Being the largest public HBCU in the nation comes with its perks, but as a student on campus, it is hard not to see its disadvantages. The extensive food lines, lack of resources like housing and little to no parking has N.C. A&T students are upset and dissatisfied. 

According to NPR, N.C. A&T had a record-breaking fundraising year, raising over $88 million dollars during the school year. N.C. A&T’s associate vice chancellor for university relations, Todd Simmons, shared his astonishment to NPR reporters about the monetary donations to the university. 

“There has not been a year like that ever in our history,” Simmons said. “Nor has there been a year like that in the history of nearly any other public HBCU in America.”

Despite the surplus in donations from various sources, N.C. A&T’s parking crisis is worse than ever, with students furious about paying for parking passes even though they still are unable to find parking on campus. 

“For $242 dollars we should have more spaces available,” junior journalism student Ashleigh Jackson said. 

There are over 13,300 students currently enrolled in N.C. A&T for the fall semester, and according to A&T’s webpage, the university hopes to hit over 14,000 by the fall semester of 2023. The campus has grown 37.17% since last year, but students often question, does the university have enough resources to accommodate the student population?

“They can’t keep up with the demands,” sophomore psychology student Machaela Campbell said. “Since they seem to be worried about numbers more, we’ll probably have a situation like Howard where we are protesting for our needs to be met.”

https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/1452606113946296321

During events, such as convocation or homecoming, parking lots are blocked off and are not able to be used by the student population. Due to this, there are even fewer places to park, and often, students decide not to go to class in general. 

“There are not enough parking spaces for [A&T] to be blocking off the number of spaces at the times they do,” junior journalism student Kaelen Motley said. 

Parking is limited on campus and student general passes do not cover parking decks or certain lots. Many students who do not live on campus leave hours before their class begins to find parking and some even camp out in lots to wait for students to walk to their car. 

“Parking is ridiculous. There is never any place to park,” junior psychology student Taylor Robinson said. “You have to learn the schedule and go at a specific time to catch someone leaving.” 

A&T does plan to build a parking deck in the future but students can’t help but think if that will be enough to solve this problem. 

As for now, students have to try to find a method to secure parking to make sure they get to class on time. Rather their method is camping out, leaving early, or following people to their cars with the hope that they are leaving. Students are trying to find ways to live with the crisis. 

Dear NCAT, tuition is too high for us to be buying parking passes when there aren’t even enough parking spaces 😃 https://t.co/eAFX8dXeaU

— trendykenn⚡️ (@itsjustkennedy_) August 26, 2021