Ian Kim '27
Nov 8, 2024
One of the staples of the Mercersburg campus is the magnificent lighting on the Irvine Memorial Chapel. The recent installation of new lights has become a topic of interest for both students and faculty members. With the 100th anniversary of the chapel’s construction approaching, it is an exciting change of scenery for the campus.
The previous system relied on two large floodlights. “They didn't do a great job aesthetically of lighting up the chapel. They were more like big bright flashlights and also caused a lot of light pollution. As those lights got old, we just wanted to change stuff up,” Will Willis, the Director of Environmental Initiatives, stated. “They used a lot of electricity as well, and all the light pollution was bad. It affects bird migration, but also with humans as well, with our sleep cycles and all that.”
Last spring, the school started the installation of the new lights. The replacement lights accomplish several purposes, including improving the building’s aesthetic appeal. The light is now focused on specific areas of the chapel, such as the spire, to illuminate them. “But they are also really environmental, all of the lights now. Even though there are more of them, they use less electricity than the two lights that were there before,” Willis noted. “Less energy, less light pollution, and we also have timers set on them. They’re not on the entire night, just a reasonable amount of time for people to see the lights. So the new lights are honestly doing great, very environmentally friendly.”
Some students learned about the benefits of this change through Advanced Studies Environmental Studies class. Many of them are very satisfied with the replacement lights. AJ Patel ‘26 said, “I think the change to the chapel lighting is beneficial. The lighting allows the chapel to stand out more as opposed to lighting up the general area, which may have affected the environment and wildlife.” Jaekwan Kim ‘26 stated, “This new lighting honestly improved a lot on the environmental issues the old lights had, and I’m very glad the school took notice of it.”
Despite all these beneficial changes, one of the biggest impacts the lighting has on students on campus comes during stargazing opportunities, such as the recent Northern Lights display and the appearance of a comet on the western horizon. The light pollution from the floodlights in the night sky drowns out dimmer stars and subtle light effects, making them harder to see. “ It's just a big streak of light in the sky, that makes normal stargazing pretty annoying and stargazing at the observatory way harder,” Daniel Cunningham ’26 said. Others didn’t notice a visible difference. “I haven't heard about the chapel lighting's effect on stargazing, despite my actually going and visiting the stargazing program myself,” Avery Liu ‘26 commented. “That's honestly pretty disappointing though. The people at the observatory really just want to share their passion with everyone and it would be great if the school could just help them out a little.”
Students agree that the chapel lights should be turned off on nights with stargazing opportunities. However, those aware of the recent changes to the chapel lighting are very positive about the benefits they bring.