From exile to performance, activist Gayflor inspires hope
Exiled from her home country in the midst of civil war, Fatu Gayflor, renowned vocalist, founder and artistic director of the Liberian Women’s Chorus for Change, spoke to the Brandeis community on Thursday, March 5 to share legacies of loss, violence, resilience and hope. Now settled in Philadelphia, Gayflor stated, “Telling my story has helped […]
Table tennis players represent Brandeis at national tournament
Last Sunday, March 1, five ambitious table tennis players from Brandeis represented the Judges and competed with the best regional teams in the NCTTA Regional Tournament for the second time ever since the club was founded. Although their step toward the National Tournament was halted by Harvard University and Boston University on Sunday as the […]
‘Focus’ proves an uneven but fun experience
Will Smith is one of the most charismatic actors in the world, and one of the best movie stars of this generation. So why has he not been around more? We got the very entertaining “Men in Black 3” way back in 2012, but that was his first starring role in four years, after the […]
‘Focus’ proves an uneven but fun experience
Will Smith is one of the most charismatic actors in the world, and one of the best movie stars of this generation. So why has he not been around more? We got the very entertaining “Men in Black 3” way back in 2012, but that was his first starring role in four years, after the […]
RCC’s opening positive progress
This week, Brandeis celebrated the opening of its Rape Crisis Center. The RCC aims to act as a safe space where students feel comfortable reporting and receiving support following sexual assault. A long time in the making, the RCC is absolutely a positive step forward in Brandeis’ handling of sexual violence on campus. In recent […]
Rape Crisis Center opens in Usdan
Students, faculty and other members of the community celebrated the official opening of the Brandeis Rape Crisis Center (RCC) in Usdan on Wednesday, March 4. The RCC will now serve as a safe space and service for survivors of sexual violence on campus, as well as a hub for programs to combat it. The center, […]
Fargana Qasimova to begin residency with Prof. Eissenberg’s MusicUnitesUS
This week, I was fortunate enough to interview Judith Eissenberg (MUS) about her MusicUnitesUS program as well as this Saturday, March 7’s event, which will feature Fargana Qasimova, a resident in MusicUnitesUS. The Brandeis Hoot: What is the MusicUnitesUS program? What is its aim, and why was it started? Judith Eissenberg: I founded MUUS in […]
Influential professor illuminates life of Albert Luthuli
On Thursday, March 5, the African and Afro-American Studies Department hosted a lecture by Dr. Robert Vinson titled “Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela and the Genealogies of Armed Struggle in Apartheid South Africa.” A professor in the AAAS Department introduced Vinson and the lecture, which is part of the annual Ruth First Memorial Lecture, and the […]
Ableism criticized at coffeehouse
Brandeis Buddies and SPECTRUM collaborated to host the powerful “Spread the World to End the Word: I Am Not My Stereotype” coffeehouse at Chum’s Thursday evening, March 5. The event featured performances from a capella groups, slam-poetry and speeches from self-advocates, aiming to end the use of the R-word and promote respect of people with […]
DCL should explore changes to housing selection process
In last week’s issue of The Brandeis Hoot, we featured an opinion piece that labeled the housing selection process as something out of the Hunger Games universe. Half-joking as the sentiment was, we do face a selection system that is stressful and dysfunctional—in a sense that there are just so many factors that can go […]
Nick Falkson ’18 part of bright future for Brandeis baseball
The Brandeis baseball team started its season over February break in Florida at the RussMatt Invitational. The Judges went 2-4 in their six games. Nick Falkson ’18 was a huge player in the Judges games’. In his collegiate debut, Falkson batted .458 with a slugging percentage of .708, while playing all six games at shortstop […]
Surviving Sodexo: Next-level quesadilla
Quesadilla Proteina is a fresh Mexican dish for vegetarians who want something more interesting than a salad or veggie burger, but lighter than one of Usdan’s hot meals. It is fresh, simple and contains carbohydrates, protein, dairy and vegetables—all major components of a healthy diet. Although the quesadilla takes time to make, as the panini […]
Jaded coffeehouse questions American identity
As the saying goes, there’s no time like the present, but in a present tainted by a series of enlightening events—you only have to hear the names Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown to know what I’m talking about—the time has come for y erica to reflect on her inglorious imperfections. Brandeis University keyed into that […]
Friedman ’75 encourages balance in climate action
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman ’75 discussed climate change’s effects on conflicts in the Middle East this Monday, March 2 in the second of two talks given to the Brandeis community. Friedman, an active proponent of clean energy and other environmental action, sat down with professor Sabine Von Mering (GRALL/WGS) […]
Student feedback surveys valuable but not always well-intentioned
This past week, I got a student survey in my inbox from Sodexo. As someone with quite a few opinions about our dining halls, I was more than excited to get started. Though I’ll admit that by the fifth page of endless bubbles I was getting frustrated, by the time I finished I was positively […]
Integrate study abroad into general housing with contracts
As someone who is studying abroad next spring and therefore guaranteed on-campus housing, I feel guilty complaining about my options since they’re much better than many juniors’ and seniors’. However, I believe my proposal of joint housing for study abroad and non-study abroad students will help out everyone in the system. Fall housing for students […]
University’s lack of assurance on e-privacy troubling
One somewhat interesting news story that has been making the rounds over the past week surrounds the use of emails. Hillary Clinton, in her term as secretary of state, used only her personal email account for work-related issues, instead of a seemingly mandatory government one. This has caused a great deal of concern as people […]
University must expand housing to accommodate students
We have a lot of people here at Brandeis. Well, perhaps not compared to Ohio State or Penn State or some other 60,000-student monstrosity. For Brandeis, however, we’ve been steadily growing over the last couple years and that growth is beginning to show. My graduating class—the class of 2018—is the largest we’ve ever had, just […]
Times columnist speaks about his passion for journalism and Israeli politics
When Thomas Friedman ’75 was a kid, he wanted nothing more than to be a professional golfer. He was the captain of his high school team at St. Louis Park High School in Minneapolis, and in 1970, he caddied for Puerto Rican professional golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez at the U.S. Open. Rodriguez placed 27th in […]
CAST program grants $2,000 to promote art and social change
The faculty committee of the Creativity, the Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) minor awarded four grants of $2,000 to faculty members exploring the relationship between the arts and social change. The grants seek to promote interdisciplinary discussion, social justice and peace building through creative projects at Brandeis. The grants were awarded to Professors Azlin Perdomo […]
