The campus community found out Monday morning that Stony Brook University is beginning construction of a Panopticon-style structure on the Staller Steps.
The Stony Brook Press, however, knew two hours before the forklifts rolled onto the Steps that the tower was coming. We knew this because Andrea Goldsmith, the newly elected SBU president, added one of our editors to a Telegram group chat containing administrators such as Vice President for Student Affairs, Rick Gatteau, and Vice President for Enterprise Risk Management, Larry Zacarese.
We can only assume Goldsmith meant to add SBU Interim President Richard McCormick instead of a Press staffer. In the texts, administrators also discussed plans to move Lot 40 to Coram, build residential submarines to make up for the lack of campus housing after the fall semester’s floods, deforest the Ashley Schiff preserve to build a Walmart supercenter, give the hockey club $1 million and more.
“They’re complaining about parking, They’re complaining about housing… how about this: apartments in South P. And they want more parking? We’ll buy a huge vacant lot in Coram,” Goldsmith wrote to administrators.
Gatteau contested that Coram is about 8 miles away from campus, which is upwards of a three hour walk, mostly on highways — but Zacarese reacted to the text with a wolf emoji. There will be no shuttle bus from Coram to campus, Goldsmith added.
Other members of the administration looked to Goldsmith for answers on the housing shortage at SBU, which worsened after flooding rendered much of Mendelsohn Quad uninhabitable in August. The storms left some buildings, such as Ammann Hall, submerged in several feet of water, with incoming freshmen forced to live in tripled dorms.
“Submarines can’t flood, right? We’ll put beds in them and call it an ‘underwater island experience’ and charge triple what we’re charging them in Mendy,” Goldsmith wrote.
Zacarese responded to the message with three fire emojis before moving on to his plans to construct a Panopticon, or a cylindrical tower designed to allow prison guards to surveil inmates at all times. The building will employ the University Police Department and cost $1 billion to construct, Zacarese added.
“The Steps will be a much safer place for fun under our watch,” Gatteau wrote about the Panopticon, adding that they may need to sell the new Wolfie statue outside of the library on Facebook Marketplace to help pay for construction.
Construction of the tower began Monday — just a few months after Gatteau reaffirmed to students in a January email that erecting “structures” on the Steps is not permitted. The definition of a structure became a contentious issue during last spring’s protests, when university police momentarily argued that a person sleeping under a blanket was considered a structure.
Despite the budget issues the Panopticon raises, Goldsmith advised Gatteau to write the hockey club a check for $1 million. He responded with an ice cube emoji. To pay for the new expenses, Goldsmith advised officials that the Ashley Schiff nature preserve on campus would be cleared by the end of the week to make room for a Walmart supercenter. The proposed supermarket will have a 500-car lot that is unavailable to SBU students, Goldsmith added.
SBU officials did not admit to accidentally adding a Press editor to their group chat and reiterated that no confidential information was leaked. However, officials asked The Press not to publish the information contained in the chat, writing, “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE,” in an email statement Sunday evening.
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