Photo courtesy of Katie Gunderman.
Something looked different as students on Connecticut College’s campus went about their business on March 12. It wasn’t the burgeoning warm weather, or the squirrels digging up hidden nuts; instead, it was a completely empty Admissions parking lot, devoid of the student vehicles that had occupied it for the better part of the semester. All of the parking spaces were completely empty, leaving students with one question: “where’s my car?”
On Thursday, March 11, dozens of cars were towed at 6:30 pm by New London towing company Columbus Square Auto. Students were not made aware that they had been towed until they walked into the parking lot. “I received no notice of my car being towed at all, and didn’t receive notice of my parking warning until the day after the car had been towed,” said Genevieve Kuhlmann ‘22. Steve Yeonas ‘22 corroborated this report, stating “I parked in [the] admission [lot] around 4 pm and then the following day I woke up around 8 am and my car was gone. There was no warning or anything. I woke up and had no idea what happened so I walked to the front gate and asked the security guard where my car was.” Student cars had been taken off-campus to Columbus Square Auto in New London. To get their vehicles back, students needed to bring $180 dollars in cash and an off-campus establishment in New London, amidst COVID-19 restrictions and concerns.
Students entered New London in droves, in search of their cars by any means possible, asking friends for rides and taking Ubers and Lyfts, if needed. “My friend gave me a ride,” Yeonas said, when asked how he got to New London without his car. However, some were upset about the safety measures that were not in place when they arrived at Columbus Square Auto. “No one in the building wore a mask,” said Kuhlmann. After a semester spent avoiding COVID-19, students felt frustrated being put at risk. Yeonas also said that the two people manning the store did not wear masks when he went to pick up his car. “The entire experience was uncomfortable, and I just wanted to get my car back, so I gave them the money and left. But I felt like I had been taken advantage of.”
It is no secret that students are not meant to park in the Admissions lot. However, for those who live in Jane Addams, Freeman, or Harkness, it is a popular place to park as opposed to the designated South lot, which is farther away, behind Cummings. One week after the towing, on March 18, students received an email announcing that tours would start up again that following Monday, March 19. In the email, Dean Strickler thanked students for not parking in the Admissions lot so that prospective students and their families would have a place to park.
“I am sure most people would have moved their cars willingly if [Campus Safety] had just asked. There was no indication to students that the lot suddenly needed to be emptied on a random Thursday night,” Kuhlmann said.
“There are better ways to handle a situation like this but towing a bunch of cars and making students pay and find rides to a place off-campus is not it. I was disappointed with Campus Safety and the Deans of the school. At the time, no one was coming on to campus for tours so the Admissions lot was empty. I acknowledge that we received notices not to park there, but I don’t think anyone expected the school to start towing us,” stated Yeonas.
Since the towing on March 11, the Admissions lot has remained mostly clear of student cars. Campus Safety has also given out many tickets this semester. “I’ve been ticketed a couple of times and they’ve booted my car,” said Katie Gunderson ‘23. Some students have found ways to laugh about their bad luck, however. Camels love to make an Instagram page for everything, and this was no exception. On March 16, Instagram account @bootedconn began to post photos of cars with wheel clamps, dozens of parking tickets, and even a video of the March 11 towing. Is a ticket worth being featured, however? “I’m not parking in the Admissions lot again,” Kuhlmann said.
Mary Savage, the director of Connecticut College’s Campus Safety team, did not respond to our requests to comment.
