Stony Brook University President And Students Front And Center At UN Women’s “HeForShe” 2nd Anniversary Celebration At The MOMA
New York – Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. and 21 Stony Brook students, along with world leaders, activists, change-makers and celebrities recommitted to fast-tracking gender equality at UN Women’s HeForShe second anniversary events on Sept. 20.
The events were kicked off with the launch of the first HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 University Parity report, which is the first progress report since 10 leading global universities publicly announced bold commitments to achieve gender parity in academia by 2020. 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. Implementing HeForShe at Stony Brook and among the 64 SUNY campuses throughout New York State is helping to shape the experiences of more than 459,000 students and almost 90,000 faculty and staff, giving Stony Brook University an unprecedented reach to effect positive change.
“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.”
In the Stony Brook section of the University Parity report, President Stanley highlights progress made thus far, including:
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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. “We will reach 100 percent of our undergraduate students by the 2019 academic year,” said President Stanley.
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Forming a HeForShe Steering Committee comprising students, faculty and staff to oversee the implementation of the IMPACT commitments.
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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.
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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.
The evening reception, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, was co-hosted by IMPACT 10x10x10 Champions:
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President Stanley and Stony Brook University;
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His Excellency Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland;
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and Bob Moritz, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited.
And included the following guests:
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Emma Watson, British Actor and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador;
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Chirlane McCray, First Lady of New York City;
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Trevor Noah, Host of The Daily Show
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Edgar Ramirez, Actor
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His Excellency, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan;
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His Excellency, Peter Mutharika, President of Malawi,
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Peter Thomson, President of the United Nations General Assembly;
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Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women;
“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.
The HeForShe global solidarity movement for gender equality, commemorated the anniversary with bold commitments, powerful stories of change, and new narratives about what it means to be HeForShe.
“HeForShe was launched in the conviction that we needed to find the right way for men to get involved in changing the status quo,” Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women said. “Last night’s activists have shown us how together we really can get rapid,
incremental results that benefit both women and men. Their work will open new opportunities that reinforce each other in schools, workplaces and wider communities. Millions of men and boys have already signed up for gender equality and now we need to get the next 1 million on board.”
Showcasing stories of global activists, the MoMA event renewed momentum to create a gender equal world by or before 2030. Highlights from the night included stories about the impact of outlawing child marriage and sending girls back to school in Malawi; how HeForShe IMPACT scholarships are creating more opportunities for girls in the STEM fields; and what happens when college fraternity brothers unite to stop sexual assault. Celebrity activists like Emma Watson and Edgar Ramirez shared their personal stories and explored the universal nature of gender equality.
Stony Brook University joined UN Women’s HeForShe solidarity movement in 2015 as an IMPACT 10x10x10 champion, which aims to mobilize one billion men and boys in support of gender equality.
Seen & Heard
“The reason I have shared my personal journey is that though this is a global movement, it is each of our personal stories and what we choose to do that will make a global difference,” said UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson at the event. “And at this moment in history, there is a unique opportunity and energy for us to win change all over the world.”
“There has long been a misconception that gender equality is a women’s movement,” said Actor Edgar Ramirez. “But gender equality is actually about just that –equality. It is a liberation movement for each and every person that has ever felt the burden of a gender stereotype or the pain of discrimination or the pressure to fit into an uncomfortable mold.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Getting involved with the HeForShe movement has been an amazing experience for me as it has allowed me to meet and connect with people who are willing to fight for equal human rights. I believe that supporting feminism is supporting basic human rights,” said Saba Khalid ’17, a Biomedical Engineering major.
Photos: Office of Media Relations-Stony Brook University
