All alumni University of Rochester Google Gmail accounts will be deactivated effective Nov. 4 2025, as announced in an email sent out to alumni Oct. 8.
All students are assigned a University-managed email account when they matriculate into the University. In addition to providing students with a rochester.edu email address, this also allows them access to Google’s suite of services, including Google Drive.
Historically, graduates had retained access to their student email after leaving the University, albeit with less storage space.
Now however, alumni will lose access to materials such as Google Docs, files, and email associated with their student account, though they can request an alumni email to retain an email affiliated with the University.
Chengkai Kang ’24 shared thoughts:
“This decision caught many of us off guard. For years, most of us had reasonably assumed that our school emails will remain permanently, and many students have relied on that and used their U of R emails for job applications, publications, and personal communications.”
Kang is not the only one disgruntled by these new changes.
Lumi Schildkraut ’20 explained that her email allows her to remain in contact with professors and, through her Google Drive, reminisce about her collegiate days.
“That email’s honestly one of the biggest things connecting me [to the school],” she said. “I might have a stack of notebooks … but if I am on the go, it is easier to access [my Google Drive].”
Schildkraut has been investigating the reasons she will lose access to her email. She told the Campus Times that University IT Services emailed her that the cost to maintain alumni email accounts would be $60,000 a year — an amount Schildkraut sees as a small price to pay to keep alumni happy.
The University’s IT Services did not respond to a request for comment.
Some of the many impacts Schildkraut said alumni will face include losing access to third-party accounts which were registered for under University email addresses, alumni emails, files, and contacts, in addition to “a connection to time at UR and the community and memories made there.”
These sentiments are widespread among alumni, with more than 500 signatures gathered on a petition asking the University to continue their email access.
University leadership has heard the dismay from alumni, and are considering next steps, according to University Spokesperson Sara Miller.
“This past week University leaders have been carefully listening to the feedback from alumni regarding the future of the Google alumni accounts and evaluating possible options to modify the original plan that was announced to them,” Miller said.
University leadership is expected to communicate further to alumni in the next week.
