Letter to the Editor: Lighting problem casts shadow on student’s feeling of safety

I have always been very satisfied with the lighting on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus. All of the parking lots and walkways are very well lit, and I have never felt nervous walking around at night. However, now that I have become a commuter, I have found an area that needs some attention.

When visiting friends in West Village, I usually park in the new lot behind the soccer fields because it is open parking in the evenings and on weekends, and is the closest lot available to West Village that commuters are allowed to park in (there are spots in front of Maurer but they are generally filled).

This new parking lot has two walking paths. One follows the road that leads into the lot, and the other, which I normally take, extends behind the soccer field and leads to the first West Village building. This second path is very well lit until it descends into a sort of ditch behind Maurer Gym. There are about five wooden steps filled in with concrete that lead down into the ditch and then five more that rise back up again, meeting up with the parking lot next to Maurer.

The parking lot next to Maurer and the path leading to the stairs are well lit, but the ditch is extremely dark. It is almost impossible to see if anyone is walking toward you as you head down the steps. Not only is it a little unsettling to head downstairs into a dark place with basically a forest on either side of you, but it is also a little dangerous. The stairs are uneven and somewhat difficult to navigate. I have found that when I walk down this path at night, I have to be extra careful not to stumble over the wooden part of the stairs.

Just one light post would solve this problem. Or perhaps an existing light could be angled so that it illuminates the area. As I said before, I feel very safe at Rider and I am not so much concerned with being attacked in this dark area as I am of tripping down a flight of steps.

-Jess Hoogendoorn

Senior journalism major