After a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stony Brook University is bringing back CommUniversity Day, the interactive celebration that invites local community members to learn more about the university’s inner-workings and experience many of the public services it provides. The free event will take place in the Wang Center on Stony Brook’s West Campus on Saturday, September 23 from noon to 4 pm.
Introduced in 2017, CommUniversity Day connects Stony Brook students, faculty, staff and employees with members of the surrounding community and honors their mutually beneficial relationship.
Several Stony Brook divisions will celebrate anniversaries at the festival including:
- the Stony Brook University Libraries at 60 years,
- the School of Dental Medicine at 50 years,
- the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) at “35-plus” years,
- and the Heart Institute at 10 years.
For the first time, external community groups will also host tables at the event, including the Three Village Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, the Stony Brook Village/ Ward Melville Heritage Organization, Island Federal Credit Union and Theatre Three.
CommUniversity Day will feature “neighborhoods” in the Wang Center that highlight different programs and interests at Stony Brook University. Neighborhoods include:
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The Tech and Discovery Zone featuring:
- Artistic leaf printing to explore nature’s beauty and diversity;
- A Plinko game and the option to volunteer for scientific research;
- An appliance autopsy tent where guests can dismantle and examine simple machines such as toasters and computers;
- Testing physics and your intuition.
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Health featuring:
- A virtual asthma trigger house revealing common household irritants that could be unknowingly exacerbating your symptoms;
- Complimentary health screenings;
- Exploration of basic lab tests and pathogenic organisms;
- Mystery cubes to test your health habits;
- Storytime with the Tooth Fairy (Pre-registration required);
- A dental themed balloon animal booth;
- Teddy bear clinic (pre-registration required)
- “Seawolves Wobble But They Don't Fall Down” – get your balance checked
- Assistive device testing;
- Informative flower and tree walks in the gardens.
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Safety featuring:
- Workshops on the dangers of impaired and distracted driving featuring beer goggles;
- Shed the meds pharmaceutical take-back with UPD to prevent prescription pollution;
- A meet and greet with the fire marshall and tours of emergency response equipment and trucks;
- A matching game where guests try to pair required PPE with the corresponding groundwater monitoring jobs.
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The Arts featuring:
- An instrument petting zoo with a variety of classical and modern instruments;
- A kazoo-niversity concert in the Wang Center where participants can learn to play a song on their free kazoos;
- Line dancing at the Wang Center.
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Food options include:
- A farmer’s market with local produce as well as featured products from Stony Brook's Food Business Incubator at Calverton;
- A tasting event hosted by CulinArt with $5 plates;
- A smoothie bike that connects a blender to a bicycle and requires pedaling to blend the smoothie;
- All campus dining locations will also be open to the public.
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Traditions include:
- National anthem sung by the Stony Brook Pipettes followed by remarks from Stony Brook President Maurie McInnis
- “LEAF Your Mark on SBU” – a symbolic community art project;
- Pinning your hometown on a map;
- “The Price is Right” game with Procurement;
- Vision board workshops to chart your path;
- AAPI mentorship network trivia games;
- A food drive benefiting Island Harvest and local food banks with thank-you gifts for those who donate two or more items;
- River rock painting project;
- Photo booths where attendees can get their CommUniverity momento photo taken;
- SBU acronym trivia challenge;
- “Find Out in 15” where students present their research and creative projects;
- An ice cream social;
- Home football game: Stony Brook SeaWolves vs. Richmond Spiders (starts at 3:30pm).
Free admission and parking. Learn more at https://www.stonybrook.edu/
About Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University — New York’s flagship university and No. 1 public university — is going far beyond the expectations of today’s public universities. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. With almost 26,000 students, more than 2,900 faculty members, more than 200,000 alumni, a premier academic healthcare system and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs, Stony Brook is a research-intensive distinguished center of innovation dedicated to addressing the world’s biggest challenges. The university embraces its mission to provide comprehensive undergraduate, graduate and professional education of the highest quality, and is ranked as the #58 overall university and #26 among public universities in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report Best America’s Colleges listing. Fostering a commitment to academic research and intellectual endeavors, Stony Brook’s membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places it among the top 71 research institutions in North America. The university’s distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Stony Brook has the responsibility of co-managing Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy — one of only eight universities with a role in running a national laboratory. In 2023, Stony Brook was named the anchor institution for the New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island in New York City. Providing economic growth for neighboring communities and the wider geographic region, the university totals an impressive $7.23 billion in increased economic output on Long Island. Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/