President’s Newsletter

Friday, April 25, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

As the semester winds down, it does feel like it is simultaneously speeding up! This has been another week of end of year events, each of which is so important for our community. For example, we had our final College Council meeting of the year on Tuesday evening, with presentations from BASC, our BSG president and the Brockport University Senate president. We welcomed a new member of our College Council, Antwan Willams, who is the Director of Youth System Services at RochesterWorks. Later this morning, we will hold a space dedication ceremony in Hartwell Hall for Brockport Brand Builders, our student-led marketing agency, and this afternoon we will hold our annual Honors and Awards ceremony. I look forward to the reimagined event, which will also include recognition of our student leaders. This major event is followed this evening by our Presidential Donor Recognition Dinner. I am glad we are able to reinstitute this event on campus; the last time we held this as an in-person event was in 2019!

This week Dr. Davis and I led a Community Conversation regarding our Campus Climate. We discussed the work that had been achieved over the last year in relation to the recommendations made by the Presidential Campus Climate Committee. If you were not able to make it, please know that further details of our progress will be shared on the OEDI website before the end of the semester.

The SUNY Comprehensive College Presidents met this week, and we discussed a range of SUNY and national issues. I am grateful to have such dedicated and caring colleagues and to be able to spend time in their company discussing thorny issues and common concerns. On Tuesday, AAC&U (the American Association of Colleges and Universities) issued a public statement standing against what it describes as “unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” I joined hundreds of my Presidential colleagues from across the nation, including several of my SUNY colleagues, in co-signing that statement. As you will recall, last August I shared that I planned to refrain from commenting on most matters of public concern and that statements that come from the Office of the President will be limited to matters that impact the core functions of our university. To my mind, the actions of the federal government in the last few months fit that criteria. I encourage you to read the statement linked above to learn more.

Regular meetings this week included Senate, as well as one-to-ones with each member of Cabinet. Cabinet also met as a group and we discussed our current budget projections, as well as the federal landscape. I also spent time calling donors who contributed to our incredibly successful Day of Giving this year. Other meetings and events this week included attending the annual Clothesline event, meeting with our SBDC director Lindsay Ward, Dean Doyle, John Follaco and the Provost to discuss rebranding, and holding an open forum with Student Affairs. We discussed institutional priorities for impactful student experiences, cross-divisional collaborations, and how to meet students’ needs, amongst other topics.

Externally, I had a Chamber of Commerce Board meeting, with Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, Congressman Joe Morelle, and a representative of Bank of America as guest speakers. They discussed the impact of tariffs, economic policy, and New York State regulations. I also chaired the Rochester Rotary Membership Evaluation Committee and took part in the semi-annual Rochester Area Colleges Presidents Network, where we were joined by Joe Stefko of OneRoc and Matt Hurlbutt of Greater Rochester Enterprise. On Wednesday evening, I attended Mayor Malik Evans’ State of the City Address. Finally, I attended a DEI focus group for Willow Domestic Violence center.

Today the Village celebrates Arbor Day and I am grateful to our facilities crew and other employees who volunteered their time to help plant trees. Next week we have another opportunity to connect town and gown, through the Stomp Out Hunger event that will take place on the Mall on Wednesday, April 30 from 11am-2pm. This event includes Foodlink’s Curbside Market and is put on in partnership with BASC, Wegman’s, Foodlink and Monroe County Department of Human Services. I encourage you to stop by if you are able.