Sit-in concludes after 12 days
After 12 days of occupying the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center, student negotiators from the Ford Hall 2015 movement and administrators signed a Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion at Brandeis on Tuesday, Dec. 1. The agreement formed after students issued a list of 13 demands to the administration on Thursday, Nov. 19. It addresses the […]
Faculty come together to support student activism
Twenty-six graduate and undergraduate programs issued statements proclaiming their support for students involved with Ford Hall 2015, including the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, the Faculty Senate, the Division of Science and various academic departments. With a majority of undergraduate departments having issued statements, the faculty have been consistent in support of a […]
Changes: sudden and not so new
Many students come to Brandeis with a vague idea of what they want out of their time as an undergraduate, or even what they want out of their career after graduation, but many more come undecided. For a first-year student, not knowing what to do with your life is a common phenomenon. Some would even […]
Celebrate and continue racial justice at Brandeis
A historical moment has taken place at Brandeis over the past two weeks. However, we must remember to diligently watch the enactment of the Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion. If the student body does not continue to hold the administration accountable, the progress seen because of Ford Hall 2015 will be lost. Ford […]
Joint statement addresses student demands
Interim President Lisa Lynch issued a joint statement featuring a summary of a Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion at Brandeis University on Tuesday, Dec. 1. This statement was issued after multiple days of negotiations between administrators and students. The statement, signed by Lynch, Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel and student […]
First-years reduce carbon footprint with sustainability contest
North Quad residents edged out those in Massell Quad in a month-long recycling and energy conservation competition dubbed the Sustainability Challenge, with Gordon Hall ultimately conserving the most energy of all first-year resident halls. Over the course of the competition, North Quad was able to raise its amount of recycled waste from 14 percent at […]
A-Board increases representation with new members
Alex Feldman ’19 and Arlyens Reyes ’19 were elected to the Allocations Board after a special election held after the passage of an amendment to the Student Union Constitution that expanded the size of A-Board. Feldman was elected to a three-month seat that started in the fall of 2015 and is currently working with the […]
Brandeis community comes together to interpret 1963 painting
As part of the Rose Art Museum’s “Close Looking Series,” Brandeis Fine Arts lecturer Scott Patrick Wiener hosted a discussion on James Rosenquist’s 1963 painting, “Two 1959 People” on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The painting was a combination of several pieces of recognizable images, all juxtaposed in a manner that was meant to empty them of […]
Prof. Nyong’o’s presentation contemplates racial diversity in film
The Art, Race, Activism series came to Brandeis at the perfect time. As the sit-in took place in the Bernstein-Marcus administration building, Tavia Nyong’o’s presentation on “The Fugitive Present: Sweet Sweetback and The Mythic Being” provided students with his perspective on the intersection between blackness, feminist theory and queer theory through the lens of two […]
Seminal rapper speaks on “Art, Race, Activism”
Renowned rapper, record producer, activist and teacher KRS-One addressed Brandeis students this Wednesday in Rappaporte Treasure Hall as part of the “Arts, Race, Activism” integrated arts project. The lectures are funded by the Brandeis Arts Council and organized by the African and Afro-American Studies Department (AAAS), the Fine Arts Department (FA) and the Rose Art […]
Greek life pulls support from the Safe Campus Act
Sororities and fraternities have pulled their support from the Safe Campus Act, which would require student victims of sexual assault to report their experiences to the police before they can begin a formal campus reporting process. Both Delta Phi Epsilon and Sigma Delta Tau, two sororities with chapters at Brandeis, publicly withdrew their support, citing […]
Brandeis Asian American Task Force issues demand for Asian American Studies department
On the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 2, a letter demanding the creation of an Asian American Studies department at Brandeis was sent to Interim President Lisa Lynch, Chair of the Board of Trustees Perry Traquina ’78 and other administrators. Signed by the Brandeis Asian American Task Force (BAATF), the letter was made public through the […]
College Notebook: Nationwide, students target racial inequality
A new civil rights movement is finding its place on college campuses across the country as students of color, specifically black students, demand recognition and representation from their schools. Students are forcing their campuses to confront histories of racial injustice and structural oppression through lists of demands to college administrators, protests and building occupations. The […]
Brandeis Improv Collective showcases outstanding skill
According to Brandeis Improv Collective (BIC) director Tom Hall, “everybody has a groove,” regardless of whether they play guitar, piano, bass, drums or even a dress and heels. On Sunday, Nov. 15, the BIC held their semester showcase in Slosberg Music Center, featuring improvised musical performances from 15 members. The night started off with solos, […]
Tony Arnold first to receive creative arts award in twenty years
With a voice that could make birds swoon and an incredible capacity to bend the unvoiced confines of music by presenting groundbreaking, contemporary work, soprano Tony Arnold is a musician in the truest sense of the word. Arnold is the soprano for the International Contemporary Ensemble, has been a part of numerous projects such as […]
HTG’s ‘The Contest’ digs deeper than its script
Before the much-needed holiday break, a few spectacular plays were put on, providing students with the strength to endure the last couple of weeks. Among them was Hillel Theater Group’s “The Contest,” directed by Emily Galloway ’18, performed Nov. 12-15. Centered around the life of an average, working class Jewish-American family, “The Contest” reveals how […]
‘Little Shop of Horrors’ bites just right
“Little Shop of Horrors” first was a film created by Roger Corman, distributed as a B-movie in 1960. It slowly gained recognition and fame throughout the years, acquiring a cult following. The low-budget film came to earn popularity mostly because it was turned into a musical by Alan Menken (music) and Howard Ashman (book and […]
‘Collision’ incites social change through self-expression
“A collaborative, artistic effort to enact social change through personal narrative,” “Collision” explored themes of denial, hopelessness, shame and, eventually, self-liberation through the acceptance of the imperfections that make us different, that make us human. Having no standard medium throughout the entirety of the performance, the play, which went up in Spingold’s Merrick Theater last […]
MFA’s ‘Class Distinctions’ explores social order through 17th-century paintings
In the basement of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston rests the exhibit “Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer,” which puts a modern spin on 17th-century portraits and still-lifes to entice visitors of all ages. Seen through the lens of class—from high nobility to the dirt poor—each painting speaks […]
U.S. should foster equal opportunity, not inhibit it
I spent the first 13 years of my life in Tucson, AZ, just an hour and a half north of the Mexican border. The Mexican influence was visibly woven into the landscape from our Spanish street names to our architecture. Just as visible was the racial hierarchy that existed between white and Mexican Americans—while their […]
