Brandeis basketball coach fired, Liebowitz announces independent investigation

Brandeis fired its head men’s basketball coach, Brian Meehan, based on multiple reports of discriminatory and unprofessional behavior, President Ron Liebowitz announced last Thursday, April 5. The next day, Liebowitz acknowledged shortcomings of the investigation into Meehan and said Brandeis would undertake an independent review of this case and the procedures involved. He stated that […]

Seven elected to top Union positions

Hannah Brown ’19 will serve as next year’s Student Union president, having campaigned on plans to address Brandeis’ affordability and accessibility and to promote collaboration with the administration. Brown is this year’s vice president and has been a member of the Union since her first year. Brown, who ran unopposed, earned 892 out of 1097 […]

Students walkout to honor those killed in Parkland

Hundreds of Brandeis students gathered around Chapels Pond at noon Wednesday to stand in solidarity with victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and to express support for gun control reform. Attendees filed in along a narrow path and spread out around the heart-shaped pond. The crowd held a 17-minute moment of […]

Hannah Brown ’19 runs for Student Union president

Hannah Brown ’19, this year’s Student Union Vice President, is running unopposed for president, having served on the Union since her first year at Brandeis. Brown was the North Quad senator her freshman year and served as chair of the Dining Committee in the spring. During her sophomore year, she was a Class of 2019 […]

ISSO Office and Grad suffer storm damage

A nor’easter that passed through New England on Monday caused damage to a Brandeis building and a power outage at the Charles River (Grad) apartments. The storm brought high winds, heavy rain and flooding to the New England area. The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO), which is in Kutz Hall, was forced to close […]

BAASA ‘Redefines’ fashion stereotypes in annual SKIN fashion show

The Brandeis Asian American Students Association (BAASA) hosted its annual SKIN fashion show in Levin Ballroom on Feb. 15. SKIN was the first event in BAASA’s celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which is in March, but BAASA decided to kick things off early this year with SKIN. The theme of the 2018 […]

Univ. hosts forum on mental health at Brandeis

Ensuring the Brandeis Counseling Center (BCC) has adequate resources to meet student need and improving communication between the center and students were two major points of discussion at an open forum on campus mental health, hosted in the Gosman Napoli Room on Thursday, March 1. A crowd of around 30, about two-thirds of which were […]

Liebowitz reports on the January Board of Trustees Meeting

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to pass the new general education requirements, the final stamp of approval before the requirements go into effect for the class entering in fall 2019, according President Liebowitz’s summary of last week’s board meetings released last night. Brandeis faculty had unanimously supported the Gen. Ed. proposal at a Nov. […]

Brandeis to hold active shooter training in March

Brandeis will conduct an active shooter drill on Wednesday, March 21, according to a Feb. 5 email announcement from Public Safety Director Ed Callahan. The drill will simulate an active shooter situation in the library—including realistic gunshot sounds—and both Brandeis and Waltham law enforcement and emergency services will respond in real time. The library is […]

Berg appointed Director of Sexual Assault and Prevention Services

Sarah Berg was appointed the director of Sexual Assault and Prevention, the second person to hold this position, where she oversees the Office of Prevention Services and Rape Crisis Center (OPS). Berg discovered a passion for prevention work while pursuing a Masters in Social Science in Denver. She became interested in doing research on domestic […]

Brandeis installs solar panels on library roof

The university installed new solar panels on the library roof this winter break. The panels generate 25 percent of the library’s electricity usage and have doubled the amount of solar power on campus. The library now has 665 320-watt panels that produce 270,000 kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity per year, according to an article from […]

Liebowitz notes impact of tax bill on Brandeis and higher education

The new Republican tax bill may negatively impact Brandeis and higher education as a whole, but “to the relief of many,” certain provisions which could hinder the accessibility of education—including a tax on graduate student tuition waivers—were absent from the final version,  President Ron Liebowitz expressed in an email to the community on Friday, Dec. […]

Univ. responds to armed robbery on campus

The university issued an emergency shelter-in-place order from 11:54 p.m. on Nov. 20 to about 2 a.m. on Nov. 21 after receiving reports of an armed suspect on campus. Brandeis and Waltham police responded to a room on Hassenfeld 6 in East Quad where two “non-community members” reportedly threatened three students with a handgun. “No […]

Search for Director of OPS narrowed to three candidates

The search for a new Director of Sexual Assault and Prevention Services is narrowing, with the top three candidates visiting campus for open interviews this week and next. The university is seeking a replacement for Sheila McMahon, who left this position in mid-July for a faculty position at a school of social work. The search […]

BCC enacts change to account for high demand

The Brandeis Counseling Center (BCC) is adding staff, expanding hours and increasing group therapy sessions to meet increased demand for counseling center resources this semester, according to Joy von Steiger, director of the BCC.  As of Nov. 8, 489 students have undergone a “brief assessment,” or intake appointment, this semester alone. The center now serves […]

Vice president of human resources named Interim Title IX coordinator

Robin Nelson-Bailey, the vice president of human resources, is serving as the acting Title IX coordinator, following the departure of Linda Shinomoto from this role. Stew Uretsky, the executive vice president for finance and administration, announced in an Oct. 31 campus-wide email that Nelson-Bailey would take on this role. The coordinator job is within the […]

OPS, Title IX search for senior position replacements

The position of Title IX Investigator and Compliance Officer is vacant following the recent departure of Rebecca Tillar. The search to fill this post, the senior investigator position in that office, has just begun as the searches for two other permanent hires in sexual assault services are ongoing. Brandeis is also seeking to replace Sheila […]

Union rolls back bystander requirement as OPS looks to improve policy framework

The Student Union is rolling back the requirement for all club leaders to undergo bystander intervention training, as the Office of Prevention (OPS) considers best practices to improve the implementation of this type of policy. OPS is seeking a more organized system for measuring compliance as well as ways to make the program more trauma-informed, […]

Two Brandeis professors awarded Nobel Prize

Two Brandeis professors were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Monday morning for their work studying circadian rhythms. Biology Professor Michael Rosbash and Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hall both came to Brandeis in the 1970’s and soon developed a professional partnership, and close friendship, that led to major breakthroughs in our understanding of humans’ […]

Univ. response to updated Title IX guidelines maintains standard of proof

Brandeis will continue using the “preponderance of the evidence” standard in adjudicating sexual assault cases, despite new guidelines from the Department of Education (DOE) which roll back Obama-era requirements for schools to use this standard—the lowest standard of proof—in deciding guilt. In a 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter, the Obama administration warned universities to get more […]