(The following letter was posted to the website and DomeNet on 4/16/04)

To All Alumni:

The Development Officer at the Maritime College has recently mailed to our membership Volume 1, Issue 1 of a new College publication "Maritime Navigator." As most of you who subscribe to DomeNet are aware, this newsletter is not a publication of our 101-year-old Alumni Association. Please pass the word on this point, because the back cover of the publication requests news, contact information updates, and the names of spouses and children.

Your Alumni Association is NOT the entity that is requesting this private information: it is being requested by the State of New York and its officials and employees. The Development Officer's newsletter and its solicitation for "alumni news" were mass-mailed during the current 30-day "cooling off" period between our 101-year-old Alumni Association and SUNY. The cooling off period was agreed upon during a recent meeting in Albany with several legislators who are trying to resolve the situation that exists between SUNY and the Alumni Association. During this cooling off period, the Alumni Association has acted in good faith, complying fully with the letter and spirit of that agreed-upon measure. We have also, through the legislators acting as mediators, offered SUNY a fair and reasonable contract, in an effort to reach accord in the wake of recent events and in an attempt to work with SUNY for the benefit of the alumni, the College, and, especially, the Cadets.

Although you are obviously free to share your personal information with the State of New York as requested on the back cover of the Development Officer's newsletter, we respectfully urge you to refrain from doing so. The Board has taken heed of the expressed wishes of many Association members that we try to mediate this dispute. We are confident that with the support that we have in Albany, this matter will be resolved in the not-too-distant future, allowing us to continue our time-honored role of supporting the College and the Cadets.

Your continued patience, cooperation and support are greatly appreciated.