In a semester when students are having to come up with creative solutions to the problem of where to park, Mormon students have had a solution built for them.
The new Tempe LDS Institute of Religion building, located at McAllister Avenue and Orange Street, includes a parking garage with more than 600 spaces, said Don Evans, a spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Students enrolled in Institute classes can park there for free if they can find a space, which has other students upset.
"I'm having to get to campus early just to figure out parking," said Joseph O'Brien, a history sophomore. "I guess [the Institute] can do what they want, but it just doesn't seem right."
Evans said the new building and parking garage are simply meeting a need.
The old Institute on campus was too small to house the number of students wanting to further their religious education, he said. Within the past few years, a contribution from University donor Ira Fulton enabled the new Institute to be built.
"The new building helps match demand with capacity," he said. "President Crow has been very supportive of our efforts and that's very much appreciated by members of our church."
Evans said that while he understands why other students may be upset that they cannot use the garage, it is not big enough to serve all of the LDS students hoping to take advantage of it.
"There aren't even enough spots for all of the LDS students who want to use it," he said. "It's on a first-come, first-served basis."
In order to be enrolled in Institute classes, a student must be an LDS member, Evans added. It is this exclusivity that frustrates students like O'Brien and English Literature junior Kelsey Dimberg.
"I'm surprised that a University with such a growing population would create a structure with such a limitation," she said.
Dimberg takes the bus to campus because of the scarcity and expense of parking, she said.
For O'Brien, the emotions go beyond surprise, he said.
"You can park if you join their religion?" he said. "Hearing that just gets to me."
Institute member Kate Lathrop, an English junior, said she is more excited about the new Institute building than the parking garage.
"[The building] is a great opportunity for higher learning in a religious sense," she said. "I'm so excited to have it there."
Lathrop is particularly excited about such new features as the Institute's one-dollar lunches on Thursdays, and the chance to mingle with people who believe what she believes, she said. Parking is not one of the draws for her.
"We went three semesters with no parking while the new building was under construction," she said. "We got along just fine."
Reach the reporter at emma.breysse@asu.edu
