Dear President Hurd,

We call on you and your administration to address the lack of lighting on campus with a clear, detailed plan of action that includes a timeline for when permanent lighting improvements will be made.

The lack of lighting on campus is not a new problem. The need for lighting improvements was identified in the Campus Master Planning process that began in 2022. These concerns were elevated by findings from the Harm Mapping Project: a research project led by faculty and students from the Gender-Based Violence Research Lab that examines the spaces and places on campus where students feel safe and unsafe in the context of experiencing gender-based violence.

A primary contributing factor to students feeling unsafe on campus is a lack of lighting. While the primary location that students identify as needing improved lighting is the Quad, findings from the Harm Mapping Project identify numerous other locations across campus where increased lighting would improve feelings of safety, including locations represented in the Photovoice Exhibit held on campus during the week of October 27th, 2025. 

Not all students share the same sense of safety on campus. Findings from the Harm Mapping Project reinforce that women-identifying and LGBTA+ identifying students are more likely to experience gender-based violence and report feeling unsafe on campus.

As the college seeks to fulfill its mission to “foster intellectual inquiry, artistic exploration, scholarship, and personal growth in a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive community” and support community belonging by “valuing mutual respect, collaboration, and empathy in an accessible, inclusive, and diverse community where everyone can flourish” it is imperative that all students feel safe on campus. Improved lighting plays an important role in fulfilling the college’s mission.

We appreciate that changes to the built environment cannot happen overnight and that efforts have been made to identify temporary solutions (e.g., the tree lights on the Quad). 

However, after years of awareness raising about the lighting problem on campus, it is now time for action.

We call for a clear, detailed plan with a timeline to address the lighting problem on campus that is communicated campus-wide by the first day of the spring semester: January 26, 2026. 

Sincerely,

Gender-Based Violence Research Lab

Pards Against Sexual Assault (PASA)

Peer Anti-Violence Educators (PAVE)