At a Shippensburg University home baseball game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania on April 2, a fly ball flew right out of the field and into the windshield of a student’s car that was parked in commuter Lot 6.
Marquita Johnson arrived at her car later that day to find her windshield badly shattered by a baseball.
After sending in a letter from her insurance company stating they would not pay for the damages along with a bill for the repairs, the state notified Johnson she would not be reimbursed.
When students sign for a parking decal it states that the university is not liable for any damages caused in parking lots.
“If the parking lot is full, if that’s the only place you have to park, then what am I supposed to do? If I park anywhere else I’m going to get a ticket,” Johnson said.
Being a senior at SU who is graduating next month, Johnson is struggling with finances for an accident that was not her fault.
After being told she would be able to pick up her police report, Johnson was later denied access to it. Campus police were dismissive of her case or uninformed about policies or procedures.
“I personally feel like I was being dismissed like I didn’t matter, to be honest,” Johnson said.
“I felt like I didn’t matter, and my financial issues didn’t matter. They didn’t care that I’m a senior graduating. If they felt that $300 coming out of my pocket to pay for a windshield where I did absolutely nothing wrong is ok, it really makes you feel like you didn’t mean anything,” Johnson said.
Johnson plans to write a letter to the president of the university in the hopes that she can be reimbursed for the accident.
With the university denying any responsibility, she hopes that the property damage policies on campus will change for her, current and future students.
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