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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

New lights added to Dunn's Woods

Photo illustration by Michael Williams

Walking through campus at night, many students know which areas to avoid. Dunn’s Woods, located behind Bryan Hall, is one 
of them.

After years of students and student leaders expressing their concerns to administration, nearly 50 new lights have been installed in Dunn’s Woods.

Before the lights were put in, many students expressed concerns when walking through the woods at night, saying it was difficult to see who is coming down the paths at night.

To better light the woods, Tom Morrison, IU vice president for capital planning and facilities, said IU installed new LED lights and added new light poles. The LED lights allow for brightness when students need it but also dimness if the Kirkwood Observatory needs it.

The number of light poles were at least doubled, Morrison said. The old light poles were there from the 1970s, and, as a result, the lights began to dim.

“We hope what we’ve been able to do is make a special area of campus much better,” Morrison said.

One of the reasons Morrison felt it was so important to install lights was because of the renovations of the Old Crescent buildings. These buildings include Owen Hall, Kirkwood Hall and Franklin Hall, among others, and are being renovated from administrative buildings to academic buildings.

This changes the times these areas are busiest, Morrison said. When they serve as administrative buildings, most foot traffic happens between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. When they serve as academic buildings, however, most foot traffic can occur later on at night when it is dark.

The lighting of Dunn’s Woods is part of a campus-wide project to increase lighting. Morrison said lighting on 10th Street, Jordan Avenue and the Arboretum has already improved.

Morrison said with constant development of campus, it’s important to keep in mind which areas receive more students and at what times.

“We always have to be mindful of and monitor the traffic patterns that exist and when those start to change,” Morrison said.

Morrison said for the past few years, each new IU Student Association administration would meet with administration and talk about student safety, specifically lighting.

Because it was a constant concern, Morrison and his team knew they needed to address it right away.

Anne Tinder, former IUSA president, gave a student report at a Board of Trustees meeting in December 2015, focusing mainly on campus safety.

“Students generally don’t feel safe on campus,” Tinder said.

In November 2015, an IU female student reported having her breast and buttocks grabbed after walking halfway into Dunn Woods, according to a Nov. 13, 2015, Indiana Daily Student article. That same night, an IU Notify alert was sent out, warning students of two college-aged male subjects, one with a knife, in Dunn’s Woods.

These concerns from students are not new, however. According to documents from the IU Archives, female staff members from the 1989-90 academic year were asked for possible suggestions for additional emergency callboxes.

At least five staff members raised concerns about Dunn’s Woods. One described the woods as “a bad place for a female after dark.” One even expressed concerns of this area during the day.

Morrison said student safety is something IU administration always needs to be aware of.

“We can never assure that anyone can be totally safe,” Morrison said. “But we don’t want there to be any areas on campus where students avoid because they don’t 
feel safe.”

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