SUNY Old Westbury is inspiring students to be advocates and “speak out.”
The SUNY Old Westbury community gathered on November 10, 2025, to celebrate the new "Speak Out" mural on campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Located outside of the Woodlands Residence Halls, the colorful mural was designed to reflect the values of diversity and inclusion at SUNY Old Westbury through the depiction of students and symbols representing varied races, religions, identities and abilities. The mural’s symbols of advocacy and words reading “Speak Out” featured in both bold white letters and American Sign Language letter signs reminds the Old Westbury community to use their voice for the betterment of society.
Old Westbury is all about you letting your voice be heard...
- Damani Strachan '26
Created to both inspire students and create a sense of unity, the wall’s location allows Woodlands resident students walking to class in the New Academic Building and those heading back to their residences to view and read the messaging.
“They can see this and just know that Old Westbury is all about you letting your voice be heard,” said Damani Strachan '26, an Accounting major and chief financial officer of the Student Government Association, which funded the project. .
The event served as a milestone recognizing the institution's mission of community engagement, global citizenship and intercultural understanding.
“This represents one of our campus' most grand pillars, if you will, and that is social justice” said Randall Edouard, vice president of student affairs and dean of students. “Our students personify what that means every day they walk on our campus.”
The four-month process to create the “Speak Out” wall included the collaborative efforts of the Center for Student Leadership and Involvement, SGA, the campus’ administrative leadership and local artist Anthony Cappetto.