As of Sept. 8, Laura Lindenfeld departed from her role as dean of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism (SoCJ). Lindenfeld, who has held dual leadership roles since 2019, will now focus solely on her role at the Alda Center. In an email to The Statesman, Kelton wrote key reasons for accepting the interim position. “It’s quite common for an interim leader to be put in place… while the university conducts a thorough national search,” Kelton wrote. Lindenfeld wrote a sentence in an email to The Statesman of her departure from the SoCJ to return full-time at the Alda Center.