Saddleback College Slaying Prompts Senate OK of Campus Lighting Bill

Prompted by the stabbing death of a Saddleback College student, the state Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a measure that would establish lighting in the parking lots and walkways of the state’s public college campuses.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), won a 31-0 vote and now goes to the Assembly for consideration.

Bergeson’s bill was a result of the 1986 murder of 23-year-old Robin Brandley at the Saddleback College campus in Mission Viejo. Brandley, a student disc jockey, was stabbed while walking to her car and bled to death in the dimly lit parking lot.

Brandley’s parents asked Bergeson to introduce the bill, which would cost the state $20 million to upgrade and install lighting on the campuses as a deterrent and to allow passers-by to spot victims of attacks.

In pushing the bill, Bergeson said that 20% of California’s college students are victims of violent crimes during their school tenure. The bill affects campuses of the University of California, California State University and the California Community Colleges.

“Murders, rapes, assaults and vandalism are all on the rise at our institutions of higher education,” Bergeson said after the Senate’s vote Tuesday. “These problems will continue to exist as long as we allow colleges to have inadequate lighting.”