The end of free speech in America
The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This is arguably the most […]
Jewish Bund stages protest for Palestinian liberation
On Friday, April 4, 2025, at approximately 4 p.m., members of the activist group identifying as the “Jewish Bund” gathered on the Great Lawn outside the Shapiro Campus Center to stage a protest in solidarity with Palestinian liberation. The demonstration began with familiar chants of “What do we want? Liberation! When do we want it? […]
Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza
All you need to commit genocide is a good excuse. The Nazis pinned the Jewish people as the cause of Germans’ problems to commit the Holocaust, the Hutu in Rwanda held hatred against the Tutsi for their higher treatment by the German colonizers, and now Israel has killed about 45,000 Palestinian people in Gaza under […]
How legal is Halloween in mainland china?
Halloween this year in Shanghai was a real eye-opener about just how much freedom of expression exists in China—none. A man dressed as a Buddha, a Kim Kardashian lookalike, a giant cockroach and some guy in a hospital gown were all kindly escorted away by the thousands of police that lined up throughout the street […]
Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation: The Parents’ Circle at Brandeis
On Thursday, Sept. 26, two members of an international organization known as the Parents’ Circle hosted an event at Rappaporte Treasure Hall, advertised by email as an event for “Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.” The speakers were an Israeli and a Palestinian woman, though their names were not shared when they introduced themselves. Having both come from experiences […]
Brandeis has a culture problem
Club marathon season is over, and the results are in. Out of around 70 chartered clubs, none got the amount of funding requested from the Student Union. For most clubs, the difference in requested versus received amounts was negligible, equivalent to a 5-10% deduction from the requested amount. But one anomaly to this standard trend […]
What does it mean to be free ‘from the river to the sea’?
Editor’s note: As an independent news source for the Brandeis community, The Hoot and its editorial board support publishing all opinions of our students, faculty and staff. As such, The Hoot does not serve as an arbiter on the sensitive topics herein. The views expressed within are not necessarily reflective of the beliefs of The […]
Arranging and conducting: losing my musical virginity
In spring 2023, I had the honor of serving as one of the music directors of Brandeis’ very own student-led orchestra, Top Score. For the uninitiated, Top Score is a 30-piece orchestral ensemble, which plays iconic tunes from movies, video games and TV shows. As an introverted slime, and as a non-music major with no […]
Violence against Richard Spencer threatens American values
The identity of the author of this piece is known to the edi- tors-in-chief, but is being with- held due to the author’s concern about retaliation. Recently, there appeared in these pages a column titled “Resistance and punching Richard Spencer.” It argues that it is the civic duty of leftists to commit violence against white […]
DCL wishes further harm upon students
The article “DCL wishes further harm upon students” has been taken down from this site due to the language it used and the claims it made without verifying their factuality. Additionally, we did not clarify the reason behind keeping the identity of the author anonymous. You can view our apology to DCL Director Tim Touchette […]
Flag Rearranger speaks out on their 9/11 protest
There are a number of misconceptions I’d like to clear up right off the bat. First of all, there was not a group of “unidentified people” who rearranged the flags of the 9/11 display. Neither was the act done covertly. There was one person: it was me. People stopped to ask what I was doing […]
Love in the time of caller ID: Relationships with technology and the technology of relationships
In a strange amalgam of technology, I recently found myself in the awkward situation of Facebook chatting with my (for lack of a better word) ex about our (for lack of a better word) former relationship through the analogy of my upgraded cell phone. After discussing the fact that after three years with my Motorola […]
Black History Month
Thursday night’s Black History Month Closing Ceremony in the Napoli Trophy room in Gosman was not a typical closing affair. The evening started off with a dramatic recitation from Shaina Gilbert ’11, who spoke about a dream she had about her great, great grandmother traveling north to freedom. Gilbert powerfully belted out a few lines […]
