Point Loma Nazarene University recently revised a decades-long policy of allowing unrestricted public access to its track, and some alumni and neighbors want clarity on the private school\u2019s new plan.<\/p>\n
PLNU alum Jimmie Presley, who has been running on the university\u2019s track since COVID, said he was informed recently that the school\u2019s policy toward track use has changed. Presley said, after being confronted by a school official while using PLNU\u2019s track, he was told, \u201cYou\u2019re an alum, you can stay, we\u2019ll include you with staff and faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n
New signage was posted on campus recently, which reads, \u201cThe athletic facilities are for the use of PLNU students, faculty, and staff only.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presley said: \u201cI called the alumni office to see if alums were allowed to use it and they didn\u2019t know either. So I asked the Athletic Department and they said, \u2018OK, you can run here today. But you might be asked to leave.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A university spokesperson said allowing unrestricted access to PLNU\u2019s track, which sits on a bluff overlooking the ocean and existed before the university moved from Pasadena to its current site (formerly Cal Western University) in 1973, is a more complicated issue than it seems at first blush.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.sdnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/20230208113129\/PLNU-track-sign-300x218.jpg\")
“Unfortunately, outside businesses and private trainers were taking advantage of the track and interfering with our athletic team training, which is why we had to clarify that our students\u2019 use takes priority,\u201d said Lora Fleming, the university\u2019s director of communications.<\/p>\n
\u201cPLNU\u2019s Public Safety Department is not actively stopping individuals walking\/running on the track who aren\u2019t interfering with a university-sponsored activity. PLNU continues to be a campus that is open and hospitable to our neighbors and alum,\u201d Fleming said.<\/p>\n
A PLNU neighbor, Sue Cox, concurs with Presley believing PLNU\u2019s track should be made available for responsible public use. \u201cWhen I use the track it\u2019s early in the morning,\u201d she said. \u201cI may see one or two other folks on the track or no one at all.\u00a0 Occasionally, I\u2019ll see a coach arrive and open up the big shed. But I\u2019m long gone before there is any team activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m respectful of the campus and the track and would like to continue to use it on occasion.\u00a0 I\u2019m hopeful that the university will allow its neighbors to continue using the track as we have for years,\u201d Cox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been good neighbors to PLNU, having students trick or treat, helping them out with scavenger hunts, dealing with parking, and occasionally dealing with their noise activity. We\u2019ve never complained to the university. It\u2019s just part of our neighborhood,\u201d Cox said. \u201cWe\u2019ve supported the music department and the baseball team by having coaches and players at our dining room table, paying them to give private lessons to our son back in his playing days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presley doesn\u2019t use PLNU track a great deal but added he is training for short races and has a coach. \u201cI need a track to use,\u201d he said adding, \u201cThe track is not busy all the time. There are a lot of times throughout the day when the track is not being used. People who live nearby, they say, \u2018Why can\u2019t we use the track when nobody else is using it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Presley said it his understanding that UC San Diego in La Jolla allows running groups to apply for permits to use their track, adding legal issues, like liability for using a university track \u201ccan be worked out with the community to keep it open. [PLNU] needs to give the public a better answer \u2013 and explanation \u2013 than what they\u2019ve given so far.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Point Loma Nazarene University recently revised a decades-long policy of allowing unrestricted public access to its track, and some alumni and neighbors want clarity on the private school\u2019s new plan. PLNU alum Jimmie Presley, who has been running on the university\u2019s track since COVID, said he was informed recently that the school\u2019s policy toward track […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":840,"featured_media":319737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Point Loma Nazarene University recently revised a decades-long policy of allowing unrestricted public access to its track, and some alumni and neighbors want clarity on the private school\u2019s new plan.","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"3","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11564,11561,11550],"tags":[15201,12998,12685,12828],"class_list":["post-319736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-peninsula-beacon","category-top-stories","tag-alumni","tag-athletics","tag-point-loma-nazarene-university","tag-track"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319739,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319736\/revisions\/319739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}