Stony Brook University 'Biggest Slumlord On East End': Assemblyman

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, appalled at what he said has been Stony Brook University's less-than-stellar stewardship of the Southampton campus, has come out swinging, calling the university the "biggest slumlord on the East End."

Thiele recently accused SBU of failing to keep its commitments to the educational facility since purchasing the former Southampton College in 2006.

"Thanks to the teamwork of then-Senator Ken LaValle and me, the Southampton College campus was acquired by the State University of New York in 2006. Since then, Stony Brook University has had a checkered record as the steward of the campus," Thiele said.

First, Thiele charged, the university "abandoned its fledging undergraduate sustainability program at the campus in 2009 in an attempt to close the campus. Only when Thiele and Southampton students successfully sued Stony Brook University, did they reverse course and renew efforts to grow programming at the campus as a graduate center."

At the time, Thiele said, the university put Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Matthew Whelan in charge of planning at the campus. During his tenure, there was "sustained progress" at the campus, including the construction of the new marines sciences building and the establishment of several graduate health sciences programs at Southampton, Thiele said.

"Coupled with the continued growth of the well-established fine arts program at the campus under the leadership of Robert Reeves, enrollment for the campus grew to 800 students per year at Southampton," he said.

At the same time, Southampton Hospital completed its affiliation agreement with Stony Brook University Hospital, including plans to build a new state-of-the-art hospital at the campus, Thiele said, adding, "The future of the campus was bright."

The next step in the renaissance of the campus was to be the rehabilitation of Southampton Hall, which had always anchored campus activities. In 2018 to 2019, Stony Brook University, in a memorandum of understanding signed by the university's president, committed an initial $5 million capital appropriation to Southampton Hall and undertook a comprehensive feasibility study at a cost of $200,000, he said.

Since that study, nothing has happened at the campus, and no one was assigned Whelan’s duties, Thiele said.

"No action has been taken regarding Southampton Hall. There is no long-term plan in place for the future of the campus. Instead, the campus is again languishing from inattention," and has been condemned, he said.

In July 2022, Thiele and state Sen. Anthony Palumbo urged the president to seek funding for Southampton Hall from the Long Island Investment Fund's $350 million, established by the state legislature, Thiele said.

"The university failed to even apply and has taken no other actions to improve the Southampton campus," he said.

He added: "The Southampton campus can be one of Stony Brook University’s greatest assets. Yet, it is wasting away. The university has had stewardship of the property for 17 years. Their lack of action over the last four years is inexcusable and can no longer be tolerated. Not only is Southampton Hall a potential economic engine for eastern Long Island as a center of arts and culture, but the abandoned residential dormitory complex possesses a great opportunity for community housing."

Next, Thiele proposed a 3-point plan for the future of the Southampton campus that included the following tenets:

1. Appointment of a senior executive member of the university administration to again take responsibility for the campus.

2. An immediate plan from the university to keep its commitment to renovate Southampton Hall.

3. Establishment of a comprehensive plan committee to develop a 5-year plan for the remainder of the campus, including community housing opportunities where the dormitories are now located.

"Friends of the Southampton campus have waited long enough for Stony Brook University to fulfill its responsibility to Southampton. We will wait no longer," Thiele said.

University officials told Patch in a statement: "Stony Brook has been and will continue to be committed to Southampton — the campus and the community. Over the past few years, we have expanded our presence at the Southampton campus, from growing our programs in the arts and sciences to delivering cutting edge environmental research."

The statement continued: "In 2021, we celebrated the expansion of the speech language pathology program at the School of Health Professions. Last year, scientists from Stony Brook's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in Southampton announced the successful results of their 10-year-long effort to improve water quality and restore the clam population in Shinnecock Bay."

This month, officials said, work on the Stony Brook Medicine East Hampton satellite emergency department is scheduled to start, and plans continue for the building of a new Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on the campus.

"In addition, we will soon launch a search for a new vice president of strategic initiatives, whose work will include a focus on determining an overall strategy for our Southampton campus. We appreciate our long-standing relationship with Assemblyman Thiele and his continued support of our Southampton campus and the entire East End community. We respect his passion for the campus, which was shown recently through his securing support to repair the historic windmill on campus, and look forward to continue working with him on issues important to the East End," university officials said.