By Jessica Sutton
There are twelve handicap parking spaces on the Tennessee Wesleyan College campus for over 900 students. Two of them are by the tennis court, which makes them almost unusable for most people on campus, and two by Wesley Commons, making them only accessible to anybody that needs to get into the Commons.
That leaves seven parking spaces for the students who need a place to park near their classes. The number of reserved handicap spaces meets only the minimum required by the city of Athens. Several lots have no reserved spaces marked, including the lot for Townsend, which houses the Student Services offices. That is remarkably insufficient for the number of students and faculty on campus.
Dean Mashburn said that he was “slightly aware of the problem,” but the New Exponent’s interview was the first time the issue has been taken to him as a student concern. There is a lot of planning to expand the amount of parking, which will be the reason for any delay. How many and where to put the spaces are the big questions.
There has also been a problem with maintenance vehicles parking in some handicap spaces, but it was immediately rectified when the problem was brought to Dean Mashburn’s attention. Students parking in handicap spaces without a permit will be ticketed by campus security.
Dean Mashburn is looking for as much advice and input he can get on this issue. And for everybody that needs these handicap parking spaces, he would like to get a crew together and propose these changes to the administration and student government as soon as possible. You can email him at smashburn@twcnet.edu or you may call him at 423-746-5216. Students needing accommodation for physical disabilities should also contact Dr. Mashburn. Students needing assistance with learning challenges should contact Dr. Patsy Ging at pging@twcnet.edu or 423-746-5237.
Sarah Roy also contributed to this article.
