Last night SMU held the 25th annual National Night Out event to address the issue of lighting, or lack thereof, on our campus. While official results were not available last night, many students have already voiced their concerns regarding the absence of lights scattered around the Hilltop.
Lamp posts and emergency blue lights spring up occasionally, as do illuminated crosswalks at popular campus spots, but many students still feel their walks from Fondren Library and other university buildings are not lit well enough to make them feel completely safe. The same thought applies for University Park. Students having to walk home from night classes often complain they have a difficult time crossing the street and feel unsafe weaving in and out of alleys due to a lack of lighting in their neighborhoods.
We’re not saying SMU, Highland Park and University Park are unsafe, we’re just saying more lights after-hours would help ease the fear of taking those late night trips to 7-Eleven and Jimmy Johns.
According to covenant statements issued by University Park: “Lighting should be provided for all entrances, walkways, parking lots, and loading areas.” Why then, do neighboring streets and the SMU campus fail to emit enough lights to allow students to feel safe? It’s not like city officials can complain of lamp posts being ugly. Just make more ornate and decorative posts, and the problem is easily solved.
While installing the illuminated crosswalks was a definite improvement, students continue to find fault in campus improvements. The crosswalks installed at the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports and behind the Law quad are great ideas, but without overhead lights in place to warn of approaching pedestrians, cars are slamming on their breaks only after they see the lights along the pavement light up. These little flashing lights do nothing to highlight the person crossing the street other than show the driver of the vehicle if the person crossing the street has good taste in shoes.
As part of the Task Force, SMU decided to “accept with limitations” according to the “Live Responsibly” website a “recommendation to increase lighting on campus” and “to review lighting and safety precautions and identify specific areas of concern.” New lights were put up around Peyton and Mary Hay, however, as with some of the other Task Force suggestions put in place, this is another issue that students will have to continue to wait patiently to see the results of.
If the school wants to see more activity on campus in the evenings, adding some light to the campus may help. Having students compare campus to a ghost town when the sun goes down is not the brightest way to encourage students to leave their dorms and apartments after sunset.
