Sing Song is a time-honored tradition in ACU’s history.
The show has been around since 1956 and brings in hundreds, if not thousands, of prospective students, distinguished alumni and family members. The yearly influx of campus guests creates issues with parking on campus, though.
The combination of an influx of students, construction and a low number of parking spaces creates a limited amount of parking for the mass crowd. To help with the issue, the university’s biggest parking lot is shut off from student use, though it may be an inconvenience for them.
ACU Police Department Chief Jimmy Ellison has had a long history of experience with Sing Song, having served as the chief of police here for 15 years.
“Sing Song is one of two or three headline events every year that severely impact the parking system on campus,” Ellison said. “In addition to multiple shows and high attendance, we couple it with the President’s Circle Dinner in the Teague Center. And unfortunately, along with those two events, we’ve also had a number of construction projects in the last few years, which makes this a very difficult event to manage.”
Ellison urged students to be understanding and to show patience and respect.
“Overall, students are very patient and take this very well and understand that most will try to schedule accordingly and get to school a little early, and we thank them,” he said.
Ellison said he realizes the Sing Song-induced parking situation may not be ideal for students but offers advice on making it through the weekend.
“Get here early and park in an outlying area, and walk in,” he said. “Plan ahead, get here a few minutes early, and so if you do get displaced, you have time to get to where you need to go. But most of all, we need to remind all of our students, as well as faculty and staff, that this is a headline week for the university, and we have a huge number of visitors on campus. We need to go out of our way, and do the neighborly thing, and try to take care of our guests appropriately.”
Aaron Deaver, junior engineering major from Denton, has been involved with Sing Song for three years, and has had firsthand experience with parking problems during Sing Song.
“It’s atrocious,” Deaver said. “ACU already doesn’t have the best parking, and making all the sophomores move their cars from Edwards or else they will get towed, and then they have to fit all of Moody Coliseum into that lot; it’s not easy.”
But Deaver has found a way to make the weekend more bearable and suggests other students to follow his advice.
“Find a spot now, and stay there,” he said. “Don’t leave for any reason, and keep your car in a safe place.”
