Governor pledges support for UB 2020

This is a very exciting day for our University, our community, and our state.  In his State of the State address earlier today, Governor Spitzer outlined a bold investment that will propel the University at Buffalo toward the goals we have set forth with UB 2020.  The recognition of UB as a flagship within SUNY is a welcome bit of news for this task.

This investment will bring about a major transformation, not only here at UB but throughout our community.  It will lead to the creation of three vibrant campuses within one university.  I am thankful for the governor’s leadership and support.  He should know the entire University community stands ready to respond to the vision outlined today.

The Governor’s words come as a much appreciated recognition of what we here at UB already know: that we have extraordinary faculty, staff, and students.  They are the University at Buffalo.  They are as committed as I am to building a partnership between a great university and a great community—a partnership that will help to produce a new era of economic vitality for Western New York and contribute to offering a positive future for our children. 

Great cities help to define great universities, and great universities help to define great cities.  Recognizing this relationship, the Governor has called for a bold vision for how our downtown presence could look.  We will take up this challenge in good faith as we continue our campus planning.  And we will work closely with the surrounding communities and host cities. 

Through the UB Believers endeavor, we asked the community to believe in UB, and nearly 4,000 individuals have already responded to that call with an outpouring of support.  We asked the Governor to believe in UB, and he has now responded with an equally strong commitment.  We are grateful that he has become such a big UB Believer.

We have a lot of work left to do together; after all, this is a vision that will play out over the coming decade and a half.  We look forward to working in partnership with the members of the Western New York delegation, with the New York Legislature, and with our surrounding communities to realize this vision.

As prepared for delivery.

Quotes from Eliot Spitzer's State of the State Address

“We will move forward on the University of Buffalo’s "2020" expansion as a centerpiece of our strategy to reinvigorate the economy of Western New York.”

“UB will become an economic engine for Buffalo, and a flagship institution for a world class public university system.”