One hour before the fifth presidential inauguration the guest of honor was still fiddling around with his speech.
‘It’s like staying up cramming for something,’ Stanley joked the day before to a group of colleagues at a morning gathering in the Staller Center.
Many of those same faculty members melded into the inaugural parade procession that included the marching band, over 160 faculty, 38 students and 16 delegates from other college campuses that marched through the academic mall, down the zebra path and into the back of the sports complex Friday afternoon.
The inauguration replaced the annual convocation ceremony where the president would have delivered his State of the Campus address, according to Christine Quinn, assistant director for the Office of Conferences and Special Events. Planning for the inauguration ceremony started back in August and used funds already allotted for the convocation.
Through the pageantry, references to the challenging realities of surmounting state budget cuts, a threat of swine flu and rising tensions from graduate students over contracts and wages highlighted some of the trials the fifth president will confront.
Stanley, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and expert in the field of emerging infections including SARS, West Nile and Ebola and other tropical diseases used the ceremony to make a demonstration of how important receiving the swine flu shot is ‘- he stripped off his presidential medal, ceremonial gown, rolled up his sleeve and before a bewildered crowd received the injection in his right arm.
‘I really wanted to convey how important it is to receive the vaccination,’ Stanley said after the ceremony. The university is currently providing all Stony Brook students with vaccinations.
One hurdle that can’t be cured by injection is the New York State budget deficit. In order to plug up some holes Governor David Paterson has repeatedly slashed money from higher education. ‘We’re not a quick fix but we’re very much the long-term solution,’ Stanley said during his speech.
Even with financial constraints, the president vowed to recruit over 400 faculty members within the next decade and explore a rational tuition system that would give the university more control over funds.
Graduate students who started protesting under Shirley Strum Kenny’s administration for a renewal and revision of their contract that expired in 2007 demonstrated quietly along the parade route ‘- although some faculty members in the procession cheered them on ‘- to urge the president to meet with them and hand him a greeting card welcoming him to campus.
During his October address to the University Senate, Stanley recognized graduate students as vital members of the campus community and the importance of providing them with research grants and affordable housing.
In an August 12 letter responding to a meeting request, Stanley explained the State University of New York is not a part of negotiations between the Research Foundation and its employees and therefore a meeting would be ‘inconsistent with the State’s neutrality policy.’
During the ceremony, Kira Schuman, 25 a graduate teaching assistant and business agent for the Graduate Student Employees Union was escorted out of her V.I.P. section seat and the gym when she reached for her red union shirt.
‘Although graduate student union leaders were disappointed with how the police treated grad students at the inauguration ceremony, they still look forward to working collaboratively with President Stanley and to meeting with him soon,’ Shuman said.
Several hours before deadline, the university could not be reached for comment.
Although politicians, members of the SUNY Board of Trustees and SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher exited the campus after the inauguration, they will return in April 2010 when Stony Brook University will play host to one of many statewide conversations on how to improve the SUNY system as part of Phase II of a new strategic planning process.
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