ARTS Page 19
SPORTS Men’s soccer beats WashU 2-1 16 FORUM Acknowledge benefits of happiness 11
‘HAMLET ’ LUCY FRENKEL/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 8
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
GITTLER PRIZE RECIPIENT
COMMUNITY
Protest cancels play production ■ After protests from the
community, the Theater Dept. canceled a production of Michael Weller ’65. By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE EDITOR
Following private conversations with playwright Michael Weller ’65, the University’s Theater Department and Division of Creative Arts have chosen to run a course on controversial works of art next semester rather than premiere Weller’s contentious play “Buyer Beware.” The play has faced backlash from students and alumni in recent months for its use of slurs and allegedly racist themes, with the University opting this month to cancel a production scheduled for later in the academic year. Weller, who wrote the plays “Moonchildren” and “Loose Ends” and the screenplay for the movie “Hair,” will
be honored with the University’s 2016 to 2017 Creative Arts Award this spring. He wrote “Buyer Beware” — about a group of students five years after the University’s 2015 Ford Hall protest — as part of receiving the award, which also includes a campus residency. Weller spent his time at Brandeis engaging with students and conducting research into the University’s Lenny Bruce archives, which are dedicated to the controversial comedian whose obscenity trials proved a landmark for freedom of speech. The award marks the University’s “commitment to engaging with the arts as an opportunity for discovery, creativity and innovation across traditional disciplinary boundaries,” Office of the Arts Director Ingrid Schorr wrote in an email to the Justice.
Students launch phone and email campaign
A Facebook event created in September called for students to protest
See PLAY, 7 ☛
COMMUNITY
Free Expression Forum comes to a conclusion ■ The Task Force on Free
Expression held the last open community forum for the finalization of its draft. By DANIELA MICHANIE JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Brandeis administrators, students, faculty and alumni discussed the challenges of creating an environment optimal to the exchange of ideas at an open forum convened by the Task Force on Free Expression on Monday. The open forum came just two weeks after students at the University of Florida protested on campus while prominent white nationalist Richard B. Spencer delivered a lecture at a university-sponsored event. University President Ronald Liebowitz referenced the event as he introduced the forum topic.
“This is a challenging and difficult topic,” said Liebowitz. “But we’re trying to thread the needle and find what is best for Brandeis, and the Task Force on Free Expression did an excellent job of framing some principles for us so we can start thinking about those policies.” Task Force Chair Prof. George Hall (ECON), Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mark Brimhall-Vargas and Prof. John Plotz (ENG) were among the members of the task force present at the discussion held at the Intercultural Center. There were approximately 30 people in attendance. The task force presented the latest draft of a set of five principles, which will serve as a basis for future University policy related to free speech on campus. Brimhall-Vargas described the draft
YVETTE SEI/the Justice
GITTLER: Kimberlé Crenshaw accepted her medallion from President Ron Liebowitz for the Gittler Prize award on Wednesday.
Kimberlé Crenshaw accepts Gittler Prize for career works ■ The Office of the President
awarded Kimberlé Crenshaw the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize for change-making ideas. By JOCELYN GOULD JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
In recognition of her scholarly work in intersectionality and critical race theory, the University awarded Kimberlé Crenshaw the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize last Wednesday. After three days of events celebrating Kimberlé Crenshaw’s scholarly works, University President Ron Liebowitz presented Crenshaw with the award at a ceremony and lecture on Wednesday. The University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia Law School professor and co-founder of the African American Policy Forum was recognized for her “exemplary scholarship” and “lasting impact in the world” with her theory of intersectionality and critical race theory, according to Prof. Elizabeth Ferry’s (ANTH) introduction. In her Prize Lecture, “Race, Reform, Retrenchment Redux: Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality Beyond Post-Racialism,” Crenshaw
defended that theory of intersectionality and argued for the necessity of remembering, recognizing and elevating the voices of Black women. Crenshaw explained her theory of intersectionality with a curious image: a long, narrow photo of cows grazing on grass. Telling the audience the cows were sick, she asked them who they would blame; the audience found the farmer guilty. However, she then uncovered the top of the picture, revealing a massive cloud of industrial smoke — the real reason the cows were sick. “There are all kinds of attributional errors which happen when you see a problem … in a narrow frame,” Crenshaw said. “When you broaden the frame, you have … a capacity to see not only the problem with respect to the cows, but the problem with respect to all of us: who is responsible, and what needs to be done.” Intersectionality is that broad frame which allows people to see problems as institutional rather than individual so that real solutions can be found, according to Crenshaw. The necessity of this new frame was made clear in the 1980s when Black women were clearly being
discriminated against in hiring practices but were losing discrimination suits, according to Crenshaw. Because the businesses in question hired Black men and white women, courts ruled that no gender or race discrimination was occurring, and they rejected the idea that Black women could sue for both simultaneously. “So the objective of intersectionality was to try to explain to judges what they were missing,” Crenshaw said. “It is basically an idea that social forces overlap: race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, disability and more.” Although it has become a pillar of sociological thought since Crenshaw coined the term in 1989, intersectionality is often attacked today for being a divisive ideology that causes problems instead of solving them. In her lecture, Crenshaw defended intersectionality against those who seek to displace conversation by criticizing the frame instead of looking through it. She countered this refusal to recognize the problems intersectionality illuminates by focusing on the overlooked struggles of Black women. Crenshaw declared that a “rac-
See CRENSHAW, 7 ☛
Inside BEMCo
Soccer Woes
Adagio Petition
Allison Lewis ’19 talks about her experience working for BEMCo.
The women’s soccer team has had a difficult time lately due to injuries.
A student dance group petitioned for access to the Linsey Sports Center entrance.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLISON LEWIS
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See TASK FORCE, 7 ☛
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FEATURES 8
INDEX
SPORTS 16
NATALIA WIATER/the Justice
ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG
10 2
News 3 COPYRIGHT 2017 FREE AT BRANDEIS.