Former Stony Brook Southampton Students Gather to Reflect on Judge's Ruling

James Corrigan sat in front of a group of students at Stony Brook University on Wednesday and asked them a question – a scenario not unfamiliar to the former philosophy lecturer.

"What would you like to happen? Would you go back?" said Corrigan, a former Stony Brook Southampton lecturer who recently received a teaching excellence award from the university president but who was not invited to teach at the main campus when Southampton closed.

The answer to his question was a resounding yes from the 35 former Southampton students gathered in a classroom at Harriman Hall on Wednesday, about ten percent of the Southampton student body.

For those students the cuts are still fresh – both figuratively and literally, after beginning classes Monday on the main campus after Stony Brook Southampton was shut down. The wounds stung a little more when a state judge ruled Friday that the university's closure of Southampton was illegal.

On Wednesday, Corrigan joined student leaders to discuss the ruling and to urge a new push to reopen Southampton.

"Educate people about what Stony Brook Southampton was and what it meant to you," said John Botos, a graduate student who was part of the original campaign to keep the school open. "We know we have each other's support, but that only goes so far."

Botos encouraged students to write letters asking for the resignation of university president Samuel L. Stanley Jr.

"That's what I'm going to do," Botos said.

Caroline Dwyer, another student leader, called for students to attend the next meeting of the Stony Brook Council – the very group which Judge Paul J. Baisley Jr. said the university should have consulted before making the decision to close Southampton. The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 4; students interested in attending must first call to confirm their attendance.

Students discussed forming a club to unite former Southampton students and selling bracelets to raise awareness of the situation. They talked about how different the main Stony Brook campus feels in comparison with Southampton, which the university had touted as its sustainable campus.

"It had a real unitarian mission," said Jason Rubin, a junior double-majoring in media production and environmental design, policy and planning. "The things we would discuss in class were seen around campus...Now I'm at a university where it's just another major."

Julie Schipper, a junior majoring in environmental design, policy and planning, said the main campus and class sizes were overwhelming.

"Everything that we had going for us over there is gone," she said.