April 17, 2108
Tamera Twitty
The Student Veteran Association is looking to designate parking spaces for student veterans who have received a Purple Heart.
In May, the SVO will present their idea of reserving seven parking spots for Purple Heart recipients to the Advisory Board of Parking and Transportation Services.
The Purple Heart is a decorative medal awarded to soldiers who were either wounded or killed in combat. The medal is the oldest military decoration and is regarded as one of the most prestigious.
The parking spaces have not yet been approved by Parking and Transportation Services, according to Jim Spice, executive director of Parking and Transportation. Timothy Little, president of the Student Veteran Organization, is leading the initiative to implement the parking spaces.
“Currently I am working on pitching to the board the importance of a visual symbol to the community of how the University supports and honors of veteran students, particularly those who sustained (injuries),” he said.
UCCS has around 2,000 student veterans on campus; however, it is unclear how many of those students are Purple Heart recipients.
“Because it’s not a question that is asked on applications or anything like that, it is not clear how many purple hearts are actually on campus,” said Little.
“However, from just driving around and counting license plates I have estimated between 30 and 40.”
CSU-Pueblo unveiled five “purple parking spots” in November 2017. The campus has close to 1,000 veteran students.
Even if the parking spots are approved, Little said that Purple Heart recipients will not have guaranteed spots on campus and should still purchase parking passes.
“There will hopefully be one reserved spot in front of each major building on campus all the way from University Hall to the new Ent Center,” said Little.
At the beginning of each semester, Purple Heart recipients will have to register for parking passes through the parking portal. If passed, there will be an option specific for them that allows registered cars to park in the reserved parking spots.
If passed, UCCS will join a list of less than 100 universities who have reserved parking spaces for Purple Heart recipients in the Country.