Henna by Sienna
The Brandeis Sephardic Initiative hosted a henna night Thursday, to educate students about the centuries-old practice of henna applications in the Sephardi Jewish tradition. The Brandeis Sephardic Initiative is in its second semester on campus. A cultural club under the Hillel umbrella, they are dedicated to Sephardic culture, and are open to anybody, whether they’re […]
Love Your Body Day at Brandeis: challenging media’s narrow beauty ideals
It is no secret that our media’s emphasis on beauty and thinness has fostered a negative body image among the majority of young women. Magazines and advertisements usually feature unnaturally thin and digitally edited white women throughout their pages, which sends a message to all girls that being thin and white is equivalent to being […]
Core chosen for class of ’16 orientation
Mitchell Schwartz ’14 applied to be next year’s coordinator of first-year orientation after two successful orientations, one as a first-year and another last year as an Orientation Leader. Like the four students chosen this week to plan orientation with him, Schwartz wants to recreate and give back to the class of 2016 and show them […]
Triskelion and TransBrandeis aim for transgender awareness
This week Brandeis was on its A game. There was a Fornication 101 course in Rabb. Seniors out on the town at Skellig on a Wednesday night. Brandeis sports dominating. Many events highlighted the community coming together and achieving great things, but one event truly encompassed the open-minded, unbiased Brandeis mentality: Transgender Awareness Week. Cynthia […]
View From the Top: Learning ‘real life’ lessons
Apart from the cold weather, our Brandeis community often reminds me of my grandparents’ gated community in Boca. Brandeis students and senior citizens seem to have Bingo, group fitness classes, guest lecturers and 5 p.m. dinners in common. Other times, it has felt like a reality television show: Who can join the most clubs? Rack […]
Students come for Oh Megan!
On Tuesday Nov. 18, several hundred students crowded into Golding 101 to see Megan Andelloux—also known as Oh Megan—present what the event’s Facebook page advertised as “a study of how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings with an emphasis on jollies, attitude awareness, and sexual skill building.” They stressed that the […]
Auslander writes on legacy of slavery in Georgia
Mark Auslander, a former professor at Brandeis who now teaches anthropology at Central Washington University, published his first book this fall called “The Accidental Slaveowner.” Auslander’s book delves into the myths surrounding “Miss Kitty,” or Katherine Andrew Boyd, a slave in Oxford, Ga., who is said to have been one cause of the Civil War. […]
C-Store tests new late-night hours
In the past week, the Student Union, in collaboration with the Department of Public Safety and Dining Services, experimented with new hours at the C-Store and a trial shuttle bus to the Riverside MBTA station. In a series of trial runs, the C-Store held extended hours on Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 from midnight to […]
Chomsky denounces Obama on Israel
Professor, philosopher and one of the world’s most preeminent linguists Noam Chomsky spoke to Brandeis students on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Thursday for the second consecutive year. He largely reiterated sentiments, also given at the 2010 speech, that the U.S. alliance is the largest impediment to resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He denounced President Barack Obama, […]
Brandeis in finals to be named ‘Most Vegan’
Brandeis has succeeded to the final round of a contest to be named “Most Vegan-Friendly Campus” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the national animal-rights organization. The champion will be named Monday. The university is up against Northwestern, last year’s winner of the honor and a “powerhouse” of vegan advocacy, according to […]
In hall of orators, a closer look at anti-Semitism
Seventy-three years to the day after the tragedy of Kristallnacht, despite persistent efforts on the part of the Anti-Defamation League and its allies, anti-Semitism survives and, at times, thrives. But, according to both Justice Louis Brandeis and university President Frederick Lawrence, “the answer to bad speech is more speech.” The Anti-Defamation League on Monday held […]
‘Deis Dems canvass for Obama in New Hampshire
The Brandeis Democrats joined in support of President Obama’s reelection campaign, canvassing in New Hampshire last Sunday as Democrats tried to build momentum, while Republican candidates draw attention in debates ahead of early primaries this winter. Sasha Beder ’14, the Organizing for America Liaison at the Brandeis Democrats, explained how volunteers went door-to-door, focusing on […]
Strategic plans topic of faculty meeting
President Fred Lawrence once again promised faculty communication in the upcoming strategic planning process at the November faculty meeting last Thursday, with Provost Steve Goldstein announcing that the launch of the university-wide review would begin Monday. “We keep coming to this topic, but it’s critically important,” Lawrence said, “and I’ve answered a lot of questions […]
Waltham mayor wins third term
Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy won re-election for her third term in office Tuesday, beating her 22-year-old challenger, Andrew Wirth, by 89 percent. Wirth, this year’s surprise candidate, began his campaign by breaking a world record and gaining a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records by spinning the Guinness Book itself on his right […]
TSA raises money for Turkey quake
Brandeis students have mobilized after a disaster occurred across the world, calling for aid for the victims of an earthquake in the eastern portion of Van, a province of Turkey. The Turkish Students Association was revived after news of the last devastating quake and has begun to fundraise after an aftershock created additional damage and […]
Union secures limited Riverside shuttle test run
Even with campus BranVans and shuttle buses regularly running into Waltham and Boston, Brandeis students seeking to explore other cities and towns in the greater Boston area find public transportation difficult to navigate and avail themselves. Most college students live on a tight budget and only upperclassmen are allowed to have cars, limiting transportation options. […]
Teaching English in Japan: a midyear’s experience
Every year, Brandeis Admissions staff offers a group of incoming students the chance to join the Brandeis community in the spring semester, when there is more available campus housing and classroom space. These students, called midyears, often spend their fall semester participating in internships, taking classes at other universities, or traveling abroad. With their available […]
8,000 miles and a war between us
When Beth Bowman ’11 was at Brandeis, she was an International and Global Studies and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies major, an IMES Undergraduate Department Representative, a member of the Equestrian Team and an active participant in many other clubs and organizations. After graduating, Bowman chose to take a year off and combine her two […]
Into the arms of the angels: Saving the Kinderlachen
During the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to reunite my grandmother’s third and fourth cousins, Rolf Hess, Ruth Hilb Hamburger and Hanne Hirsch Liebmann. Not only do Rolf, Ruth and Hanne share a common lineage, they also each survived the Holocaust. They were the sole survivors of their family because of the efforts of […]
Reminding students to be mindful in a time of war
It was 2007 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seemed to have no end date. Out of a growing concern for both the United States and Iraqi and Afghan civilians, the Brandeis chaplains felt something had to be done to focus Brandeis’ attention to the issue of peace. They decided to begin a weekly […]
