Policy 4.3 - Naming of College Facilities, Areas, & Roads

Date: December 15, 2025, Resolution #24-143

Supersedes:
February 23, 2016, Resolution #16-28

Purpose

Naming a campus facility is considered a prestigious honor, not just at SUNY Schenectady, but throughout the entire country. Facility naming recognizes individuals or corporations that continuously support, through their generous gifts of time, talent and treasure, the future success of SUNY Schenectady. This policy provides guidance on the naming of buildings, areas of use, or roads owned by SUNY Schenectady.

Policy

Consistent with the past practice, the Board of Trustees will give consideration to the following principles and criteria in considering recommended names for college buildings, areas of use or roads:

  1. Recommended name should have significance to the College or the County either personally or historically, or
  2. Persons whose names are recommended should have had some direct involvement with either the development, management or operation of the College, or
  3. Philanthropic support can be a basis for the naming of facilities as long as the following guidelines are met through the SUNY Schenectady Foundation, Inc.

Naming Process

Individuals or organizations who would like to have a facility named in their honor should solicit the SUNY Schenectady Foundation, Inc. with their intentions. The Vice President of Development and External Affairs will then present the gift pledge to the SUNY Schenectady Foundation Board of Directors for approval and acceptance of the gift. Once the motion is made by the Foundation Board to accept the gift, the recommendation will be made to the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees for final approval. After the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees approves the gift, the donor will be notified by the Vice President of Development and External Affairs or the College President.

Guidelines for Naming Facilities

Solicitation for naming can be made for a building, classroom, lab, conference room, lounge, banquet hall, dining room, office or any other space deemed appropriate on the SUNY Schenectady Campus. Minimum donations for these spaces will be determined by the Vice President of Development and External Affairs on a case by case basis.

Buildings

Minimum donations for the naming of a building will be within the most current guidelines of the State University New York (SUNY) at the time of the donation. Classroom, Labs and Other Campus Areas Minimum donations for other campus spaces will be determined by the President and Vice President of Development and External Affairs on a case by case basis.

Contribution Guidelines

All naming gifts need to be documented in the form of an outright gift or an irrevocable pledge, to be fulfilled within five years or less with annual payments. The minimum initial contribution must be 25 percent of the total pledge. The remaining minimum contributions must be 15 percent annually over a period of five years.

Procedure

  1. Recommendations for the naming of buildings, areas of use or roads must be submitted to the Board of Trustees with thorough written justification as to how the proposed name meets the foregoing principles and criteria.
  2. The President will advise the Chair of the Schenectady County Legislator in writing of the naming recommendation at least seven (7) days prior to Board action on the recommendation.
  3. The Board of Trustees will review the recommendation with guidance from the President. Upon guidance of the President, the Board, in turn, will act on the recommendation.

Historically, the following buildings and areas are examples of namings across campus:

  • Elston Hall: For Charles Elston, Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees
  • Begley Library Wing: Named in honor of Owen Begley, founding Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
  • Stockade Wing: Named for the historic Stockade District in Schenectady.
  • Gateway: Named for the historic Gateway Bridge and surrounding area of Schenectady.
  • Kindl Building: Donated by the Kindl family of Schenectady, after the death of Fred Henry Kindl, famous Engineer, with the family’s name standing for Knowledge, Innovation, Development Laboratory.
  • The Casola Dining Room (former Stockade Room): Named for Matteo “Mattie” A. Casola, who developed the culinary program at the College, and served as professor and Chairman of the Hotel Technology/Culinary Arts Program, and part-time instructor in the Business Administration Department.
  • Statler Labs: Named for the Statler Foundation, donors of $50,000 of Culinary Equipment for these labs. (Note: these were demolished and reconstructed during
    the 1991-92 renovations).
  • Lally Mohawk Room: Named for the Lally Family, who donated funding for renovations of the Mohawk Room, generally used as a public room in Elston Hall.
  • Van Curler Room: Named for historic elements of Schenectady and the name of the original Hotel that the Main College Campus now occupies, generally used as a public room in Elston Hall.
  • Joshua Schwartz Café: Named for philanthropist, and adjunct faculty member, Dr. Joshua S. Schwartz.
  • Carl B. Taylor Auditorium: Named for Reverend Carl B. Taylor, former Chair of the College’s Board of Trustees.
  • The Joan R. Dembinski Chocolate and Confections Lab: Named for Joan R. Dembinski ’10 who graduated the College with her degree in Culinary Arts, and whose generosity has transformed the lives of students through scholarships and enhanced campus initiatives.

Several campus facilities have generic, functional names:

  • Center for Science and Technology (CST) Functional facility: The former GE/WRGB Building, 60 Washington Avenue
  • The School of Music Building. Functional facility: Located on the main campus, 78 Washington Avenue
  • The Aviation Hanger. Functional Facility: Located at Schenectady County Airport, 8 Tower Road

Terms and Leased Property Spaces

While namings are expected to exist far into the future, naming terms should be described in the gift agreement or other documentation as limited to the life/use/existence of the building, facility, or programs. This permits renaming to occur far into the future should the building be demolished, rendered functionally obsolete, or require major renovation. In the case of a program, center or institute, this permits the program to be eliminated if no longer effective.

Leased College buildings, classrooms, labs, or other spaces named by the College for donors or other recognized individuals are named for the term of the lease and any succeeding lease. Upon the termination of any lease, the Foundation will consult with the donor or the donor’s representatives to find an appropriate course of action.

Honorary Namings

Honorary namings are exceptional in nature and may be granted only under special circumstances, giving credence to precedents, stature and reputation of the person, and the significance of their impact to society and/or the College consistent with policy.

Removing a Name or Renaming

College buildings, classrooms, labs, or other spaces named by the College for donors or other recognized individuals may have the name reviewed for removal after a written letter of recommendation is provided to the SUNY Schenectady Foundation, Inc. stating the rational for the change, supported by any evidence justifying the review. The Vice President of Development and External Affairs will then work with a review committee of members of the College selected by the College President to review the request to deem it appropriate or not, and present their recommendations and findings and all documentation to the SUNY Schenectady Foundation Board of Directors for approval or rejection. If accepted, the recommendation will be made to the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees for final approval or rejection.

Criteria

At a minimum committee members will consider a number of factors, including how central any actions are to the honoree’s legacy, whether those actions were considered conventional back when the name was approved and whether keeping the name would negatively impact the College and community members. For instance, being convicted of a felony or treason, or participating in or advocating for “segregation, eugenics, or other forms of discrimination based on protected class, as legally defined” are among the instances of “significant wrongdoing or misconduct” that can preclude someone from being honored with a naming from the College or having a name removed.

The President and Board of Trustees are the final arbiters of a decision of this magnitude

Procedure

  1. Recommendations for removing or renaming the names of buildings, areas of use or roads must be submitted to the Board of Trustees with thorough written justification as to how the name no longer meets the aforementioned principles and criteria.
  2. The President will advise the Chair of the Schenectady County Legislator in writing of the recommendation to remove or rename at least seven (7) days prior to Board action on the recommendation.
  3. The Board of Trustees will review the recommendation with guidance from the President. Upon guidance of the President, the Board, in turn, will act on the recommendation.
  4. If the Board of Trustees approves of the recommendation, any living donor will be notified by the Vice President of Development and External Affairs or the College President.

Approved by the SUNY Schenectady Board of Trustees, December 15, 2025, Resolution
#25-143, Naming of College Facilities, Areas, & Roads Policy.