Julia Marrinan–

Picture this: it’s 8:20 a.m. You’ve pulled into the junior lot, and it’s completely full. Cars are lined up against the fence. You have no choice but to pull back out onto Boston Post Road and drive around to the senior lot. Every junior has experienced this situation… or some variation.

Controversy over who lays claim to which parking lot has plagued the junior and senior classes for years. Juniors prefer to park in the senior lot, which remains unlocked during the day, has larger spaces, is less narrow, and is a shorter walk into school. Certain spaces in the senior lot are also the only option for juniors when their parking lot is full. Many juniors will often pass right by their lot and drive straight to the senior lot, favoring it over their own. Seniors, however, feel slighted. After parking in the junior lot for a year,  they see juniors who are not doing the same as a violation. As a result, tension over parking spots increases sharply throughout the school year, reaching its peak in the months of March, April, and May.

These “parking lot wars” explode cataclysmically every year as the junior lot fills up and more and more eleventh grade drivers must make their way to the back of the upper senior lot. Unlucky juniors will get their cars blocked or double parked for parking in spots that are not designated for them. 

This year, however, the war between juniors and seniors has escalated beyond ineffective intimidation to the point of threats, destruction, and physical violence. Juniors have reported scuff marks on their cars from where seniors have hit them, though upon closer investigation these appeared to be painted on in an attempt to scar the reputation of the senior class. Meanwhile, seniors are threatening juniors in the hallways for parking in senior spots when the junior lot is practically empty across the field. 

Even this tension between the two classes seemed manageable until last week, when Roy Gilbert ‘23 hit Pete Humphrey ‘24 in the lower senior lot at 8:15 a.m. after Humphrey “crossed the line,” according to Gilbert, by parking in a designated employee spot. “Even Seniors don’t do that,” Gilbert noted emphatically. 

Humphrey suffered no injuries aside from a couple of scrapes on his arm. When asked to comment on the situation, he declined.

Student body president Tyler Moyer ‘23 and senior class president Adam Kern ‘23, concerned with the division emerging within the Upper School community, announced their intention to close the rift between the two classes at the most recent community meeting. “We don’t want our legacy to be a divided student body,” Moyer said. “So we have devised a solution that will hopefully put an end to all current and future parking lot wars.”

Moyer explained that the Junior-Senior Challenge, which was postponed until the spring after the scheduled date was deemed too windy and cold, would be given more of a competitive edge this year. 

“The winner of the Junior-Senior Challenge will lay claim to what we currently call the senior lot for the rest of the year,” Moyer said. If the solution is successful, Moyer and Kern hope the future Student Government leaders will continue to utilize the Challenge in this manner.

The new weight held by the competition this year will also inspire a larger turnout, which has been difficult to achieve post-pandemic. Students will be out for blood at this event, so the competition is sure to be fierce.