Parking issue at River Campus

I am a person with a disability who attended the sold-out performance of "Annie" at the River Campus on Saturday night.

Upon arrival, the seven disabled parking spots were filled. However, the section of 18 spots designated for box office and museum use, which were up front, were blocked off and remained unused throughout the entire evening.

My family was able to drop me off at the door and park far away. After the performance the vehicle was parked too far away for me to walk and, because of traffic, the vehicle could not be brought to me. My cousin, who is employed by the university, finally thought to ask one of the shuttle bus drivers to take us closer to our vehicle. The driver, who was also surprised by the situation, happily went out of the way to accommodate us.

Being a former graduate of the university and working closely with President Nitzschke on accessibility issues, I was extremely disappointed to see regression instead of progression. We still don't know why the 18 empty parking spots were not used for disabled parking.

JENNIFER FRIEDRICH, Jackson