When freshmen apply for housing, they are divided into quads based on areas of interest called Undergraduate Colleges (UGCs). The purpose is to bring together students who share similar interests.
To say Stony Brook University’s campus is diverse is somewhat of an understatement. Our students come from all walks of life; they come from different races, religions, nationalities, sexual orientations and not to mention have extremely varied personalities. Knowing this, wouldn’t it be neat if someone classified all these people? Maybe by giving each quad a distinct, defining characteristic? Or even better, an actual character? How about some of the most famous characters of all: the Greek Gods.
However surprising it might be to the current students of Stony Brook University, our campus was once such an active base of operations for left-leaning political causes that many considered it the “Berkeley of the East.” After the end of the Vietnam War and the demonization of liberal ideals that came with Carter’s defeat, the political activity at the university quickly lost this identity. While liberal causes have continued to have a fairly muted presence on campus, the new drive toward allowing males who have had sex with other males to donate blood calls back to years past when students truly cared enough to change the world.
Once a student selects an Undergraduate College based on their compatibility with said college’s philosophy, they are officially branded with these characteristics for the rest of their enrollment. This can be a bit problematic since it principally minimizes an entire group of people to one specific set of traits.
