Making the Most of Our Time Together This Spring
March 24, 2025
Dear Stony Brook Campus Community,
Welcome back from spring break! I hope your time away was restful, relaxing and enjoyable. On our East, West and Southampton campuses, I am grateful to our faculty, staff and healthcare workers who remained on site fulfilling their responsibilities for university business and clinical care. With classes resuming today, I am happy we are all back together to make the most of these remaining weeks of the academic year.
My spring break involved travel that was focused on advancing Stony Brook’s mission. In Albany, I joined Chancellor King and fellow SUNY research university presidents to advocate for our students and for much-needed campus funding with state leaders, some of whom are prominent Stony Brook alumni. I was proud to be accompanied by five of our outstanding faculty members whose expertise spans neuroscience, physics, medical device development, artificial intelligence and energy storage. They powerfully conveyed to state officials the critical role research plays at Stony Brook and in our broader mission as a flagship public university.
I also engaged with leaders at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Brookhaven Science Associates, discussing the challenges currently facing research universities and national labs. Even as we monitor the potential impacts of funding cuts, we remain focused on advancing the vital research and discovery that define our institutions.
On the federal level, our leadership continues to work closely with New York’s congressional delegation, federal agencies and national higher education partners to protect and strengthen the historic partnership between the federal government and America’s research universities. We are advocating daily for investments in science, education, student aid and public health. I look forward to continuing this work next month in Washington, D.C., where I will be championing the priorities of Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine.
Along with SUNY, we are closely monitoring policy decisions and actions at the national level, including efforts to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Our primary focus remains steadfast on meeting the needs of our students, ensuring they receive the education and opportunities that all Stony Brook students deserve.
These are certainly challenging times, but thankfully we have many wonderful opportunities this spring to support each other. Spring is a season celebrated worldwide where people everywhere honor various holidays and observances of spiritual and cultural importance. This is especially true at Stony Brook University where inclusivity is cherished. All the religious celebrations on our campus enrich our community by fostering unity and the appreciation for different beliefs and ideas, reminding us that we are all part of one community. Here at Stony Brook, we will remain grounded in — and united by — our core values of decency, mutual respect and civil discussions free from discrimination. Stony Brook is and always has been a place where ideas are exchanged freely, and our differences are celebrated as sources of strength and learning.
Yesterday marked exactly two months on the calendar until Stony Brook’s May 23 Commencement, and I look forward — as I know our entire campus community does — to recognizing all our talented, hard-working graduates. There is a lot to do in the weeks ahead. But even when schedules are full and workloads are at capacity, let’s make time to support and celebrate one another by embracing what is happening at Stony Brook.
Campus events unite us. I have heard from students and alumni about their favorite spring traditions, like Brookfest, Earthstock and Roth Regatta. I am excited to cheer on our student-athletes during the spring sports season, and you can expect to see me at other campus events highlighting research and scholarly activities. I hope to see you there as well. Let’s make this semester one to remember. Thank you for all you do for Stony Brook.
Sincerely,
Richard L. McCormick
Interim President