The chancellor's office is reopening discussion about installing lights in Coker Arboretum for the first time in a decade.
Ten years ago University officials decided that closing the Arboretum at night would be sufficient to keep students safe. But several robberies and assaults in the early 2000s and a new focus on campus safety have brought the issue to light again.
Chancellor Holden Thorp announced to guests at his open forum Tuesday that he would look into the issue in response to a student's inquiry.
Since then he has contacted North Carolina Botanical Garden officials who oversee the Arboretum to discuss the possible options.
Potential drawbacks halted the last efforts to light the area.
Jim Ward curator of the NCBG said campus officials and students last discussed lighting the Arboretum in response to an assault that took place there about 10 years ago.
Campus officials eventually decided against adding lights instead opting to add lighting to Cameron Avenue and Raleigh Street near the Arboretum and erecting signs saying it is only open from dawn to dusk Ward said.
Students have been periodically mugged or assaulted in the area since the decision. Incidents occurred in 199920012002 2003 and 2004. A student was stabbed to death in the Arboretum in 1965.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Randy Young cited the lack of visibility in the Arboretum as a potential source of trouble that might persist even if lit.
Trees and other plants can prevent pedestrians from getting a clear view around themselves he said.
New lights within the Arboretum might also harm trees" Ward said. Trees growing near the lights might retain their leaves much longer than those in natural conditions because the evening brightness would ""fool"" them into a longer photosynthesizing period" he said.
Ward said such mixed signals wouldn't kill the trees but might do noticeable damage.
But he said" those problems wouldn't necessarily prohibit light installation.
""I don't think the health of the Arboretum and the safety of the people in the area are mutually exclusive"" Ward said.
The latest discussions come on the heels of other efforts to improve lighting and student safety, particularly the addition of new blue-light call boxes to off-campus sites.
For now, students should consider walking in groups along the surrounding streets or utilizing mass transit rather than cutting through the Arboretum at night, Young said.
He added that DPS officials do not yet know what new safety guidelines they might put in place if lights were added and that it would depend on the lighting plan adopted.
Electrical distribution could probably shed - pardon the expression - some light on that"" he said.
Campus safety issues lit up by renovations
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