The word around school is that STA has protesters.  Unfortunately, they’re not an angry mob carrying torches and pitchforks, just two of STA’s friendly neighbors-turned-activists.  Regardless, they’re challenging the new chapel and parking lot, protesting on campus every morning disrupting the school’s environment when they have no right to do so.  So, listen up homeowners surrounding St. Teresa’s.

News flash: it’s our school, not yours.

Last time I checked, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the hundreds of families paying almost $10,000 in tuition a year, not the Homeowner’s Association, pay for the school’s upkeep.  Therefore, you have absolutely no say in the changes that occur.  If you view STA as your property, maybe the student body should view your houses as theirs.  You want to change the color of your house?  You’re thinking about adding a fence?  Hmm, maybe we should take a student-wide vote before you do that.  It goes both ways’“you respect our property and we’ll respect yours.

You’re all welcome to exploit the many benefits of living next to our beautiful campus.  Go ahead and walk your dog around the Quad or bring a soccer ball and kick it around in the field.  When the track is built we full-heartedly encourage you to put on your running shoes and take a jog.  While you’re at it, why don’t you bring a red and white checkered blanket and a wicker basket and have a picnic on the grass.  But don’t protest when we decide to make a change or two that will clearly benefit the STA community.

The new chapel, including the parking lot that will accompany it, is a change that will benefit St. Teresa’s students for years to come.  The chapel will build upon the school’s Catholic tradition, new classrooms will promote growth among both the student body and the faculty, distance learning capabilities will even further increase STA’s technological advances, and additional parking spaces will diminish stress among students trying to find a parking spot at 7:39 in the morning.

I applaud you for standing up for what you believe in, but one man holding up one tiny sign at 7:30 a.m. when every student is half, if not completely, asleep isn’t going to make the administration change their minds about a major school renovation that’s already in the works.  All you’re going to do is completely block 57th Street every morning while an endless stream of cars stop to read your signs, purely for entertainment value. And if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll make it into the school paper.

I’m sorry if you’re worried about your park disappearing, but unless you have a daughter that goes here, you have no right to complain about our school changing our establishment, because it’s at our discretion.  And don’t worry, we’ll work on that carpooling thing just for you.