It is a momentous occasion for a university to hire its next president. It provides a great sense of hope and optimism to have a new leader who has the potential to bring positive change to the community.
While The Brandeis Hoot does not want to dampen any excitement regarding our newly appointed president, we would like to express frustration at the inevitability of a white male having been appointed for the job. Brandeis University has had only one female president, and no presidents of color. While a new president can bring new hope, it is hard to hold out when the position is continually filled from the same demographic of people.
Last semester, students of color forced the Brandeis community to pay attention to the lack of diversity on our campus with the powerful Ford Hall protest. Administration eventually responded with a call to action, but the hiring of Ron Liebowitz demonstrates just how deeply ingrained it is in our society to see white as the default.
However, this is not just a Brandeis problem. According to Sneha Walia ’15, the student representative on the presidential search committee, few of the viable candidates for the position were people of color. While it would be easy to simply use this as an excuse, as a community we need to recognize the institutional racism that created this scenario, and work toward dismantling it.
The lack of candidates of color shows exactly how necessary the actions of Concerned Students 2015 and the Brandeis Asian American Task Force are on the Brandeis campus. By demanding more minority hires among faculty and more diverse academic programs, more opportunities to enter higher education administration will be available to people of color. There is a deep and wide pool of talented academics who need to be hired as faculty members.
Liebowitz can’t help it that he’s a white male, but he can hold himself accountable for that and be aware of his privilege. We hope that in preparing for his presidency, Liebowitz makes a commitment to fostering real diversity and change at Brandeis where it is needed.
