ARTS Page 19
SPORTS Cross-country finishes 22nd at NCAAs 16
EMOTIONAL RIDE
FORUM Include computer science in curriculum 12 The Independent Student Newspaper
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Justice
Volume LXVI, Number 13
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
administration
IN-DEPTH REPORT
Bard and Syracuse differ on Al-Quds
Trustees of donated academic funds allege University misuse ■ The Safier-Jolles Fund
supports the History of Ideas program, which has declined since its inception.
■ Bard College, unlike its peers, chose not to alter its relationship with the Palestinian university.
By SAM MINTZ JUSTICE EDITOR
When the History of Ideas discipline first appeared at Brandeis in the 1950s, it boasted eminent professors who helped establish the University on the map academically in its early years. According to Prof. Jacob
By sara dejene JUSTICE editor
Since University President Frederick Lawrence’s decision to halt its academic partnership with AlQuds University in East Jerusalem, Al-Quds President Sari Nusseibeh has also been suspended from the International Advisory Board of Brandeis’ International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life while a report on the recent events at Al-Quds is currently being compiled by Brandeis faculty who visited Al-Quds last week. Meanwhile, Syracuse University announced it would also be suspending its partnership while Bard College decided it would not. In a statement released this past Friday, Lawrence affirmed that he is committed to “keeping the lines of communication open” between Brandeis and Al-Quds. Al-Quds reportedly had asked the University to reconsider its decision to suspend the relationship, according to a Nov. 20 article from the Associated Press. Nusseibeh later criticized Lawrence in a Nov. 22 article in the Times of Israel, saying that the University president had “gone overboard” in his decision to suspend the partnership. Director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life Daniel Terris, along with Prof. Susan Lanser (ENG) and Prof. Daniel Kryder (POL), had originally traveled to Al-Quds last week to explore ways to develop the partnership between the two schools. According to a Nov. 21 post on Terris’ blog, Lawrence asked them to gather information after news of the events that took place on the AlQuds campus broke. According to Lanser in an email to the Justice, they are currently writing the report and expect to release it sometime next week.
See AL-QUDS, 7 ☛
Cohen (AMST), as recently as the 1990s, it was “elite,” “respected” and “had prestige.” Today, it has been reduced greatly in size and importance, as a program that offers only a minor—one that no students have chosen to put on their diplomas since 2010, when only one did, according to data from the Office of the University Registrar. Despite its current lack of student enrollment, the program is supported by a substantial endowment that was donated during the 1990s. If the program were discontinued, according to the donation agreement, the
University would be required to give up the funds in the endowment to the Cambridge Public Library. Two trustees of the funds, one of whom was also a faculty member and directed the program for eight years, contended in interviews with the Justice that some of those funds have been misused, having been directed to purposes outside the scope of the academic definition of the history of ideas.
History of the program
Over the course of its existence, the History of Ideas was first a gradu-
ate program, then became part of the Philosophy department, eventually became a major of its own and finally became a program with a minor, which it is today. According to the program’s website, the faculty have included distinguished scholars as Herbert Marcuse, Alasdair MacIntyre, Kurt Wolff and Lewis Coser and has also produced eminent alumni including Michael Sandel ’75, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass professor of government at Harvard University, Michael Walzer ’56, professor emeritus in the School of
See FUNDS, 7 ☛
FRESH FACES AT THE ROSE
ASHLEY LAU/the Justice
BACK IN BUSINESS: Since its reopening in 2011, pictured above, the Rose Art Museum has made strides to promote its art and rework its organizational structure.
Rose rejuvenated with new image and structure ■ The Rose Art Museum
recently assembled a Board of Advisors, enhanced its staff with a number of new hires and is reworking its image with a new website.
By emily wishingrad JUSTICE editor
This year, the Rose Art Museum is moving forward with major changes to its administration, preservation standards and overall image on campus. With these changes, the Rose is well on its way to recovering its im-
age and status from its near-closure just four years ago. In addition to hiring Chris Bedford as director in the summer of 2012, the Rose recently promoted Kristin Parker to deputy director, nearly doubled its staff and assembled a Board of Advisors who had their first meeting in September.
The restructuring of the Rose’s administration started in 2010 when there was an informal meeting of the Board of Overseers in which they discussed their hopes for the future of the museum, according to Kristin Parker in an interview with the Justice. Parker said, “getting a director
See ROSE, 5 ☛
Climate activism
Tough defeats
Reinharz reactions
Students fasted for the typhoon victims and climate change awareness.
The women’s basketball team suffered a pair of losses in action versus New England foes.
Members of the Brandeis community signed a “Petition for Executive Pay.”
FEATURES 8 For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
Waltham, Mass.
Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org
INDEX
SPORTS 13 ARTS SPORTS
17 16
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 8
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
READER COMMENTARY 11
News 3 COPYRIGHT 2013 FREE AT BRANDEIS. Email managing@thejustice.org for home delivery.