Panel Discussion Celebrates Stony Brook’s Partnership with Javits Foundation

A panel discussion on the legacy of U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits explored key themes in his career and their continuing relevance in today's political and societal landscape.

Javits - after whom the Javits Lecture Hall on campus is named - played a critical role in shaping national policies on civil rights, social justice, the arts and environmental protection during his more than three decades of service as an elected official from New York. In March, The Marian B. and Jacob K. Javits Foundation gave $1 million to create SBU Libraries' largest endowment,which will preserve, promote and make accessible the Senator Jacob K. Javits Collection at Stony Brook, with the hope that the public, scholars and elected officials can build on the legacy of the senator's celebrated body of work.

"His political brand was bipartisanship, civil rights, civic justice and public service," said Reuben Kline, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and host of the panel. "Unfortunately, these are things that we see less of these days. What we'll talk about today is 'how can we still embody the Javits spirit in this day and age?'"

The event was held on September 9 in Frey Hall, in conjunction with Kline's POL 103: Comparative Politics course.

"It's very meaningful for our family and the whole Javits Foundation Board of Directors, to be with you here today, celebrating my father," said Carla Javits, the late senator's daughter. "My father spent his entire life in service development. He believed in civil rights, education, health, housing, engagement with the world, and for those who continually exhibits respect for his allies and for people with different views. We're here today to honor my father's legacy, to encourage you to find ways and to encourage others to make use of his ideas and his approach to public service and policy making to strengthen our democracy and build more trust in it."

The discussion began with a poll of whether attendees in the room felt that current government institutions are sufficiently transparent; 96 percent of the more than 100 respondents said "no."

Reed Howard, chief strategy and public affairs officer for Future Caucus, a nonpartisan network of Millennial and Gen Z lawmakers promoting cross-partisan leadership, began by addressing declining accountability to constituents.

"Institutions require transparency in order to serve, and the best types of leaders are the ones who are going back to their communities to share with people what they've been doing on their behalf," he said. "If you're going to ask someone for their vote, I think you should be on the hook to go back to that person and tell them what you did because of their vote. And I think what we're seeing right now is a breakdown, and people who feel like they don't have to go back to the people that they represent, who they can either report only to their best friends and special interests and their campaign donors, and I think that's fueling a breakdown of trust between citizens and their leaders."

"As somebody who has served in the New York State Legislature for 15 years, we have a great Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) in New York that really has had a presumption of the record being disclosed," said Assemblyman Edward Ra, who represents New York's 19th Assembly District in Nassau County and has served since 2010. "How that happens in practice is an entirely different story."

Ra spoke about politicians who are adept at deflecting FOIL requests.

"One of the things we've looked at in recent years is trying to arm the public with appropriate tools when those requests are just completely ignored and put off for long periods of time," he said. "It's interesting looking at the survey in this room because it shows most people would agree that this is important for honest government. But there are things that make me bang my head against the wall on a regular basis at the state level that I think are anti-transparent, and yet it's very hard to get the public to care about and think that is something that is essential to fixing government."

The panel also addressed the issue of bipartisanship and political integrity, both staples of Jacob Javits career.

"I'm really heartened that a lot of young people here really have some hope about the future," said Jud Sommer, former executive assistant to Senator Javits. "Without raining on your parade, I'm kind of locked into the time when Senator Javits, as the senior Republican committee leader could, with the committee chairs support, get meaningful public economic legislation through Congress. But that's impossible today, no Republican in either house has the capacity to do that. The late 60s and 70s were a Halcyon time when you could do legislation with Republicans and Democrats in both the Senate and the House. That's simply not possible today."

Ra stressed the importance of both sides talking to each other.

"As crazy as that sounds, we live in a time when it's so easy for people to only watch the channel or read the newspaper that's going to echo the opinions that they already have," he said. "One of the things I learned is that a lot of the things that we think are political differences, aren't really political differences. Districts are very different. When you start to realize that and look at it from that perspective, it's easier to have a better sense of where somebody's coming from, instead of just saying they only feel that way because they're Republican or Democrat."

For Kline, it was a valuable opportunity to give his students a glimpse at what politics was during Senator Javits lifetime, and what it can be again.

"The generosity of the Javits family is what made all of this possible," he said. "Since Senator Javits and Assemblyman Ra and the Future Caucus are all known for their bipartisanship and working across the aisle, I think it was refreshing for the students to get a peak into the less cynical aspects of politics."

Javits had a long-standing relationship with former Stony Brook University President John H. Marburger III and spent time at the university, meeting with faculty and students and giving lectures on campus. In 1981, he gifted his papers, documenting his 34 years in public office, to Stony Brook. "It is my hope that this collection will be a source of creativity in human and governmental endeavors," said Javits at the time. Today, with more than 2 million items, the Senator Jacob K. Javits Collection at Special Collections is the largest archival collection at the University Libraries.

Funding for the Jacob K. Javits Collection Engagement Fund will be amplified by the New York State endowment match program and the Simons Infinity Investment Match Challenge, which will triple the impact this endowment gift will have on Stony Brook. For more information, visit stonybrook.edu/endowments.

-Robert Emproto