After Board of Trustees vote on divestment, advocates push for more
The Board of Trustees adopted new investment policies related to fossil fuels in a November meeting with President Ron Liebowitz, according to a campus-wide email sent Wednesday. In interviews with The Brandeis Hoot, campus advocates for divesting university funds from the fossil fuel industry said the new policies are a good first step but do […]
Former senator speaks about disability work
Former Democratic congressman of Iowa, Tom Harkin, spoke to the Brandeis community twice on Wednesday discussing the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections, his history as a congressman and social policy related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which he introduced into the Senate in 1989. “Thank goodness the House will be Democratic,” Harkin said […]
Brandeis and Waltham communities protest Sessions ouster
Several Brandeis students, faculty and staff were among the nearly 150 protestors who gathered in protest of President Donald Trump’s ouster of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the corner of Moody St. and Main St. in Waltham on Thursday night. Trump replaced Sessions with Interim Attorney General Matthew Whitaker on Wednesday, sparking outcry from […]
Liebowitz shares framework for univ. changes
President Ron Liebowitz shared a framework for changes which would bring university programs in line with Brandeis’ mission and the institution’s financial capabilities on Monday. He described the university as “far too complex an institution for our size and wealth.” Liebowitz described the university’s mission as relying upon its founding values of inclusivity and traditional […]
Melissa Stimell named Interim Director of International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life
Melissa Stimell (LGLS) will assume the role of Interim Director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life on Sept. 1, succeeding Dr. Daniel Terris who accepted a job as dean of the Al-Quds Bard College of Arts and Sciences earlier this summer, according to the Brandeis website. Stimell, a professor of the […]
Students interrupt classrooms in protest of sexual violence
Demonstrators with #deisbelieve interrupted at least three classrooms on Monday, carrying signs and banners advocating against sexual violence, before holding a sit-in at the Shapiro Campus Center (SCC) atrium. The hashtag #deisbelieve refers to an organization of Brandeis students who, last week, held a protest on the Rabb steps in solidarity with survivors of sexual […]
Politically opposed thinkers discuss importance of open debate
Displaying an image of open debate and friendship between individuals of politically opposite perspectives, conservative legal scholar Robert George and liberal thinker Cornel West discussed the importance of liberal education and open-mindedness on Wednesday night to a packed Sherman Function Hall. George, professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, and West, professor of the Practice of […]
Students rally in support of vote on divestment
Students with Brandeis Climate Justice (BCJ) rallied in support of divesting university funds from fossil fuels on Thursday, BCJ member Claudia Davis ’19 told The Brandeis Hoot. She believes a vote from the Board of Trustees in favor of divesting from fossil fuels is “imminent.” President Ron Liebowitz expressed hope that there would be a […]
Trustees pass Free Speech Principles, no vote on issues of divestment
The Board of Trustees unanimously voted to adopt Brandeis’ Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression and discussed but did not vote on “proposed new guidelines for socially responsible investment” in a meeting with President Ron Liebowitz last month, according to a campus-wide email from Liebowitz. “The meeting’s tone was both optimistic yet realistic,” Leibowitz […]
Fund to combat Islamophobia seeks student applicants
Brandeis students interested in leading “public events intended to combat Islamophobia” may apply for up to $1,500 funding, the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life and the Brandeis Chaplaincy announced last week. A campus-wide email from the Ethics Center invited students to apply for the funds which were made available through a grant […]
Brandeis professor faces online threats as feud unfolds in medieval academia
Amid an oftentimes public feud over the direction of medieval academia, Brandeis Professor Dorothy Kim (ENG) told The Brandeis Hoot that her colleague, Rachel Fulton Brown, “crossed the line” when she tagged Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative writer and provocateur, in a Facebook post concerning Kim. Since being tagged in the post on Sept. 14, 2017, […]
SCC brighter and more energy efficient after $200,000 lighting project
Lighting fixtures in the Shapiro Campus Center (SCC) were fit with LED bulbs over the summer in a $200,000 project which not only provides more light to the building but improves the building’s energy efficiency, according to the Manager of the Sustainability Programs Office Mary Fischer. The project is estimated to reduce 60 tons of […]
Board of Trustees chair attends campus screening of climate change documentary
At the invitation of student and faculty sustainability groups, Board of Trustees Chair Meyer Koplow attended a Tuesday night screening of a documentary discussing the decline of conventional fossil fuels and the rise of extreme oil and gas extraction. The visit comes as the Board of Trustees considers a continued call from students, faculty and […]
Salmon replaces shipman as Head Coach of Brandeis fencing
Jennie Salmon has replaced long-time head coach of the Brandeis men’s and women’s fencing team Bill Shipman after he announced his retirement earlier this summer. Head coach since 1981, Shipman led the Judges to 13 men’s, women’s and combined Northeast Fencing Conference titles as well as five University Athletic Association (UAA) titles, according to the […]
Faculty Club implements new takeout prices
To-go diners will be charged at a rate of $0.75 per ounce for the salad bar or hot buffet takeout from the Faculty Club following a change in dining policy announced earlier this summer. A discount rate of $0.65 per ounce will be offered to to-go diners who choose to use a reusable to-go container […]
Proposed tax bills may affect Brandeis
In a Nov. 17 campus-wide email, provost Lisa Lynch urged members of the Brandeis community to contact their congressional representatives to express their views regarding tax proposals which may have a “damaging impact” on universities. The email came the day after the House of Representatives passed a tax-reform bill. On Tuesday, a similar bill passed […]
Students take divestment march to administrative buildings
About 35 students and several faculty shouted “take a stand and divest, stand with science, truth and justice,” outside the administrative buildings on Wednesday, after marching across campus to demonstrate support for divesting university stakes in fossil fuels. Demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as “Ron Liebowitz, what will your #climatelegacy be?” and “Climate Justice […]
FIRE sends open letter critiquing ‘Buyer Beware’ decision
An open letter from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) urged President Ron Liebowitz to re-invite Michael Weller ’65 to stage “Buyer Beware,” a play which uses material from the university’s Lenny Bruce archives. Kitty Bruce, daughter of Lenny Bruce, signed the open letter. The letter, posted on the FIRE website and emailed […]
Dramatists Guild of America objects to ‘Buyer Beware’ cancellation
The Dramatists Guild of America and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund (DLDF) issued a statement on Wednesday objecting in “the strongest possible terms” to “Brandeis University’s decision to cancel Buyer Beware.” The statement criticizes the university’s decision to “buckle to student pressure by cancelling its scheduled production of Michael Weller’s ’65 play, Buyer Beware, due […]
Director details frustration leading up to cancellation of ‘Buyer Beware’
Frustrations with communication from the theater department and suggestions to move the performance off-campus preceded playwright Michael Weller’s ’65 decision to cancel the Brandeis debut of “Buyer Beware,” according to Weller and the play’s director Sam Weisman ’73. Weller wrote Buyer Beware after he was offered the Brandeis Creative Arts Award. Despite cancellation of the […]
