A Big Red 'X'

For years, the historic windmill on what is now the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University has been its iconic image. It has graced promotional materials, and the piece of history on its hilltop perch is an indelible image of the entire campus itself.

Today, with a giant red “X” designating it as neglected and now condemned for safety reasons after a routine inspection, it remains the perfect representation of Stony Brook University on the campus.

What is happening in Shinnecock Hills? Does Stony Brook plan to invest in the campus, or is the condition of its structures a sign of not just neglect but indifference? Even contempt? The red letter asks all those questions.

In an in-depth interview with The Express News Group 18 months ago, Stony Brook University President Dr. Maurie McInnis, who has held the post since July 2020, said a lot of the right things about Stony Brook Southampton. “I’ve really tried to spend a lot of time at Stony Brook Southampton and think about what its place is, both in Southampton and its place as part of Stony Brook,” she said.

The sixth president of the university isn’t the first to mull this question. The campus has been in flux over the past few administrations since Stony Brook took ownership. The fine arts, writing and marine science programs there have been consistent, but the vision for what it might become has flickered. McInnis’s predecessor, Dr. Samuel Stanley, set it on a course focusing on medicine and science, and the plan to build a new $350 million hospital on the campus

McInnis painted a picture of a “vibrant arts program” remaining at the Southampton campus, via the new Lichtenstein Center, even as the focus shifts to health care professions. And the marine science program here “can engage in the kinds of research that means we can work with the community in making sure that remains a very healthy place for everybody.”

The university was just beginning a strategic planning process, of which the Southampton campus was a topic area. But the evidence so far does not point to the campus being “vibrant,” as its buildings fall into disrepair and are condemned — and even its iconic windmill is shuttered.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. has been livid about the decline. With the passion of someone who graduated from Southampton College, and then fought hard to keep Long Island University from selling it off as 80 acres of high-priced luxury house lots, he points to the departure of Matthew Whelan, the university’s former vice president for strategic initiatives, who left in 2020 and has not been replaced. That roughly coincides with the declining infrastructure, and Thiele’s stinging attacks on Stony Brook as a “slumlord.” “SBU has no plan for the campus and no plans to make plans,” he said this week.

This is how it looks to all of us on the South Fork, and it’s up to Stony Brook officials to address this. The university is building a new emergency room for East Hampton and is presumably actively seeking donations toward the plans for a new hospital on the campus. It will be the linchpin for its future, and it could be that any new investment in campus infrastructure might be on hold as a result.

If so, say it. Because the big red “X” on the historic windmill is speaking volumes right now, and it’s got the floor to itself.