Meeting With "The Man"

OK, I just met with the Assistant Dean of Students and, while I do not have definitive answers, I do feel much more positive. For those of you just tuning in, about a month ago I checked with three departments on campus (Parking , Maintenance, and PD) to make sure sleeping in my vehicle on school grounds was not illegal. No department knew of any rules so I purchased a parking permit. Unfortunately, rules or not, alternative life styles freak people out so the cops hassle me about once a week. I finally sent out an email to every department I could think of trying to get it in writing that I was allowed to be where I am so I can sleep through the night. Yesterday I got an email from the assistant dean of students asking me to set up an appointment so we could settle this once and for all.

First I’d like to say that this guy is the only person on campus who has not passed me off to another department or totally ignored me, so he’s alright in my book. We met at 10am and at first I think he made the assumption most people do, that I am living in my car out of full on necessity and not by choice. He called housing services to check on the availability of rooms, but understood when I told him I liked my vehicle. Next up he asked some basics like “does your car have tires?” I think my email to him must have been misleading because from the word “convert” he inferred that my car may no longer be a car but a stationary residence, uninspected, uninsured, and undrivable. I tried to explain that the car is, in fact, a car which I happen to live in and has been altered just enough to allow a full size bed and some basic amenities. So he poured over manuals, rules, the college web site and concluded, as I had, that there is nothing anywhere that addresses this situation. So I’m a trend setter, which is nice I guess…

One thing I LOVED was that he questioned why I didn’t live in the parking garage (safer, more convenient...). I told him that I totally would but that I was trying to be respectful and stay out of people’s way, hence parking in an unoccupied lot on the edge of campus. Car dwellers motto: The fewer people who know, the better. He made phone calls and has assured me of some response by Monday. I’m not sure what I’m going to do if they find a law prohibiting my residence but, as I told him, at this point I just need an answer one way or the other.