In an email released to the Brandeis community on Tuesday, Oct. 9, President Ron Liebowitz reflected on the recent events in Washington, D.C. that have provoked serious arguments in the U.S.
Liebowitz emphasizes that even though the university is unable to take a stand on partisan issues, it can provide an environment that protects the Brandeis community, as well as educate the community about issues that our society struggles with.
Liebowitz also announced in the email that University of Michigan professor Catharine MacKinnon will be at Brandeis on Oct. 14 to deliver her Diane Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights. The lecture is titled “Sexual Harassment: The Law, the Politics, and the Movement” and will be held in the Shapiro Campus Center at 4 p.m.
“So I am asking everyone in our community to use this moment as a time for reflection and learning. I want to remind students, faculty, and staff of the resources available to them here on campus. And I want to encourage all of us to make our voices heard beyond our campus,” Liebowitz said in an email sent out to the Brandeis community.
Liebowitz went on to detail the resources that are available to Brandeis students and community members, including the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the Brandeis Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Center and the Brandeis Office of Spiritual and Religious Life, especially for those who have faced sexual violence or feel vulnerable. In his email, Liebowitz emphasized that, “Brandeis cares.”
He also highlighted the importance of the Title IX office, which “is committed to responding promptly and effectively once notified of any form of discrimination based on sex and forbids retaliation against an individual who has filed a complaint,” according to the email.
Liebowitz encouraged members of the Brandeis community, especially the students, to register to vote, even if through an absentee ballot, in order to exercise our “civic responsibility to be engaged citizens.”
Deans of the university, as well as the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty, have been encouraged by Provost Lisa Lynch to incorporate discussions about recent hearings within the U.S. Senate, and the state of civil rights in the U.S.
