Annabelle de St. MauriceThe lighting on this campus must be improved in order for students to feel safe at night.
Though not often spoken of, the prevention of crime on this campus should always be on the minds of the administrators as something to be continually reformed and improved. And in general, WUPD does a sufficient job of ensuring the safety of the campus community. With programs such as security escorts, roaming officers on bikes, and patrolling of the area around campus by officers in squad cars, WUPD and the administration have provided much to protect the students and faculty.
However, crime is one of those aspects of living in a society that can never be completely eliminated. In 2001 for example, even with all these programs in place, there were 11 motor vehicle thefts, three robberies, and one reported forcible sex offense on campus. And last year, one of these robberies occurred at gun-point in front of McMillan Hall, one of the most poorly lit areas on campus. Though the programs in place seem to be working, seeing as the number of such incidents has been declining over the years, these numbers show that crime is still a presence on campus.
And rather than spending money and effort on constructing and implementing new programs, one of the solutions to preventing crime that the administration has overlooked seems to be the use of better lighting on campus.
Well-lit areas not only allow potential victims of crime to be more aware of their surroundings, but also deter potential offenders from even going about their criminal activities.
On the South 40, most of the major walkways remain lit throughout the night, as are the high-traffic paths of SGH and Millbrook.
On the Hilltop however, the story is much different.
In particular, the pathway that passes in front of the Women’s Building and the Engineering School is so dark that, at times, students sometimes feel hesitant to venture over to these buildings late at night for meetings. The area between the Athletic Center and SGH is also dimly lit and may easily afford potential attackers a comfortable place to hide amidst the shadows. And although some have indicated their dissatisfaction with the level of noise on campus due to the construction, these sites are also some of the darkest at night. With no lampposts set up yet in these areas being worked on, at night they become some of the scariest areas on campus.
One of the most important parts of campus that needs better lighting, but is often not considered, is Forsyth Boulevard. At night, this street, when looked down from one end of campus to the other, reminds the viewer of a deep cavern where light has no presence. As a result, not only is this street intimidating to pedestrians, but it is also an unsafe driving zone, especially on rainy nights when visibility is even further decreased. Though the university is not responsible for lighting this public street, it should perhaps petition the city for the addition of new streetlights, and maybe even do what it can on its own by adding lights on the grassy areas of the sidewalks that WU owns.
There are a multitude of areas in which better lighting is needed, but the basic reason for this need remains the same throughout: better lighting makes the campus community more comfortable on the terrain they call home and wards off those that potentially have some type of crime to commit brewing in their minds.
And if the issue of safety does not provide enough reason to install new lights, remember that lighting can help beautify the campus. With the administration constantly doing landscaping on campus, it should also look into using arranged lighting to make the campus grounds more attractive.
One of the possible objections that some may come up with to this proposal is that the cost of adding and running new lights across campus would be exorbitant and wasteful. Specifically, in certain areas that may be dark but not highly traversed, the addition of new lights would be wasteful of both money and energy.
This argument holds validity, but when one considers this price in comparison with the physical and psychological harm that may come about from just one mugging or forcible sexual assault, the price becomes almost meaningless. And let us not forget that even if no crime occurs, there is still a psychological strain put upon individuals every time they walk through a terrain that is dark and ominous.
To make the campus safer, we need to make the campus brighter.