I can&#x27;t speak, or at least not much, to the changes that occurred in the 70&#x27;s.<p>But they are still happening today, and they are decidedly NOT in response to parents.  At all.  In fact, parents have very little power to effect change at a SUNY school as far as I can tell.<p>Rather, these seem to be directives coming from Albany (or beyond) and disseminated at conferences that are attended by Student Life &quot;professionals.&quot;<p>For example, go to just about any state school (including a SUNY) and take a walk around the Student Union.  I&#x27;ll bet that you&#x27;ll notice that it is swarming with state officials - typically students who work part time for the state in a &quot;Student Activities&quot; office.<p>Maybe you&#x27;ll see one of their managers, a &quot;Director of Student Union Services&quot; or something similar.  Ask how many people worked in that office 10 years ago vs. today, and I&#x27;ll bet that, more often than not, you&#x27;ll find that the size of these offices have increased by 50% or more during that time.<p>The consequence is that student governments, who traditionally ran all the operations of Student Unions and did a great job of it, are now pushed out of this function, in favor of state officials and state directives running them instead.<p>And these state directives almost always include infantifacation of events and decor in the Student Union.<p>I have observed this phenomenon at SUNY New Paltz, Binghamton University, the University of Connecticut, UMD College Park (although the food co-cop there is amazing and serves as a partial counter-example) and half a dozen other campuses.<p>Every time I ask about it, I&#x27;m told that it&#x27;s part of a nationwide trend.<p>It&#x27;s bullshit.  It&#x27;s <i>very</i> expensive (compared to the shoestring 2.5-3.5 million dollar budgets that student governments typically work with) and it&#x27;s making Student Unions spiritually and academically hollow.