The 2 A.M Perspective: Haiden Leach Was Here

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Did you recognize my name? Maybe not, let me introduce myself! My name is Haiden Leach, and I am a senior here at the University of New Haven.

Where do I reside on this campus, you ask? Well, I know you didn’t, but I’m telling you anyway! Surprise, it’s the best place ever, our communications department! I bounce between Maxcy Hall and the newsroom in our Bergami Science Center.

You are reading this article because I am the new columnist for Horseshoe Magazine, and we are starting on this journey together. Last year, I was fortunate enough to write for our sister media in the school newspaper! I took on the role as the politics editor in our fall 2024 semester, and it unlocked a passion for me that I now want to pursue post-grad education. After stepping down from that role, I was seeking something to fill my time and the void I had in my semester.

What I’m seeking in this column is for everyone who reads it to connect with my content. I named it The 2 AM Perspective because, at 2 a.m., we often have our deepest thoughts. I want to hear from my readers—and anyone interested in writing for me—about what you’d like to see in this column. What’s on your mind? Do you crave life advice from students who are living it? Campus drama? A thought-provoking op-ed to spark discussion? Staff and student recommendations?

This space is a shared one—both yours and mine—so let’s make it meaningful together! Ideas are never bad and can be molded into amazing things!

For this week’s edition, here are some things on my mind recently, and if you find yourself up for a discussion or looking to drop a comment, please reach out to us on these pieces!

Okay, back to it!

Parking on campus, we all hate it. If you love it, you are lying to yourselves. We have one of the worst and most unconventional parking systems I've ever seen. I talk to friends who go to different schools and big colleges, at that. No one has parking issues like the Charger community. Sadly, I’m not sure there’s much we can do because staff also need parking, and no more trees need to be dug up for spaces.

However, this doesn’t mean the student’s frustration and concerns over why we only have one golf cart operating aren’t valid. These are questions we need answers to, and in my opinion, I know that Steven Kaplan was not walking down from the North parking lot.

Here are some tips for my fellow peers: Most freshmen have classes in the morning hours, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., it’s our busiest time on campus with parking. If you need parking, try to get to campus at least 20 minutes earlier than your class to ensure a spot. If you’re commuting and you don't want to argue with other cars, park at North and ride down in our shuttles or our courtesy vans. They operate on a scheduled 15-minute route!

Suggestions I think the university should take into consideration are as follows: Don’t worry, I've pitched these ideas to students on campus before, and the reviews were stellar. We have empty lots across from CVS, the CVS lot itself, and the empty building by Railroad Salvage. My idea is to convert these empty lots into one of two things: housing or parking. A parking garage would need to be simply just for commuters or residents who live in the building closest to the garage for convenience and to eliminate the fights on campus. If we do housing, do buildings for lower classmen because they can’t have their cars, so they either catch the shuttle or walk the rocky terrain as we all did once upon a time.

This housing addition would possibly make students enrolled now even happier due to the ongoing battle of not having enough spots for commuters on campus. I'm just going to say it because we all think it: Why can residents park on campus? It makes no sense, and those should be the cars at North and commuters and staff on campus.

Maybe this is just a 2 AM Perspective, but we all find ourselves cussing out the lack of spots when the clock is inching closer to class starting.

As a final thought, I leave my readers with this question that I’m still trying to answer myself.

Why exactly did we take those parking spots away for the Sheffield Quad of Shame in 2022?