Erika Karp

Community Relations Representative for SBUH, University and Hospital Community Relations Office
Start Date: May 2, 2022

From state-of-the-art healthcare services to top-tier education programs, SBU has so much to offer the surrounding community. Stony Brook veteran Erika Karp is now the liaison who keeps our campus connected to Long Islanders everywhere, particularly when it comes to the Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) side.

“We want to empower people here to go out into our communities and do good work,” she says. “It’s important to engage with others and create welcoming environments. We also want to embody that welcoming spirit on campus so people get excited about coming here for events and programs.”

One initiative Erika exalts is the Health Occupations Partnership for Excellence (HOPE) Program, an on-campus after-school program for underrepresented and underserved students enrolled at Brentwood, Longwood and Wyandanch high schools. The program caters to students seeking careers in healthcare and medicine and sets them up for success in higher education, aiming to amend the lack of diversity in the field for future generations.

And on Wednesday, June 28, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital will sponsor Superhero Night with appearances by Spider-Man and Iron Man at the Long Island Ducks Baseball stadium. The evening will also feature a Kids Health and Safety Expo, highlighting resources and services available at Stony Brook for children and adolescents. 

Erika’s work is the cornerstone of initiatives like these. When there is a potential program or activity that would benefit the Stony Brook community and beyond, her job is to connect the dots and make it happen. She hopes Stony Brook Medicine employees and students will get in touch with her, especially if they’re interested in speaking to community groups or volunteering at events.

“I am always searching for new ways to collaborate with people and organizations on and off campus,” she says. “Community Relations is here to facilitate programs and promote initiatives that help improve health, wellness and overall quality of life in our communities.” 

Before she assumed her role at SBUH last May, Erika worked at the then-School of Journalism, which she attended as an undergraduate, for about seven years. She started as a staff assistant with a partial focus on student outreach and recruitment in 2015, but when the department evolved into the School of Communication and Journalism (SoCJ) in 2021, she began focusing on student outreach full-time.

“I loved my job, I loved my colleagues, and I loved the work I did,” she says. “I never expected to leave.” 

Erika was previously a Times Beacon Record reporter for about three years, and part of her missed engaging with the wider Long Island community on a regular basis. So when she saw the community relations position pop up on Stony Brook Jobs while casually scrolling, she was intrigued.

“I was really looking to get back out there, and this job has allowed me to do that,” says Erika, who also received her Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from SBU. “It’s funny because I’ve been at Stony Brook for so long, and yet this is still so new. Every day I’m learning and growing, and to be working with our hospital and medicine colleagues has been a real gift. It’s an honor to be among people who care so deeply about helping others.” 

She goes on to reference a quote from one of her favorite educational TV shows, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood – “when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,” Rogers said, “my mother would say to me, ‘look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” She says following this advice has become easier than ever.

“Think about how many helpers there are in our communities,” says Erika, who grew up in a family of healthcare providers. “People who volunteer their time to be part of our community groups, businesses that give back, restaurants that supported our healthcare workers through the pandemic with donated food and, of course, the people providing the care. Our office is here to open up those doors and nurture those connections, both internally and externally.”

When she’s not engaging with the local community at work, she’s doing so in her free time – exploring a newfound hiking trail with her husband James or dining at an eatery they’ve never been to before.

“I feel very lucky to live where I live,” she says. “There are so many new places to discover even though I’ve been here my whole life. Just like working at Stony Brook, some things never get old.”