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T h e I n d e p e n d e n t S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9 Volume LXXVI, Number 9
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Brandeis community holds diverse range of opinions on the administration’s safety policies Brandeis community members to gauge how the Israel-Hamas war has affected students’ security concerns on campus. By AMANDA CHEN
JUSTICE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
In the aftermath of many complex developments on campus regarding the Israel-Hamas War, debates centered on students’ safety, the boundaries of First Amendment rights, and increasing tensions permeating discussions on campus. The rise in discrimination against Muslim, Arab, and Jewish people in the U.S. raises the question of how universities — particularly Brandeis — will ensure their students’ safety. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the U.S.’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, stated that its national
headquarters and chapters received 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias from Oct. 7 to Nov. 4. In comparison, there were 406 complaints sent to the organization in an average 29-day period in 2022. According to initial data from the Anti-Defamation Leaugue Center on Extremism, “312 incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault were recorded from Oct. 7 to Oct. 23 — a 388% increase over the same period last year, when the ADL received reports of 64 such incidents, the organization said. More than half of the recent incidents (190) were directly linked to the Israel-Hamas war.” In a Nov. 14 interview with the Justice, Sivan Adams ’26, the communications coordinator for the Hillel student board, talked about the war’s impact on her academics and mental health. She said that it took up “a lot of brain space,” and that the first week of the conflict was challenging. Adams had a hard time focusing because of incoming news
See SAFETY, 5 ☛
ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES
Sustainability’s future at Brandeis stays uncertain ■ Former Director of
Sustainability Mary Fischer left her role in September, raising questions about what comes next for sustainable initiatives at the University. By HEDY YANG
JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Last year, catalyzed by the Year of Climate Action, an optimistic wave of climate and sustainabilityrelated action — which included new courses, extracurricular programming, a new Decarbonization Action Plan, and more — took place on campus. This year, many of these initiatives have come to a grinding halt — not only because the Year of Climate Action has drawn to a close, but also as a result of former Director of Sustainability Mary Fischer’s departure from the University. As the only staff member of the Office of Sustainability, Fischer’s legacy is striking and simultaneously leaves many unanswered questions about the future of sustainability at Brandeis now that there is no one in her role. The history of sustainability at
Waltham, Mass.
MOTIONS STATED
CAMPUS ATMOSPHERE
■ The Justice talked to
FACULTY MEETING : Brandeis faculty members had a meeting to discuss proposed motions
been approved to be sent out for faculty vote.
See SUSTAINABILITY, 7 ☛
By ANNA MARTIN JUSTICE EDITOR
Faculty members held an emergency meeting on Nov. 17 to further discuss the ideas that were brought up during the emergency faculty meeting last Friday, which met to discuss the derecognition of Students for Justice in Palestine. There was also an informal faculty discussion on the night of Sunday, Nov. 12 that had approximately 150 attendees. The purpose of this meeting was to consider the motions that groups of faculty members developed in response to these meetings and to decide if the motions needed any amendments to put to a faculty-wide vote next week. The staff members that are eligible to participate in voting include all who are tenured, all non-tenured professors who hold at least halftime appointments for at least two semesters, the president, the provost, the dean of arts and sciences, the deans of professional schools, the University librarian, and the University registrar. The meeting began with two procedural motions. The first motion highlighted the idea that all meeting materials, including the agenda and texts relating to proposed
to be considered — as well as all supporting documents — at least five days in advance of the faculty meeting. Faculty moved to waive this requirement, changing the five-day requirement to two days. The second procedural motion that the faculty voted on was to waive a secondary reading. This motion also passed; however, it does not apply if the legislation has not been reviewed by either the Faculty Senate or a faculty standing committee. The faculty then began to review the motions that had been submitted, starting with motion one. The preamble to this motion highlighted the Task Force on Free Expression’s five principles of free speech. These principles were constituted by President Liebowitz in 2016-17 and led by Prof. George Hall (ECON). Principle one, titled “Maximizing Free Speech in a Diverse Community,” connects free speech with the desire for an inclusive and diverse community. They highlight that free expression includes the arts, talking and listening, and the exchange of ideas. This principle ends with the statement: “We endorse as a principle for action Louis Brandeis’ remark: ‘If there be a time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.’ The university has a responsibility to encourage the airing of the widest range of political and scholarly
opinions and to prevent attempts to shut down conversations, no matter what their topic.” Principle two is titled “Developing Skills to Engage in Difficult Conversations” and highlights the pride that Brandeis holds as a place where debates often occur. They explain that defining realms of prohibited speech causes the administration to have an effect on the general exchange of views across campus. This principle ends with the quote: “Reaching our fullest potential in this regard will entail an ongoing educational process, a curriculum that exposes students and the entire community to various viewpoints, and a long institutional memory about how free expression operates and has operated at Brandeis. All this will require the intellectual courage to risk discomfort for the sake of greater understanding.” The third principle on this list is called “Sharing Responsibility.” It outlines that Brandeis community members themselves hold responsibility for the impact that their actions have and that potential disagreement can in turn lead to respect. They promoted working towards a campus life that was full of expression of many diverse political, intellectual, social, and cultural outlooks. The principle concluded with the quote: “The university must find ways to engage the whole community about each person’s responsibility to foster a just and inclusive campus culture, so that
See MEETING, 6 ☛
Media bias
Museum tour
Brandeis holds crash anniversary vigil
Media reception of "Barbie" (2023) exposes the role of political bias in art criticism.
Mikey Terrenzi gives us a detailed tour and review of two collections at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
By RIVER SIMARD
By LEAH ZAHARONI
By MIKEY TERRENZI Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
ELIZA BIER/the Justice
Faculty take action on free speech regulations at emergency meeting ■ Three proposed motions have faculty legislations and actions, are
Brandeis Brandeis’ commitment to advancing sustainability began in March 2008 with the hiring of its first sustainability manager, alumnus Janna Cohen-Rosenthal ’03, according to an Aug. 26, 2008 article published in the Justice. During her time as the sustainability manager, Cohen-Rosenthal piloted a number of initiatives to improve sustainability at Brandeis, including implementing a singlestream recycling program, reducing bottled water sales, and creating an Eco-Reps program in which student representatives from each residential quad encouraged their peers to recycle and save energy, according to an Oct. 8, 2008 article from BrandeisNOW. One of the key initiatives CohenRosenthal worked on was the University’s first Climate Action Plan, which was published in September 2009 and has since been updated in 2016 and 2020. In 2007, Brandeis signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, now known as the Carbon Commitment, a pledge that binds the University to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Climate Action Plans are designed to help the University
Waltham, Mass.
FEATURES 6
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
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ARTS 14
Professors need support By THE JUSTICE EDITORIAL BOARD
Judges recieve Honors By JOSH GANS
COPYRIGHT 2023 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
NEWS 3
FORUM 9 SPORTS 12