About a dozen students gathered on the Parade Ground on Friday afternoon to rally for additional commuter parking spaces on campus.
Although the rally itself didn’t yield a large turnout, the group was successful in getting the attention of students in the Student Union and Free Speech Plaza, where they collected 116 signatures from students supporting their cause.
The group’s leader, communication studies junior Shelby Taylor, said the rally was about striking a balance between commuter and resident parking.
“This isn’t a petition to remove residential parking, but residents can’t fill up the entire Hart Lot during the day,” Taylor said. “The lot should have both residential and commuter spaces. It’s a problem when students have to wake up two to three hours before their class starts to get to campus to get a parking parking.”
Taylor said within two days the Facebook page for the event gained support from more than 100 students.
“It just proves that parking really is a problem for students, and LSU can’t ignore it any longer,” Taylor said.
Stephen Peltier, co-organizer of the rally and creative writing junior, said the group will be collecting student signatures next week in Free Speech Plaza. He said their goal is to obtain 500 to 1,000 signatures and e-mail addresses.
“We plan on sending out an online petition for students to sign electronically, and then we’ll send the petition to the chancellor’s office and the Office of Parking,” he said.
In addition, Peltier said he will present the petition to the Faculty Senate on Tuesday and at a private meeting with Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope on Oct. 5.
“I want to encourage students to come out to the Faculty Senate meeting on Tuesday to support the cause,” Peltier said.
Holly Dicharry, history senior who participated in the rally, said she would walk or ride her bike to class when she lived near campus. Now that she lives farther away, she decided to schedule her classes early in order to avoid chaotic parking problems.
Dicharry also said she tried to arrange a carpool with friends, but conflicting schedules made it difficult.
“We’ve mastered the art of following people to their cars in the parking lot to take their spot,” Dicharry joked.
Trey Duplantis, music freshman and rally participant, said he would like to park in the Hart Lot near the Music and Dramatic Arts building where he has class in the morning, but since part of the lot has been converted to residential parking, he has been unable to find a spot in the area.
“Most days, I check to see if the lot is full,” he said. “If it is, I have to park on the south side of campus and ride my bike to campus.”
Taylor said she has heard about Student Government’s initiative to add commuter spaces, but she worries action will not be taken soon enough.
“Students want this now, not five years down the road,” she said. “There’s too much talk and not enough action.  We want to be communicated with, and we will be