UH lighting project moves closer to completion. Feb 10, 2026, in Houston, Texas. | Bao Nguyen/The Cougar

Students are voicing concerns about the lack of lighting on campus, particularly in residential areas and parking lots, where they feel the lighting assets are sparse.

This issue has reignited distrust of the University’s safety initiatives, primarily the Campus Lighting and Security Project, with some saying they are not seeing greater lighting on campus.

“I think between now and last year, the lighting has looked similar,” said nutrition senior E’mohni Ward. “It’s still very dark in student residential and parking areas.”

On Feb. 21, 2025, the University reported that the UH System Board of Regents approved Phase Two of the lighting project.

While the project’s budget was previously reported as $18 million, the University has since confirmed the total allocation at $21 million.

“The University’s $21 million campus lighting project is now 96% complete and nearing the finish line,” said UHPD Chief of Police Ceaser Moore. “This initiative represents a major investment in the safety, visibility and overall campus experience for our students, faculty and staff.” 

The regents are working with UHPD and UH administration to add at least 400 lighting assets across eight zones on campus:

Lighting in student housing lots 3A, 3B, 4A and 6A.
 
Additional lighting in other nonresidential parking lots, including lots 12A, 15H, 16B/C/D/E/F and 21A/B.

All assets of the lighting project were initially scheduled for completion by winter 2025. As of now, 387 lights have been installed on campus.

Some students believe the University is not prioritizing increased lighting compared with other campus initiatives.

“The University is doing a lot more campus projects, like the Centennial project and it’s good to do those initiatives,” said biochemistry sophomore Nima Naghavi. “But at the same time, I feel some issues on campus need to be prioritized more, like the lack of lighting.”

Installation of the final 13 lighting assets was delayed because of two factors, said senior associate vice president of facilities and construction management David Oliver. 

The two factors were unexpected underground issues that required careful mapping and removal methods and based on campus feedback, the University adjusted the project schedule to keep fewer parking lots closed at the same time.

The University is working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible to improve campus lighting in the long term, Oliver said. 

“The campus security lighting project is now in its final stages. The remaining lighting assets — along with upgraded surveillance cameras and emergency call stations — are being completed under this modified schedule to ensure the least amount of disruption possible while delivering long-term safety enhancements for our campus community,” Oliver said.

Some students have pointed to the disparity between the amount UH has invested in improving lighting assets and the number of additional lights installed.

Students said they are frustrated because they believe the money they are paying to attend the University is not being used to address missing lighting assets.

“I’m frustrated that they assume we’ll naively accept their excuses for not adding more lights, like claiming it’s an ‘underground issue’ that prevents installing poles, when we’ve already given them so much funding to address problems like this,” Ward said.

Students believe the lack of lighting makes them feel unsafe on campus, particularly when walking to their residential areas.

“Walking back to my residence hall is very scary and uneasy as a girl,” said management information systems sophomore Asahbi Olaniyan. “Especially since some of us have no other option than to walk in the dark.”

Students are afraid of walking back to their cars, which also heightens their fear of commuting to and from campus.

“We shouldn’t be afraid to walk to our cars alone, but that’s what I feel every single day,” said atmospheric science junior Virginia Davis. “UH has created a culture of fear and that harms how we view this campus.”

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