If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything it is that our students are amazingly resilient. In defiance of all the difficulties they have faced, the Class of 2020 has chosen to rise up and continue to make a positive impact on the world.


Pano Sourlis (left) and Vincent DeStefano (right) with donations from local school districts that they delivered to the Wang Center for Stony Brook University Hospital’s frontline workers.

Graduating Seawolves Pano Sourlis and Vincent DeStefano were among those determined to find a way to help others, even as they overcame the challenges of navigating distance learning.

When the call went out from Stony Brook University of the need for PPE donations in mid-March, Sourlis and DeStefano rallied local school districts for donations and collected hundreds of cases of masks, gloves, gowns, wipes, shields, and more. The two friends were among the first to deliver the much-needed equipment to help protect frontline doctors and nurses at Stony Brook University Hospital during the peak of the pandemic.

The engineering students reached out to more than 15 districts to encourage them to donate their excess PPE to help frontline workers. This led many districts to donate their supplies on their own, including nearby Comsewogue and Port Jefferson.

DeStefano and Sourlis also facilitated in the physical donation of supplies by driving across the county to collect donations from multiple school districts, including Commack, Kings Park, Smithtown, and Patchogue-Medford, ensuring the safe delivery of the supplies to Stony Brook.

Read the full story: Graduating Seawolves Rally to Help Frontline Fighters | | SBU News

Staller Center‘s Director Alan Inkles and his team have been hard at work to bring you online resources that help you stay connected with the arts during these trying times.

The Staller Center is offering new resources from its Instrument Petting Zoo for people at home with children or grandchildren who are looking for things to do with them. You can also download music education workbooks and create music together at home. Visit stallercenter.com/outreach for all available content.

Also, if you’re missing the broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera or the National Theatre Live you can find nightly streams from both available online.

“All year long, the Staller Center relies on the generosity and kindness of our patrons, donors and sponsors,” said Inkles. “More than ever, it is important to support our local businesses and community members.”

For ways to help our community partners and Stony Brook Medicine through this crisis, please click here.

Join Staller Center’s email list to stay informed of any future announcements.

An acidic ocean that won’t support marine life. Plants and animals that can’t adapt to that acidification.

Armed with facts and research data, Stony Brook students are on the frontline to combat these threats to Earth’s land, sea and air, and its inhabitants. 

Alyson Hall ’20 and Amanda Thomas ‘21 are just two of the University’s marine “warriors” directing attention to the planet’s plight in an era when science is often pitted against hearsay, and profits can take precedence over public health and natural resources.

Read the full story: Stony Brook Students Join the Frontlines of Climate Change Research