Living SB Presidents Commemorate Past 50 Years at Convocation

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Stony Brook's former president, John S. Toll, and Shirley Strum Kenny at last week's convocation ceremony

By Ashley Withers

President Shirley Strum Kenny headed Stony Brook University’s 50th Anniversary Convocation on the Staller Center's main stage Sept. 19 proclaiming, "This year promises to be the best yet."

The body of faculty, staff, former staff, and alumni was peppered with red shirts, each row striped like the American flag. Although the convocation was open to students as well, few attended.

Among the guests was a panel featuring former presidents John S. Toll and John Marburger.

The convocation included a slide show outlining some of the university's historical moments, archiving its humble beginnings as a campus in Oyster Bay. The presentation related the changes in Stony Brook’s present. Kenny compared the staggering 148-person Oyster Bay population with the 119-person on the Southampton campus, alluding to the recently published five-year plan, which aims to solidify the university’s status as a “multicampus institution.”

Kenny briefly discussed Stony Brook’s future, mentioning the noticeably increasing population and the 770 beds to be added within the next two years to accommodate it.

“We must encourage our students to live and prosper in a world of complexity and ambiguity,” she added. Kenny mentioned the School of Journalism’s news literacy program as well as the newly completed multi-million dollar “newsroom of the future.”

Toll was among several speakers that received standing ovations and was followed by the final applause given to the 72 new faculty members as they stood for recognition. One of the final slides featured the school’s mantra “Stony Brook is red hot!” Hearing this, the audience became animated with applause, their red shirts flowing with their fast-moving arms.