Good Works
Habitat for Humanity
Annually since 2001, the Stony Brook campus community has partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County to build homes for deserving families on Long Island. Through hands-on involvement and charitable giving, students, faculty, and staff work side by side every spring to make the dream of home ownership come true for a family in need.
For Stony Brook volunteers, Habitat is literally a matter of sweat equity. We're the only institution of higher learning in the region that both raises the funds and supplies the crews to build the home.
It's About Us
Every year, faculty, staff, and students show their pride by investing in Stony Brook's future. To date, the Faculty/Staff Campaign — "It's About Us" — has raised more than $1.5 million to support scholarships, fellowships, and departmental programs. The annual Student Giving Campaign supports scholarships and initiatives to enhance student life, and also includes Class Gifts, giving each class an opportunity to jumpstart its Stony Brook legacy. (For their class gift, the Class of 2005 raised $1,000 for a park bench for the 9/11 Memorial Garden.)
SB Day in Albany
From our earliest days, Stony Brook students have been rallying for change in state funding to ensure the growth and development of their campus. In May 1989, the first official Stony Brook Day in Albany attracted more than 150 students and the numbers have grown progressively since. Today, more than 800 students, faculty, and staff make the annual trek to Albany to lobby our legislators.
Carrying our message to our elected officials is at the top of the agenda, but the entire day is filled with fun and togetherness, culminating in an end-of-day buffet inside the Capitol.
Stony Brook Cares Campaign
SB Cares is our nickname for the University’s annual fundraising drive in conjunction with United Way and SEFA (New York State Employees Federated Appeal). A campuswide campaign helps collect and distribute urgently needed contributions to regional charitable organizations, providing vital aid and support to hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders in need. The 2005 campaign raised more than $235,000.
Student-Faculty-Staff Retreat
This tradition, now entering its third decade, brings together members of the Stony Brook community for extended off-campus facetime. The weekend gathering examines critical issues and makes recommendations to improve campus life. Campus Life Time, extended Library hours, the Student vs. Faculty/Staff Challenge, and the online Events Calendar are among many initiatives that originated in this way. Fringe benefits to participants include first-rate food, vigorous ping-pong games, and the potential for life-long bonding.
Year of Community
This annual Campus Community Initiative began in 1999 as a way of promoting the ideals expressed in the Year of Community Statement: equality, civility, caring, responsibility, accountability, and respect. The tradition continued in 2000 with the Year of Community Service, which led to more involvement in volunteerism and outreach efforts. Subsequent annual themes have included Leadership, Ethics, Mentoring, and Giving. Each year, a varied roster of events, contests, fundraisers, and lectures serves to highlight the importance of community in our lives.