Dear UVM Parking and Transportation Services, 

I write this letter to argue for the allocation of a percentage of parking spots to working students. 

Working students at UVM face a frustrating choice: risk a parking ticket or navigate rigid rules that make balancing a job and school difficult. No matter the context, there is no understanding; only parking tickets and added financial strain. 

When you disregard this, you abandon us. 

For myself and many other students, working is not a choice, it’s a necessity. 

Despite my commitment to my education and the jobs that make it possible, my chances of securing a parking spot are no different than someone who doesn’t have the work commitments, money constraints or tight schedules that I deal with every day.  

For those of us who depend on a car to get to our jobs, the University parking lottery isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s an irony-filled hindrance.

As student workers, we depend on a parking space to earn the money that will ultimately go straight back to us, and yet you are the very originator of the hurdles that stand in our way.

Without a parking pass, we are forced to navigate a maze of time constraints. We dance between street parking by day and limited on-campus spaces by night. 

By making it more difficult for working students to succeed, you undermine the opportunities a college education is meant to provide. 

The UVM Comprehensive Inclusive Excellence Action Plan promises to foster an environment of equity and inclusion. However, the current lottery system contradicts these stated ideas of our institution.  

You allocate 432 parking permits through a lottery system, yet you acknowledge that many vehicles remain parked for the majority of the time. This raises the issue of fairness, as students who rely on their vehicles daily face the same odds as those who don’t. 

The situation has begun to feel like I am on the losing side of a Monopoly board. I am staring at a thriving row of properties, understanding that if I land on them, I will pay the additional cost of a hotel or house.

Essentially, the system reveals how deeply UVM reflects the broader reality of socioeconomic inequalities. The lottery, in particular, exemplifies this exact societal structure that working students are burdened with overcoming via their college education.

I take on extra hours to pay for the parking tickets I receive to commute to the job I need to afford UVM tuition.

When there is no flexibility or understanding, the system no longer feels like a set of rules but more like the juggling of various penalties. 

Between fieldwork, classes and my job, there are moments when I do not have a choice but to park wherever is most accessible. Kudos to the meter maid who is remarkably synchronized with my parking habits, because this is met with immediate financial consequences. 

It’s a losing battle to balance all these time constraints, trying to stay financially afloat, while sinking into the debt of increasing parking fines. 

It is not just inconvenient — it’s unfair and demeaning. The UVM parking system is forcing working students to choose between focusing their energy on education or their ability to support themselves in accessing that education. It’s flawed and fundamentally out of touch with the reality of a working student’s life.

If UVM is truly serious about equity in access to education, your policies should reflect that commitment. 

In the interest of fostering greater socioeconomic equity, I propose a modification to the current parking pass system: open the parking lottery two weeks in advance for students who are employed for at least 10 hours per week.

By giving working students priority in the parking lottery, UVM would be taking a meaningful step towards fulfilling its promise of equity in opportunity. Students relying on vehicles for employment should not be placed at a structural disadvantage due to an inflexible system that disregards our financial realities. 

The current policy fails to recognize that for many students, a car is not a luxury but an essential tool for affording tuition. Equity, not equality — a tale as old as time — should guide these policies that shape students’ financial and academic success. 

Respectfully, 

Helena

The Vermont Cynic accepts letters in response to published material, as well as any issues of interest in the community. Please limit letters to 350 words. The Cynic reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. Please send letters to [email protected].