ARTS Page 19
FORUM Criticize Grammy Awards process 12 SPORTS Men’s basketball ends losing streak 16
‘QUICKIES’ ANDREW BAXTER/the Justice
The Independent Student Newspaper
the
of
B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXX, Number 15
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
CREATIVE ARTS AWARD
Community
Liebowitz talks on Univ. future ■ University President Ron
Liebowitz led an open meeting to share strategic thoughts on the University's future. By JOCELYN GOULD JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Continuing an ongoing dialogue with the Brandeis community, University President Ron Liebowitz held an open meeting on Wednesday night to discuss the University’s future. Liebowitz opened the meeting with a speech that laid out “broad, strategic areas within which will lie many other specific programs, ideas and recommendations.” These priorities were the result of 18 months of meeting with Brandeis community members during office hours and small lunches, consulting two experts on the University’s identity and mission and reading 35 self-reflection documents written by “faculty and staff leaders of the insti-
tution,” Liebowitz explained. The first priority Liebowitz highlighted was to become “a newly extraverted institution with regional, national and global connections and impact.” He pointed to the transition Brandeis has experienced in the last two to three decades, during which it “hunkered down” and started “focusing in on itself … instead of looking outside,” moving away from the international character of its founding. To solve this problem, Liebowitz wants Brandeis to take pride in what makes the University special. Currently, he sees the University as “overly self-critical” and consequently losing the opportunity to share “all the institutional accomplishments with the wider world in order to build relationships and build the reputation of the institution.” Turning his attention to issues within the University, Liebowitz expressed a deep desire to “redefine the student experience.” Although proud of Brandeis’ academic rigor, the pres-
See OPEN MEETING, 7 ☛
COMMUNITY
Liebowitz supports Middlebury colleague ■ Liebowitz supported
Ithaca College President Shirley Collado amidst a sexual assault allegation. By AVRAHAM PENSO JUSTICE EDITOR
University President Ron Liebowitz wrote a Jan. 17 open letter defending his former colleague, Ithaca College President Shirley Collado, who pleaded no contest to a 2001 charge of misdemeanor sexual abuse. The open letter followed a Jan. 16 article by student newspaper The Ithacan, which detailed the abuse accusation made by a former patient. “I am writing to express my unequivocal support for Dr. Shirley Collado as she confronts the resurfacing of decades-old allegations that impugn her reputation,” Li-
ebowitz’s letter begins. Collado began working at Middlebury College while Liebowitz was president in 2007, serving first as vice president for institutional planning and diversity and later as dean of the College and vice president of student affairs. Liebowitz discussed hiring Collado in the open letter, writing, “Shirley was quite candid in discussing a legal action lodged against her when she was in her twenties and the fraught decision she made to seek a resolution rather than fight the baseless charges.” Liebowitz also praised Collado’s work, asserting that her years at Middlebury were “characterized by her deep empathy for our students and colleagues, her championing of creating an inclusive learning environment, and a commitment to assisting those less advantaged.”
YVETTE SEI/the Justice
WELLER: The Creative Arts Award was presented to Michael Weller '65 (R) during a dinner ceremony in the Faculty Club on Tuesday.
Weller receives Creative Arts Award for career’s works ■ Michael Weller ’65 was
awarded on Tuesday night and spoke of the “Buyer Beware” controversy in his acceptance. By SAM STOCKBRIDGE JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In his acceptance speech for the 2017 Creative Arts Award, Michael Weller ’65 expressed his gratitude and frustration in the wake of his controversial play, “Buyer Beware.” Weller, an Academy-Award nominated screenwriter and Brandeis alumnus, was announced as the recipient of the award last summer. Weller noted in his speech that he wrote the play to demonstrate his appreciation for the University. The ceremony was held on Tuesday evening in the Main Dining Room of the Faculty Club, populated by more than a hundred professors, faculty members, alumni and student leaders. Prof. Gannit Ankori (FA), head of the Division of Creative Arts, kicked off the night with a short film which detailed Weller’s accolades and accomplishments through old interviews and photographs. Weller said in the film that his Brandeis college experience informed the composition of his first
play, “Moonchildren.” He went on to write more than 40 other plays and screenplays. The film also provided context for the Creative Arts Award, which has been awarded to such distinguished individuals as Tennessee Williams, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko, Vladimir Nabokov, Buckminster Fuller, John Cage, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Charlie Chaplin. After the video, guests ate dinner and mingled. One member of the Lydian String Quartet discussed free speech on college campuses with alumni, former faculty and Justice reporters, themes that Weller would echo in his acceptance speech. After the meal, University President Ron Liebowitz presented Weller with the award, then gave a short speech apologizing for the controversy surrounding “Buyer Beware.” He emphasized the importance of discussing and learning from the production, instead of simply focusing on the “miscommunication and pain.” The controversy in question began in 2016, when Brandeis invited Weller to study the Lenny Bruce archives and engage with students, faculty and administration as he completed his fellowship. He drew on this research to write a new play
to be performed at Brandeis, tentatively titled “Buyer Beware.” The name is a reference to one of Bruce’s recordings. The play focused on a white college student named Roy who performs a comedy routine in the style of Lenny Bruce at his college, leading to threats from the administration and other students. Roy recites parts of the eponymous Bruce routine at the beginning of the play, including eight uses of the N-word and four uses of other slurs, as well as jokes about the Israel-Palestine conflict, while a crowd of students protests his performance. In July 2017, a draft of the play was presented to the University’s Theater Arts Department, where it was scheduled to be performed in November 2017. Several students voiced opposition to the play, including Andrew Child ’19, an undergraduate departmental representative for the theater department, and alumna Ayelet Schrek ’17, who helped organize a phone and email campaign to draw attention to the play’s language use and portrayal of minorities. After weeks of criticism, the University proposed postponing the production until spring 2018, when it would offer a course to discuss the controversial aspects of the play.
See AWARD, 7 ☛
Faulty Perceptions
Shooting Straight
Election Results
Experts discussed how perceptions of race affect our behavior.
The women’s basketball team has high hopes for the final month of the season.
The Student Union welcomed new members after Thursday's election.
CLEMENTS PARK/the Justice
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See LETTER, 7 ☛
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FEATURES 8
INDEX
SPORTS 16
YURAN SHI/the Justice
ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG
10 2
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