Look anywhere across campus and you’ll see Horsebarn Hill — the grassy knoll rising over the University of Connecticut’s skyline. It’s one of UConn’s gems, providing an almost completely unobstructed view of the night sky. A student can gaze up at the faint outline of the Milky Way, watch shooting stars or identify countless constellations. But Horsebarn Hill is an anomaly; enveloping the rest of UConn is a harsh fluorescence that blankets the campus. Beyond mere aesthetics, this artificial light demonstrates a much more serious issue: UConn’s growing role in light pollution. This excessive glow harms the environment, student health and financial well-being — and must be taken care of.
Despite the omnipresent glow of UConn’s light pollution, the campus has been slow to address it. Campus administration may point towards its installation of covered lights around Mirror Lake and a select few of the university’s sports fields as proof of their effort to end light pollution. However, these measures have been largely ineffective, with the current model of covered lights still leaking light upwards. Worse, the majority of streetlights on campus are still completely uncovered, creating wide halos of light in the night air. Late-night stadium lights are another offender, slicing through the night and flooding the campus horizon. A single stadium light can produce over 160,000 lumens, and UConn has over 24 on their sports fields alone. When left on, they overpower the night sky itself.
Yet the problem doesn’t end with wasted electricity or washed-out stars. The light pouring out from Storrs affects everything it touches. It is easy to think of light pollution as a harmless aesthetic issue. In truth, the campus’s unnatural glow affects UConn’s health, ecosystem and finances. For students, these consequences can hit close to home. Research from National Geographic has revealed that constant nighttime artificial light affects circadian rhymes and natural melatonin production, the hormone that regulates sleep. The results are familiar to many on campus: poor rest, headaches and high anxiety rates. Worse, long-term exposure has been linked to obesity, mood disorders and even higher cancer rates. UConn continues to worsen the issue through their continued installation of LED lights, seen throughout their dining halls, classrooms and parking areas. These lights are notorious for emitting blue wavelengths, causing UConn’s restless nights to be even worse.
Wildlife pays the price as well. Light pollution disorients birds’ ability to navigate and orient themselves, causing millions of bird deaths every year. As a state that falls along a major avian migration route — over 1.2 million birds flew over Connecticut last week — we have an obligation to protect the safety of that route. Insects are also lured in by lights, dying nightly by the thousands. This robs the ecosystem of important pollinators and of a major food source. When UConn floods the sky with light, it detrimentally affects the health of entire ecosystems.
Connecticut has started to acknowledge the issue as a whole, though its response is far from enough. The state’s new “Lights Out” bill requires government buildings to dim nonessential lights past the hours of 11 p.m., a simple and long overdue measure meant to cut costs and protect migrating birds. State buildings, however, make up only a fraction of buildings in Connecticut, meaning this bill has little impact. UConn does follow this to a degree, shutting off some classroom lights at night, but many fixtures remain on, especially outdoors. Given its limited scope, the bill has done little to create real change.
UConn can go beyond what the state has done. It can start by replacing its light fixtures with fully-shielded, conical lights that concentrate light downward, preventing any from escaping above campus. These lights would cut both glare and energy waste. The university could also install motion sensors and timers to dim lights in low-traffic areas, preventing unneeded light from being wasted after hours. This technology is already installed in some residence halls, such as Werth. It would not be a stretch to move it outdoors. As for UConn’s stadium lights problem, the university could update its policy to require temporary standing lights to be used during late night practices instead. These portable lights would provide the brightness needed to keep UConn’s athletes safe while cutting down on unnecessary light usage. Alternatively, downward-facing LED stadium lights could be installed, a solution already being pioneered by the U.S. Open. The university could also pursue Dark Sky Campus certification, joining schools across the country committed to protecting night skies. This move would highlight UConn’s belief that sustainability should extend beyond the classroom, cementing it as a leader in collegiate environmentalism.
UConn must move to treat light pollution as a vital part of its climate and health policy. For the sake of both the university’s student health and surrounding environment, it is time to turn the lights down. The truth is simple: Campus shouldn’t outshine the stars.