November 14, 2024

UUP President Fred Kowal called on the SUNY Board of Trustees to make SUNY a public good that’s accessible to everyone by making a SUNY education cost-free and expanding health care and education at SUNY’s public teaching hospitals.

By making such an investment, the Trustees can “open the doors to SUNY like never before,” and turn New Yorkers—especially those who have concerns and doubts about the importance of a college degree—into SUNY supporters and advocates for public higher education.

Kowal made the statements as part of his testimony to the Trustees at a virtual Nov. 13 hearing on university issues. View a video of his testimony HERE.

“We need to bring everyone in, especially those who have never even considered a public higher education or are opposed to the idea for political reasons,” Kowal said. “Let’s bring them in. Let’s open the doors. By creating these opportunities, let’s turn the public into allies and advocates on behalf of our institutions and higher ed in general.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning Nov. 5 victory has provided an opportunity for the Trustees to prove SUNY’s worth to state citizens and people across America by making these sustained investments in SUNY, he said.

“We must create a public that is tuned in politically, that is aware and educated,” said Kowal.

Care for SUNY’s hospitals

Kowal said that the incoming Trump administration is expected to target the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, two reasons for the Trustees to consider expanding public health care services instead of trying to curtail them—which is what SUNY has attempted to do at Downstate University Hospital for more than a decade.

Earlier this year, UUP thwarted SUNY’s misguided attempt to close SUNY Downstate University Hospital in Central Brooklyn, which serves more than 400,000 patients each year and treats everyone regardless of whether they can pay for care. A community advisory board, mandated in the 2024-2025 state budget and charged with charting the hospital’s future, has yet to be appointed.

However, the hospital is hurting financially; $100 million in state operating aid has not been released by the Division of Budget because SUNY hasn’t submitted a financial plan for the hospital. UUP, in a Nov. 1 press release, criticized SUNY for failing to submit its plan for Downstate to the DOB.

“We have to expand opportunity and turn the debate around,” Kowal said. “It’s not about isolated institutions, but institutions that are part of this society and that serve to make the society better.”