Stony Brook Alumni Against Suppression of Students'
First Amendment Rights!

A protestor being escorted away from the Staller steps by police
A pro-Palestinian protestor being escorted off the Staller Steps - SB Statesman
Image Credit: Mariam Guirgis/ The Statesman

Shortly after midnight on the 2nd of May, 2024, Stony Brook University's leadership deployed the University police, Suffolk police, and state troopers against peaceful protesters on the Staller steps. Such suppression of speech is unprecedented in the history of our school, Even during the Vietnam War!

Here's how you can make your displeasure known:

  1. Sign this petition calling for a boycott of SBU events and withholding of donations until meaningful changes are made.
  2. Send an email to the Alumni Relations office ( Template ) informing them that you cannot abide the university's suppression of student rights, and that you will immediately cease donating to the university, and encourage your peers to do the same.
  3. Send this webpage to others in your alumni network!

We, the alumni, must not stand idly by as students' rights to peaceful assembly and expression are dismantled by callous force. Stony Brook has always been a politically active school, and it always will be. It is clear that this administration does not appreciate that; and, unlike those of the past, does not hold dear the democratic principles that undergird the foundation of public higher education. We must show them that this is unacceptable, with our voices and our wallets.

Yours Sincerely,
An Alumnus of Stony Brook University.

Email Template

I, $NAME$, am an alumnus of Stony Brook University. I strongly condemn the use of armed policemen against students exercising their right to peaceful protest. I will not be donating to the school until an apology is issued, and meaningful changes made to ensure this does not repeat.

Students must be safe on campus, and their right to free speech and assembly must be guaranteed by the administration. Maurie McInnis and her administration's police action on the morning of May 2nd befit an authoritarian regime, not a liberal institution of excellence in a democratic country. The education I have received at Stony Brook made very clear that even the thought of peaceful protestors facing violence and threats is reprehensible to any and all free persons.

This administration has brought shame upon Stony Brook, and by extension its alumni. President McInnis should start making amends in very short order if she wants to see any of my money.