Last month, in the wake of the sexual assault allegations at Cornell University, we ended our editorial with seven words: “We shouldn’t have waited for a headline.” In the weeks since, Bowdoin students have mobilized across campus to address concerns over student safety. Organizations including RISE, Bowdoin Reproductive Justice Coalition (BRJC) and the Women of Color Coalition (WoCC) have facilitated conversations about creating a safer campus, identifying inadequate lighting along highly traveled pathways as a recurring concern.

Together, RISE, BRJC and the WoCC contacted Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Jim Hoppe and implored him to instate more safety measures, including improved campus lighting. Hoppe suggested an initiative where students, staff and administrators walk through a campus to identify areas that could use more lighting.

The night walk initiative was born out of student groups passionate about ensuring student safety and engaging in a robust, open dialogue about the topic. RISE sent out an anonymous survey, providing women on campus a way to communicate safety concerns.

Bowdoin is not alone in recognizing that students must have an active role in creating a safer campus. In 2021, the Cornell Daily Sun reported that the lack of well-lit spaces on campus caused students to install lightbulbs within their dorms that the University deemed unsafe. Due to these ongoing issues, the Cornell’s Residence Hall Association recently organized a campus lighting walk to survey poorly illuminated areas.

The persistence of these concerns extends beyond campus lighting and this push is neither new nor unique to Bowdoin. For decades, colleges have grappled with questions of student safety, particularly relating to women. Bowdoin’s own history reveals the complexity of these concerns—and how often students have had to confront them. According to “Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin,” a 1973 Student Life Committee report raised concerns about campus security. In response to reported incidents and the expansion of student housing beyond the center of campus, the College implemented a security escort program and recommended increased officer presence.

More than five decades later, the continued discussion of women’s safety raises an uncomfortable question: Why must students repeatedly advocate for measures that should be a given? If better lighting is what helps students feel safer, we must keep listening. The night walk cannot be a one-off event; instead, it must be an initiative in a line of sustained institutional action. Campus safety should remain a priority long after the conversations that bring it to public attention have dissipated.

The current lighting initiative offers an encouraging example of what can happen when students organize around a shared concern and administrators respond. But its lasting significance will depend on what follows: whether the College translates these conversations into tangible improvements.

We urge students to recognize the power of their collective voices and continue to speak up, challenging stagnant policy and demanding meaningful change. Likewise, we call on the College to continue meeting that advocacy with transparency, responsiveness and action. The proposed lighting improvements demonstrate what becomes possible when students refuse to accept the status quo. Let their efforts set a precedent for a Bowdoin where student voices are heard, valued and empowered to drive lasting change. Then we will have more support to take the path less traveled.

This editorial represents the majority opinion of the Editorial Board.