as students is dependent on commuting and parking on campus daily,” Robison said.
Junior Aliyah Lemos said she commutes to school from Calabasas. On a typical day, Lemos said she will get to campus between 20 and 45 minutes before class to find parking.
“For the first 10 minutes of class, I’m still catching my breath,” Lemos said. “I still haven’t gotten all my things together, whereas everyone else is already prepared and ready because they live here.”
Lemos said the struggle to find parking feels unavoidable.
“It’s a mad dash every morning,” Lemos said. “I don’t feel like coming to school two hours early every morning to secure a spot.”
Lemos said the University’s decision to remove any parking spaces on campus is a mistake.
“I would say that everyone who is signing off on that should spend a day trying to find a parking spot in Rho,” Lemos said.
Robison said the University could offer an alternative parking option for students during peak construction.
“They [could] have somewhere off campus for commuter students to park and they can shuttle them to campus,” Robison said.
For now, students said they will continue to have trouble parking on campus until the new parking lot and structure are complete.
___________________
Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
Email Millie Auchard: melissa.auchard@pepperdine.edu
