SUNY Oswego names arena and convocation hall after its retiring president

OSWEGO, N.Y. — SUNY Oswego has renamed its arena and convocation hall after Deborah Stanley, the school’s president who plans to retire at the end of this calendar year.

Donors, led by the Oswego College Foundation board, have raised more than $2.4 million to name the facility the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall.

Rose Cardamone Crane, who chairs the board of directors of the Oswego College Foundation, on Friday made the announcement at SUNY Oswego’s Founder’s Weekend luncheon. During the event, the college recognized Stanley, who announced in May her intentions to retire in December after 26 years as president and 44 years at the college.

The multimillion-dollar gift establishes an endowed fund that will be used to keep the ice arena and convocation hall equipped with the latest technology and amenities, the university said.

The SUNY board of trustees approved the naming at its full board meetings earlier last week.

“This campus center, and in particular this arena and convocation hall, serve as the heart of the SUNY Oswego campus,” Crane said. “It is the place where students launch their academic careers during the annual Welcoming Torchlight Ceremony and where they conclude their careers during the annual commencement ceremony. This arena is the most fitting space on campus to recognize the indelible impact that President Stanley has made. We want her contributions to SUNY Oswego to live in perpetuity in a space that she helped make a reality. I am thrilled to announce the naming of the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall.”

Early in her tenure as president, Stanley shared her vision for a student center and indoor corridor to serve as a main hub of activity that also provided an enclosed walkway to connect the campus, “known for its formidable winters and winds off Lake Ontario,” per a university news release.

She also wanted the new campus center to contain space for student organizations, career services, experiential learning, and an ice arena and convocation hall to make Laker athletic contests and large-scale concerts and cultural events more accessible to students. The vision became reality when the campus center opened in 2006, the school said.