President Michelle J. Anderson met with State Senator Andrew Gounardes (26th District) on February 9 to discuss the funding Brooklyn College needs to thrive. Gounardes, chair of the Committee on Budget and Revenue, and Anderson reviewed CUNY’s budget request to the state for fiscal year 2025 of $352 million in operating funds and $1.2 billion in capital funding, which includes $100 million for renovations of Roosevelt and Ingersoll halls for expanded, modernized teaching and research laboratories, classrooms, academic offices, and spaces for student study and socializing. In their conversation, President Anderson underscored the importance of greatly increasing the operational and capital investments in CUNY, including its mandatory cost increases, contractual increases, and a new PSC contract. “This is one of many meetings I am having with elected officials during this budget season,” President Anderson said. “For close to 100 years, Brooklyn College has served as an anchor institution in the borough, and I plan to fight for every dollar this great institution needs to thrive. I will do everything in my power to lobby for strong funding to support our extraordinary students, staff, and faculty.” With the requirement that the final New York State budget be filed by April 1, President Anderson said she will continue to lobby for a budget Brooklyn College deserves by meeting with state senators and assemblymembers—both downstate and in Albany. Two trips to the capital are already planned. Sen. Gounardes represents the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Vinegar Hill, and DUMBO. He was elected in November 2018. In fall 2023, 960 Brooklyn College students hailed from Sen. Gounardes’ district. The district is also home to 166 faculty members and 2,525 alumni.
