Highlighting its commitment to achieving gender equality on campus and across the globe, Stony Brook University co-hosted the UN Women’s HeForShe second anniversary event, welcoming world leaders, activists, change-makers and celebrities.
The evening reception was held September 20, 2016 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and co-hosted by SBU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, along with two other IMPACT 10x10x10 Champions: Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland, and Bob Moritz, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited.
“Stony Brook University is committed to be the national leader — a model in gender equality in the United States for colleges and universities,” said President Stanley. “That is why we are so invested in HeForShe. It provides a visionary and sound foundation from which we can all work together to improve the human condition through the achievement of gender equality.”
Tuesday’s event followed the launch of the first HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 University Parity report, charting progress toward gender parity at 10 leading universities including Stony Brook. President Stanley is one of 10 university presidents worldwide (and one of two in the U.S.) designated as as a HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 champion, committing to take bold game-changing action to achieve gender equality within and beyond their institutions.
“We have taken bold steps toward closing the gender gap in matriculation and graduation rates; integrating gender equality into the academic and social experience; and building upon the existing work of our Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities, to help drive a global understanding of the role of men in achieving true equality,” Stanley said.
President Stanley (third from left) with @EmWatson and @phumzileunwomen (center) at today’s #HeForShe event! (pc: @UN_Women) pic.twitter.com/staJw8Gbos
— Stony Brook U. (@stonybrooku) September 20, 2016
In the Stony Brook section of the University Parity report, President Stanley highlights progress made thus far, including:
- Building gender sensitization programming and gender equality themes into its mandatory freshman seminar class. As of last fall, 3,000 first-year and transfer students completed formal coursework in gender equality and the HeForShe campaign.
- Forming a HeForShe Steering Committee comprising students, faculty and staff to oversee the implementation of the IMPACT commitments.
- In 2016, Stony Brook hosted the first-ever SUNY-wide HeForShe conference to work with all SUNY campuses to develop programs to increase gender equality and engage men.
- Offering the first-ever master’s degree program in Masculinities Studies within the University’s Center for Men and Masculinities Studies, becoming a leader in the field.
Speaking at the HeForShe anniversary celebration at MOMA, President Stanley said universities are central to this process because they are the cradles of tomorrow’s leadership.
“It gives me great satisfaction on a daily basis to meet and work with students and scholars who are finding ways to surmount those obstacles as they look toward a more promising future,” he said.
“Ever since Stony Brook made the HeForShe commitment, conversations have skyrocketed, and that’s where HeForShe’s power lies as a movement on college campuses,” said Bridget Foley ‘17, an Environmental Humanities major. “Now that HeForShe has a presence at the University, my peers and colleagues are curious about, or at least aware of, gender inequality, and that makes cultivating the necessary discussions so much easier.”
As co-hosts of the MOMA event, President Stanley and Stony Brook students welcomed a glittering list of dignitaries and celebrities, including:
- Emma Watson, actor and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador;
- Chirlane McCray, First Lady of New York City;
- Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show”;
- Edgar Ramirez, actor, and:
- Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan.
“It is so exciting to celebrate the second anniversary of the launch of HeForShe,” said Charles L. Robbins, SUNY UN Women HeForShe Coordinator, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the Undergraduate Colleges at Stony Brook University. “As one of only 10 Impact Universities globally Stony Brook University is engaged in addressing gender equality on our campus, within the SUNY system and the world. I am so proud of what we have done and the potential of what we are committed to accomplish.”
- See Stony Brook University’s HeForShe web site.
“Change can be swift and sweeping once society reaches consensus on a critical issue” – Samuel L. Stanley @stonybrooku #HeForShe #TurnsTwo
— HeForShe (@HeforShe) September 21, 2016
HeForShe 2nd Anniversary celebration, September 20, 2016
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