More than 4,000 members of the community enjoyed a beautiful day full of fun, learning and discovery at CommUniversity Day on September 21, 2019. The free festival, now in its third year, showcased the best of the University and Hospital through more than 100 interactive, hands-on activities and performances coordinated by more than 350 student and employee volunteers.
For a look at all the fun, check out this highlight video and view photos from the event on the University’s Flickr.
“It’s been incredible to see how the community has embraced CommUniversity Day,” said Joan Dickinson, Director of Community Relations and Executive Director of CommUniversity Day. “Each year, we see more and more neighbors, faculty, students, alumni and friends come out, engage with our volunteers and learn something new about Stony Brook.”
In the Health and Safety Neighborhood, the School of Dental Medicine saw a 40% increase in adults and children having oral health screenings from the first CommUniversity Day in 2017. More attendees this year also learned how to do Hands-Only CPR and how to stop emergency bleeding. “These activities connect the campus and community through engaged learning,” said Judy Greiman, Chief Deputy to the President and Senior Vice President for Government and Community Relations. “It’s great to see so many people exploring the University while having fun.”
Some of the new activities that drew crowds included the popular “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? Physics Edition,” a game created by students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Artists of all ages enjoyed trying their hand at the Zuccaire Gallery’s glass painting craft. Students in Dave Ecker’s iCreate Lab created a new Angry Birds game that was a hit in the Discovery Zone while the Stony Brook Stitchers were busy showing eager learners how to crochet and knit.
As has been tradition, CommUniversity Day ended with remarks by the President, songs from the OLLI Choir, the ice cream social, a performance by the Spirit of Stony Brook Marching Band and the Rubber Duck race.
“We are proud to open the doors to our campus departments to share a look inside with the community,” said Michael Bernstein, Interim President, Stony Brook University, as he addressed the crowd before the ice cream social. “From drones to kazoos, to the smoothie bike and dental screenings, I hope you had a chance to see something new today.”
CommUniversity Day was created and directed by the Office of Community Relations. The event was supported by a dozen team leaders and hundreds of volunteers, and funded through the Stony Brook University Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.
For more about CommUniversity Day, please visit stonybrook.edu/SBUCommUniversity.
Check out this slideshow of photos from CommUniversity Day 2019:
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