universities across the Boston area rally to protect academic freedom and civil rights
On Saturday, Nov. 15, students from more than 10 colleges in the Greater Boston Area gathered in the Back Bay Fens to urge universities to stand up to the Trump administration and protect their students. Organized by the Educational Freedom Project, the rally featured speeches from activists, student organizers, state representatives and prominent federal workers. The speakers covered a wide variety of topics, from the Trump administration's immigration crackdown to universities transitioning from diversity equity and inclusion initiatives and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits being cut. In addition to the speakers, there was a live band and many local student activist organizations tabled in the park.
Shubh Agrawal, a member of the Northeastern Graduate Researcher and Teacher Student Union (GENU) and second-year Ph.D. student, took the stage to discuss Northeastern University's hostile negotiation tactics with the Union. Agrawal is involved in negotiations between GENU and Northeastern and asserted that “in the 20 months since we began bargaining, Northeastern has shown no interest in listening to its workers.” He told the crowd how in May, Northeastern gave a final offer to GENU, and when the union returned with a counteroffer rather than a signed deal, the University denied the counteroffer, lowered the proposed pay rates and halted negotiations. Agrawal continued, saying that Northeastern graduate workers often make below what is necessary to afford the cost of living in Boston and Northeastern’s proposal gives workers raises that fall below the rate of inflation. Agrawal also accused the University of exploiting loopholes — in a funding guarantee that promises Ph.D. students a job for at least five years — to “fire workers for essentially any reason.” Agrawal concluded that Northeastern will not do the right thing unless students and employers stand together and pressure the school into action. Also at the demonstration was James McAffery, the founder of Harvard University's Students for Freedom which is an organization standing up to the Trump administration's attacks on universities. McAffrey told the crowd that he’s not much of an activist; he’s a first-generation student from Oklahoma City who had never been to a protest before this year,
■ Student leaders, representatives and activists addressed a crowd of students from more than 10 different universities. Cancer research
but he is speaking out “because it is essential to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.”
McAffrey, along with several other students, founded SFF after he saw Columbia University fall in line with the president’s demands with little to no resistance. These students felt it was necessary to preemptively protest to send a message to Harvard and other schools across the country that they should not give in to Trump. Two days after SFF’s first demonstration, Harvard sued the Trump administration. McAffrey told the crowd that subsequently, “President Trump has cut billions of dollars in funding, accused the University of civil rights violations and has threatened to deport thousands of students simply because of where they go to school.” Despite all this, McAffrey declared that Harvard must stay strong and continue to stand up to Trump as a distinct leader in higher education. He highlighted that other universities have already been following Harvard’s lead, saying, “Just in the past few weeks, seven of nine universities denied President Trump's offer to sign a compact and have pushed back.”
McAffrey stressed the importance of collaboration between students. He hopes that if the movement continues to grow in magnitude, the federal government will have to listen to students' demands. He concluded his speech by focusing on the future and addressing concerns of authoritarianism in the country. McAffrey has a hopeful view for the future and does not believe that authoritarianism will rise in the United States. He predicts that Americans of all backgrounds and political views, conservatives and liberals alike, will stand up for free speech, the rule of law and freedom.
Next, two students from Northeastern offered a different narrative to the crowd. Student Body President Julian Herzing-Burkard and Executive Vice President Dylan Lee spoke. Lee said that while he understands that Northeastern has been forced to make hard choices by the Trump administration, he urges the University to be more transparent in its actions and with its students. Lee acknowledged the need for “strategic compromise” but demanded that students must be kept informed about their university's ongoing changes. Herzing-Burkard emphasized the importance of community in these trying and uncertain times. He stated that “we as a community will not compromise on our principles, we will not compromise on our values and we will not allow our institutions and fellow students to be stomped on by spineless politicians.” Herzing-Burkard reasserted that united students form a powerful group and that they should not let their voices be silenced.
Ayanna Pressley, United States House representa-
Saaya Daga '26 explores a new molecular approach to prostate cancer treatment.
By SAAYA DAGA
The University's 16th annual Kindness Week concludes with club and service fair
■ The fair allowed students to engage with various clubs on campus, who shared how they aim to support kindness in their missions.
By CHAVA THIELL JUSTICE NEWS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
On Friday, Nov. 14, the University concluded its annual celebration of Kindness Week with a club and service fair in the Shapiro Campus Center's Atrium. Hosted in a prominent and well-trafficked hub for campus life, the event allowed students to interact with the fair as they desired.
Initially supposed to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 11, the service fair was merged with the club fair due to a low level of anticipated engagement. Throughout the week, the University held events
such as a sustainability fair, various opportunities to spread positivity by decorating the SCC and a trivia night in The Stein. Several service-oriented organizations were in attendance, including Community Connections, Junior Brandeis Achievers, Prospect Hill Kids Club and Waltham Group. Several recreational, cultural and interest-specific clubs were also in attendance, aiming to offer students more insight into the mission of their organization, as well as how their group promotes kindness on campus. This year marks the 16th annual Kindness Week at Brandeis. According to the University’s website, the initiative began after a faculty member had “a vision to further connect Brandeis by promoting morale, building community, and encouraging more small acts of thanks and kindness on campus.” This has been inspired by World Kindness Week, a global initiative established in 1998 that has culminated in events and activities on college and school campuses across the country in the second week of November. This year,
Anti-sports betting posters seen on campus amid epidemic of college student interest in gambling
■ The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is warning students about sports betting and market prediction apps.
By IYLA LICHTENFELD JUSTICE NEWS EDITOR
Brightly colored posters with messages such as “Is your friend always on sports betting apps?” have become mainstays at bulletin boards and shuttle stations on campus since the start of the academic year. Displayed in their bottom right corner is the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s seal, and just beside it is a logo for its “Let’s Get Real About Gambling” initiative. A document promoting the initiative claims, “We don’t
Trump's nationalistic architecture
MIKEY TERRENZI
just want to help individuals dealing with problem gambling; we want to mitigate harms associated with problem gambling in Massachusetts.” Meanwhile, on the bottom left corner of all posters, a quick response code links to the department’s “Problem Gambling” page. These posters are an acknowledgement of the increased use of sports betting and gambling apps among college-aged individuals. Gambling experts, such as those at Rutgers’ Center for Gambling Studies, express that “with 24/7 access to betting platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel, young adults are increasingly engaging in sports wagering, often without recognizing the risks.” These risks include meaningful financial losses, mental instability through signs of depression and anxiety as well as jeopardizing significant relationships with friends or employers. Young adults are particularly susceptible to problem gambling due to their newfound financial independence and impressionability. In juggling
, 5 ☛
Being busy is Brandeis' social currency
By MAYA AVRAHAMI
TABLING : GirlUp members gather for a photo demonstrating the spirit of service.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
By SKYE ENTWOOD JUSTICE PHOTOS EDITOR
SKYE
SPEECH: Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley calls out House Republicans.
SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
COMPACT holds fourth annual Community Engagement Pathways Panel
■ Staff and faculty spoke about their departments, ways to get involved in the community and offered advice to students.
By JULIA HARDY JUSTICE MANAGING EDITOR
On Nov. 13, the Brandeis community members gathered together to attend the fourth annual COMPACT Community Engagement Pathways Panel. The Samuels Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation — otherwise known as COMPACT — aims to bring members of the Brandeis community together to work collaboratively with each other and community partners in order to create a more “just, equitable, and sustainable world.”
The Community Engagement Pathways Panel specifically hopes to show the community possible next steps to get involved with community partners. The panel was composed of 10 faculty and staff, all of whom are dedicated to furthering COMPACT’s mission of making the world a better place and helping students on their journey.
In a Nov. 13 interview with The Justice, one of the Samuel Scholars Peer Mentors, Elizabeth Ford ’27, who was heavily involved in the planning of this event, explained how faculty and staff “come and talk to our students and anyone else in the Brandeis community who wants to come about different pathways they can take at Brandeis through each of these departments and programs to really make the most of their time.”
The panel was moderated by Prof. Sally Warner (ENVS), the new director of COMPACT, who began the event by noting that the panelists came from a wide variety of departments on campus. Warner expressed that this event aims to facilitate networking for all involved, “obviously, the goal is for students to learn, but also hopefully there can be some cross campus networking that happens as well among the panelists who are here,” she stated.
Ian Roy ’05 introduced himself as the executive director for design and innovation at Brandeis. His team runs a number of labs on campus, including the “MakerLab for physical prototyping,” the automation lab, used for “electronic prototyping,” the digital scholarship lab and the engineering classroom facilities. Roy explained that “really, we can help you with any of your design projects if you’re doing community engaged projects.”
Additionally, Roy is teaching a class called Leadership and Social Impact Innovation, which is a Board Fellow Class where 10-20 students are placed on boards of local nonprofits and engage in projects related to the organization they are matched with.
Lisa Zeidenberg, one of the University’s librarians who focuses on research, explained that the library helps promote community engagement through their Researching Waltham guide. Zeidenberg stated that in addition to these resources, the library “can help you to explore nonprofits in your field of interest … we have a database called Foundation Directory Online … and you can use that to find nonprofits in your interests.” Zeidenberg also noted that there are COMPACT interviews uploaded to the library website.
Peter Rojas is the director of the Brandeis Intercultural Center. He talked about new initiatives at the ICC that focus “on developing our ICC leaders in different intricacies in terms of leadership, leadership style and how to manage what it means to be a leader.” One way Rojas is implementing this development is through a collaboration with the Center for Spiritual Life and the Gender and Sexuality Center. The three departments come together and host events called Be Curious Dinners, where faculty, staff and students come together to “talk about topics that are cliché at the dinner table that you’re not supposed to talk about.”
Rojas connected Be Curious Dinners to community involvement, saying, “our next step for this upcoming semester is inviting community partners to come and have dinner with us,” which would provide “an opportunity for students to kind of network with those individuals and hopefully create a better opportunity to bond and hopefully get internships or jobs out of that.”
Director of the GSC Jamie Wire was the next introduction. Wire explained that, “our primary way of having community engagement opportunities for students is through our student worker program, known as the “Pride Reps,” who are highly trained in peer education and deliver workshops to the Brandeis community on topics such as, “Intro to LGBTQ allyship, What is the gender identity spectrum? Exploring intersectionality, [and] Queer history.”
Additionally, Pride Reps “do a lot with community building events, so they participate in the planning and execution of the events of the GSC hosts. They’re also encouraged to collaborate with campus partners on events and things like that,” Wire added.
The Christian Chaplain at Brandeis, Karl LaClair, introduced himself next and talked about the Center for Spiritual Life’s Peer Engagement Coordinators, who are “student workers who work with different faith communities on campus, [and] help bring awareness to kind of interfaith initiatives on
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
■ A News byline incorrectly spelled “cheif,” it should have read “chief.” (Nov. 11, Page 1).
■ An Arts & Culture teaser incorrectly stated the name of a play as “A Merchant of Venice.” It should have read, “The Merchant of Venice.” (Nov. 11, Page 1).
■ A News caption was incorrectly cut off, reading “Waltham residents organize against ICE presence in their.” It should have read, “Waltham residents organize against ICE presence in their city.” (Nov. 11. Page 5).
■ A Features article incorrectly stated the department abbreviation for the Neuroscience and Psychology departments as “NEURO” and “PSYCH,” respectively. It should have read, “NPSY” and “PSYC.” (Nov. 11, Page 7).
■ A Sports photo credit misspelled the name of the referenced account as “@guesshusu.” It should have read, “@guesshugh.” (Nov. 11, Page 12).
■ An Arts & Culture article misspelled a student’s first name as “Katlyn.” It was updated to “Kaitlyn.” (Nov. 11, Page 14).
The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org
The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of examination and vacation periods.
campus.” Furthermore, the Center for Spiritual Life can generally help “anybody who’s interested in being a leader in any particular faith or religious tradition.”
LaClair also brought up Conversations that Matter, which is another way students can get involved on campus. These conversations are structured as a “program where you talk about not particularly religious issues, but kind of bigger general philosophical issues around life.”
Prof. Charlotte Powley (LGLS) and David Weinstein are the assistant director of research and the assistant director respectively at ENACT: The Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation. Weinstein explained that the “key focus of ENACT is engaging with the state legislative process.” ENACT is a national program, which means that “getting involved also helps you get this national network of people who are involved in this work.”
ENACT also has opportunities to get involved through classes. Students who take certain classes are eligible to apply to be an ENACT student delegate, who have the opportunity to support ENACT’s mission. Weinstein explained that students can get involved by applying for the ENACT education and advocate grant, “which is an opportunity for up to $500 in funding for an event.” Weinstein is also a part of VoteDeis, “which is a nonpartisan coalition of faculty and staff and students supporting voter registration [and] voter engagement.”
Powley elaborated more on the ENACT classes, particularly highlighting some of the classes she teaches. For instance, Powley teaches a class called “Gender, Justice, and Legislation” in the spring. She recommended students taking ENACT cources if they would like to get civically involved. As another way to get involved, Powley mentioned a new internship opportunity called ENACT Corps, where students participate in an internship for eight weeks during which they continue to meet with Powley and a cohort of students for support.
Prof. David Sherman (ENG), head of the English department, introduced himself next. Sherman is a part of the Brandeis Educational Justice Initiative, which is “a higher [education] in prison initiative.”
As he described it, the program is “faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates who collaborate on offering educational opportunities for people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system.”
Additionally, Sherman pointed to a few classes that are taught at Brandeis that further this mission and discuss the topic of incarceration. For instance, Sherman is teaching a class called “Literature in the Age of Mass Incarceration” in the spring. Assistant Director at the Hiatt Career Center, Calvin Chu, introduced himself and
discussed Hiatt’s mission, detailing, “a lot of what we do [at Hiatt] is helping students identify what their passions are and be inspired by those things and those interests.” Chu talked about how it’s challenging to balance passions with finances when finding the right job or internship.
Chu explained that “one of the things that we’re really proud of is that we have what’s called a WOW [World of Work] fellowship,” which students can apply to “for thousands of dollars to cover expenses during … summer internships.”
Last to be introduced was Prof. Rachel Kramer Theodorou (ED), who talked about opportunities to gain a license in pre-k to 12th grade teaching. She talked about the education department at the University and the opportunities it provides. Theodorou highlighted community engagement by saying, “I think all of our classes are community engaged,” but she specifically mentioned her class called “Waltham Speaks, Multilingualism and Advocacy and Community,” where all students are required to have an internship.
Faculty and staff answered questions on themes such as advice and opportunities. Each panelist shared pieces of advice surrounding how to start getting involved in the community. For instance, Theodorou suggested that students consider whether they are the right fit for a certain opportunity “before [they] talk to the partners, because [the] partners are busy professionals doing their hard work.”
Roy suggested that events are a valuable, oftentimes “low-barrier” way of getting involved and it’s helpful to find a “time and a place that works for you to learn more.” On the topic of balancing different commitments, Wire noted that students should always try to prioritize a “self-care element,” which she said is different for everyone. Sherman advised thinking “about what you’re doing next semester now.” Chu spoke about prioritizing your time and how “knowing your why is really really big” and suggested not just doing what friends are doing. Powley brought up the “simple and basic” advice of checking emails regularly.
Panelists also talked about the value of networking. Sherman explained that “networking is a series of genuine one-on-one conversations.” As panelists gave their advice and shared their knowledge, LaClair summarized the purpose of the event by saying, “all of these people in this room want to be a resource specifically for you as students.”
As the event wrapped up, panelists shared next steps, fliers and Quick Response codes with attendees to help students take the first step in getting involved with the community and make the world a better place.
COLE HAMNER/The Justice. PANEL : Faculty discuss community engagement.
COLE HAMNER/The Justice.
COLE HAMNER/The Justice.
ENGAGE: Executive Director of Design and Innovation, Ian Roy, ‘05 urges students to put themselves out there.
COMPACT : Prof. Sally Warner (ENVS) speaks on the future of COMPACT
COLE HAMNER/The Justice.
SUGGESTION : Panelists encourage students to get civicly involved.
Comedy and Conversations: A night with stand-up comedian Mikey Greenblatt
■ Jewish on Campus brought a stand-up comedian whose material is rooted in Judaism, to share his modern take on advocacy.
By ELIZA ROTHFELD JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
On the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 11, Brandeis University’s Jewish on Campus Chapter President, Samantha Przybisiki ’27, in collaboration with other university students — Abby Spitzer ’27, Vice President of Programming; Hannah Churwin ’27, Treasurer; Emma Solini ’27, Communications — presented “Comedy and Conversations: A night with Mikey Greenblatt” in a stand-up comedy event. Jewish on Campus’ core principle and mission is to actively advocate and combat antisemitism in a modern way. Their website explains, “Since our founding, Jewish on Campus has led the next generation of Jewish advocacy, giving voice to Jewish students online and on social media. Now, we’re bringing our movement directly to your campus.” The group wanted to host an event rooted in advocacy but also get many people involved. Pryzbiski first encountered Mikey Greenblatt on social media. When she later found out that he was close with Vice Presi -
dent of Programming Abby Spitzer, they officially went through his agent to book him. Mikey Greenblatt, a modern Orthodox Jew, originally grew up in Englewood, New Jersey and now lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Greenblatt is a stand-up comedian who makes his way on a religious circuit and performs at temples and two to three clubs surrounding the area he finds himself in on tour. Greenblatt performs around 18 times throughout each week and he recently came back from a tour in Canada. Greenblatt started the night off with crowd work, admitting that it went on much longer than expected because “we,” the Brandeis student body, just gave him so much material to work with. He riffed on the fact that there were only two athletes in the audience and then went on to poke fun at the absurdity of the Brandeis Quadball Club. Right off the bat, Greenblatt had the audience laughing non-stop. He spit out his water one time because the “quadball thing” was too good to be true. During this crowd work he identified the two non-Jews in the audience and after each religious joke would turn to them, ask if they understood and further explain. One of the non-Jewish audience members, Angelina Scaduto ’29, expressed how funny she thought the whole bit was and really felt included in an event where otherwise she wouldn’t have known what was going on. She said, “I really felt included, and he made an effort to explain — in a funny way — to explain the more deeply rooted Judaism jokes. It worked really nicely with the material he
had already prepared.”
Greenblatt then transitioned into his scripted material. He told the audience about his previous shows and tours, what being Jewish in the modern world is like and his past dating experiences. Greenblatt spent a considerable amount of time performing material surrounding the conflict in Israel and Palestine. The jokes started lighthearted before he transitioned into an anecdote about an encounter he had had in Central Park in which a woman spit at him and told him to “go back to Israel.” Greenblatt ended the more political and polarizing material with the personal conclusion that living in New York City right now is scary and at times dangerous. However, each segment of the show provided more and more laughs and the audience lined up for pictures with Greenblatt at the end.
Greenblatt talked about social media and his complex relationship with it. While Greenblatt uses social media in order to reach larger audiences, he also sees it as an outlet for hatred. Greenblatt explained how regardless of what he posts, there is always a “Free Palestine” comment, regardless of the fact that his video is unrelated. Since he is categorized as a Jewish creator, people who Greenblatt sees as “non-functioning” humans will use that as an opportunity to spread hatred.
The night concluded with Samantha Przybiski hosting a question and answer segment where the audience learned more about Greenblatt’s writing process and goals of
being a stand-up comedian. Greenblatt explained that being a stand-up comedian is a lot harder than one might think. In reality, comedians practice one hour of material for years. What this means for Greenblatt is that he often writes material before or during a show and executes it to see the reaction it elicits from the crowd. The reception of the jokes is highly dependent on the audience they are being performed for — Greenblatt said that Brandeis students were a great audience in comparison to the congregants of a Jewish temple he performed at prior who weren’t laughing at anything. That is the reality of being a stand-up comedian. Still, he does it for the purpose of trying to humanize Judaism and not just to perform the stereotypical, antisemitic jokes about bagels and coffee and being loud — though he did make his fair share of circumcision jokes. Greenblatt revealed that his comedy hero is Jerry Seinfeld, who he learned his greatest material from and looks up to for inspiration. Pryzibiski asked Greenblatt if he views comedy as advocacy and a form of protest, and his answer was yes. Greenblatt touched on the fact that when Jewish people have accomplishments, their feats are often overshadowed by the fact that they are Jewish. He views Judaism as the backdrop of his being and believes that one should be proud of being Jewish, but also just proud in general of one’s being and accomplishments.
Several Brandeis student bands rock campus at Bandapalooza performance
■ The second annual Bandapalooza showcased Brandeis-affiliated bands and invited community members to join them onstage.
By LUCIA THOMAS JUSTICE NEWS EDITOR
Nov. 16 marked the second annual installation of “Bandapalooza” in the Levin Ballroom. Brought together by the Music and Dance Band, Top Score, Klezmer Band, Brandeis Radio Service Student Music Committee and Jam Club, the event showcased eight Brandeis-born bands and one independent musician, Rick Baby. The night was marked by community engagement and a passion to make music interactive for all who attended the event. Performers were either responders to posters MAD Band put up around campus, those who directly messaged the club on Instagram or event planners themselves, said MAD Band Equipment Manager Yana Stoilova ’28 in a Nov. 16 interview with The Justice. “All we asked was that you had at least one instrument,” said Stoilova in relation to requirements to be included. The lineup consisted of MAD Band, Top Score, Klezmer Band, Jam Club, Wizards of Usen Castle, The Lockpickers, Ave Physica, Dogwai and Rick Baby. Levin Ballroom boomed with music upon entering. On the left side of the room was a row of tables topped with fall-themed refreshments and treats. Participants, with a cup of apple cider and donut in hand, made their way to a seat or crossed the room to discuss instruments and musical opportunities on campus. MAD Band members sat behind
the tables with instruments and posters displayed. These posters could be signed by the musicians who performed at the event. Along with the tabling activity, there was a photobooth just outside the ballroom where participants could pose with colorful hats and plastic instruments.
Although musical acts were intended to begin at 7 p.m., a surprise performer kicked off the night as doors were opening at 6:45 p.m. Rick Baby sat atop a stool and strummed a guitar as students, staff and Waltham residents found their seats. Rick Baby is an older gentleman who came to campus by coincidence looking for a place to perform. He recalled there being a coffee shop in years past where musicians were welcome to play. He may have been referencing Cholmondeley’s Coffee House, located in the Usen Castle, which closed in 2021. In a conversation with The Justice, Rick Baby expressed his gratitude for the event, remarking, “I wish [Brandeis] had more events like this.”
As Rick Baby removed his instruments and stool from in front of the stage, Top Score began their set. Top Score is an orchestra on campus that specializes in video game theme songs and television and movie soundtracks. They kicked off the performance with a song from “The Mandalorian” which was encouraged by applause. Various music directors took the helm as the group moved from song to song. The announcement of a composition from the movie “La La Land” incited verbal excitement from the audience. This would be their final medley and the group left the stage to applause.
The night was filled with raucous reactions from the audience and performers gave the love right back. The Lockpickers descended upon the stage with an improvisational set. Members asked the audience to shout out words to inspire their set. “Squishy” was yelled from the crowd. The musicians began the song and marched around the stage.
Bongos were beat, guitars strummed and “squishy” items such as pillows and marshmallows were said into the microphone. The band soon moved on to even more audience participation with the distribution of maracas and egg shakers. Several members of the band jumped from the stage to run around the crowd and pass out instruments to those with their hands raised. As this was occurring, Reed Gao ’25, deputy president of Jam Club, said, “We hope to share the happiness of improvisation and music with you.” The audience and band began to interact. Those with shakers shook them and those without clapped along. The musicians on stage danced around and their shadows loomed large on the colorful backboard under the rotating strobe lights. As the song wound down, a train whistle was blown into the microphone before the band members collected the instruments and took a bow.
A more traditional performance followed with the Klezmer Band. They play Ashkenazi Jewish folk music known as klezmer, which originated in Eastern Europe. Before commencing, the band invited audience members to get up and dance if they pleased. No one from the audience took up the offer but they did clap and cheer during and after each song. Many of the Klezmer Band’s songs allowed for rotating solos between musicians. The violins with their synchronized strokes took front and center at one point and at another the guitar was the focal point. Before their last song, the musician playing a cajón said, “we hope you enjoyed our performance” and raised their fist into the air.
Between musical acts was a magic show by Spike King ’27 titled “Magic Spike.” This portion of the night consisted of King bringing three members of the audience on stage as stereotypical magic show music played from the speakers. The participants were asked to shuffle, split and pick a card from a large deck. King’s magic was revealed when every
person with a card was holding a jack. Further audience participation ensued when Jam Club occupied the stage. Jam Club’s mission is to provide anyone who is interested the opportunity to play music. They host weekly jam sessions on Thursdays in Ridgewood Commons where participants of any and all skill levels are welcome. Reed Gao led this portion of the night as he asked audience members to come on stage and pick up one of the various instruments. A couple of guitars, a keyboard, bass guitar, drum set with MAD Band printed on the bass drum and more instruments were all up for grabs. “We want to show you how easy and simple music can be,” remarked Gao as audience members found their way to the stage. Soon every instrument had a player and Gao stated triumphantly, “We have a band.” The newly formed group played for five minutes. They were then replaced with another group of audience members. This newly minted band was called “Quiet Loud Quiet” and also played for five minutes. The night progressed with various other groups taking the stage such as Wizards of Usen Castle and MAD Band.
Throughout the night, Bandapalooza maintained an air of familiarity and community. Between sips of hot cocoa and bites of donut holes, audience members cheered, clapped and played along with the musicians who took their turns on stage. This event showcased not only the musical talent of the Brandeis student body but the support and eagerness for involvement that their fans possess.
— Editor’s Note: Justice News Editorial Assistant Chava Thiell ’29 performed in the Nov. 16 event. She did not contribute to this article.
TOP SCORE : Instrumentalists serenade the audience at Bandapalooza. “LA LA LAND:” Top Score performs medley from crowd-favorite movie.
COMMUNITY: Clubs showcase their service oriented kindness during campus fair
Brandeis embraced the theme of “Better Together,” aimed at community-building and engagement. The University also offered a virtual “Kindness Card” so that the larger Brandeis community could participate in the themed week by writing a virtual message to a friend or loved one that could then be sent to their email.
Many tables featured free goodies, including snacks, candy, self-care items like face masks and kindness-oriented activities such as writing supportive notes to a stranger.
Club leaders commented on the ways in which their organization works to promote kindness and inclusivity on campus. Many touched on the relationships their clubs help foster and how this develops an overall sense of community on campus.
Lee-El Messinger ’28, a leader of Jewish Feminists at Brandeis, while tabling, emphasized how “kindness is not just being nice to someone” and that their
club works to foster a greater sense of inclusivity for students in the Brandeis community. She discussed JFAB’s commitment to the principle of intersectionality, making the club open to people of diverse backgrounds and sees this as a means of promoting inclusivity.
Overall, students felt the University worked to support a campus environment that cultivates kindness. Some felt a significant amount of the effort to cultivate an inclusive campus culture was led by the student body at large. “We’re really the ones supporting each other,” said Ella Majeski ’26, President of Brandeis Gymnastics Club while at her table.
Jahnvi Mundra ’28, a leader of Community Connections, one of the 19 groups under Waltham Group, said during the event that the University “definitely cultivates that [spirit of kindness] year round” and “fosters support.”
The fair also held tables presented by the Depart-
ment of Student Engagement and the Intercultural Center. In a Nov. 14 interview with The Justice, Marcus Curry Jr., an employee at the Intercultural Center said that they are working to connect students with their respective communities through fun programming and educational opportunities. That way, students can form relationships and networks which are available for support. Curry also said that the ICC was “very thankful for our campus partners” and felt the University was supportive of the ICC’s mission.
Abygail Francis ’26, the president of Waltham Group, touched on, at the event, that the club’s partnership with the ICC and how this advances the group’s goals of promoting kindness, inclusivity and community engagement. Partnering with the ICC has, according to Francis, allowed Waltham Group to teach students about “how kindness is demonstrated in your culture.” When asked about
Brandeis’ ability to support a kind and inclusive learning community, Francis replied, “the University does a good job of supporting Waltham Group’s initiatives” and supports the organization’s primary goal of giving back to the greater community. The event ended at 2:00 p.m. and marked the conclusion of the University’s formal programming for the theme week. Ultimately, the majority of students felt the University promotes a kind environment year-round and merely offers additional opportunities to promote the spirit of kindness on campus during this themed week.
— Editor's Note: Justice Online Editor Ellie Harris '28 is the treasurer of GirlUp and did not contribute to or edit this article.
GAMBLING: Brandeis Counseling Center lacks programs aimed at betting
the financial strain of attending college, part-time jobs and renting, students can form a dependency on mobile phone sports betting more easily than older adults can. In fact, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health notes that within the state “problem gambling impacts about 4-8% of youths, compared to just 1% of adults.”
The accessibility and promotion of sports betting to students provides the chance to gamble while in lectures and alongside friends, making it a seemingly casual act. Companies like DraftKings have leveraged college students’ gambling inexperience using flashy colors and entertaining advertisements during collegiate sports broadcasts to encourage youth rates of engagement. According to a survey conducted by the NCAA in 2023, 58% of 18 to 22-yearolds had engaged in sports betting at least once during the year. Furthermore, “41% of college students who bet on sports have placed a bet on their school's teams and 35% have used a student bookmaker.”
With the Massachusetts legal age to gamble being 21, students specifically rely on each other or on mobile
RESISTANCE:
apps to place bets.
Kalshi is one such app that has become overwhelmingly popular. Their influence has been so negative for students, financially and emotionally, that on Oct. 30 the NCAA sent a letter to the company asking that they “reduce instances of abuse and harassment directed at student-athletes and other participants.” However, the app claims no wrongdoing, adding that they “do not fall under state jurisdiction and [are] instead regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency.” As such, Kalshi has avoided the limitations that most sports betting companies and casinos face. Now, with unfettered access to the app and others, students are igniting a “self-reinforcing cycle” of betting.
The University of Wisconsin’s the Daily Cardinal states, “The intersection of sports betting and mental health is particularly concerning … A student who loses a bet may feel compelled to chase their losses, leading to more betting and deeper financial troubles.” The issue is so apparent in students that
universities have begun implementing gamblingrelated screening questions into health surveys and counseling intake forms.
The Justice reached out to the Brandeis Counseling Center’s Director Addie Wyman and Director of Healthcare Operations LaShaun Lockhart for a comment in a Nov. 11 email. Without a response, it cannot be said that the BCC offers gambling specific services. Meanwhile, according to their website, assessments, consultations and references are available for drug and alcohol concerns. Additionally, there are no resources for those struggling with gambling addictions on the BCC or Student Health Center websites despite their categorization as mental health disorders.
This absence does not mean Brandeis students are not being impacted by sports betting’s popularity. At this year’s Brandeis SparkTank 2025: Celebrating Innovation and Impact, the second place winner of the startup pitching event was “BarBets, a platform offering a risk-free alternative to sports betting to enhance the bar-going experience.” The
idea is to mimic the sociability and excitement of betting without monetary concerns by offering bar specific redeemable rewards. Though the service is unfortunately unavailable, it’s proof of concept for acknowledging the risks of sport betting from the student perspective. At present, the only University resource that appeals to students about the risks of sports betting are the posters supplied by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Nonetheless, the issue is one of national merit and generational concern. However, with the posters slated to be taken down in midDecember, will Brandeis continue to support the department’s initiative with alternative programs, such as those implemented at other universities’ counseling centers? For now, even without specific institutional plans, the BCC and the University can provide general aid to students struggling with problem gambling.
Students pack Back Bay Fens in protest of Trump's policies
tive for the seventh congressional district of Massachusetts, called out the Trump administration and encouraged student activists to be unapologetically themselves. She reminded the audience that schools are at the heart of civil rights and progress and claimed that the Trump administration is attacking academic freedom because education is a cornerstone of democracy. She called out House Republicans for voting to cut health insurance and government aid. Pressley delivered an uplifting
message to the institutions of higher education in Massachusetts, saying, “Remember who you are. Do not shrink in the face of these precise coordinated attacks on our intellectual freedom. Root yourselves in your mission, in truth, in the sacred calling to educate a democracy worthy of its name.” She then spoke directly to young people, encouraging them to step up and lead in the movement for educational freedom and fight to preserve democracy. She urged students to “organize, agitate, mobilize across cam-
puses and across communities,” and to work to create a better democracy and world. Pressley told the students present that there is power in their voices and implored them to use it and be authentically and unapologetically themselves.
Several speakers addressed other pressing issues, such as deportations, cuts to SNAP benefits, the alleged rise of fascism and the experiences of students with disabilities. While the event cannot be embodied by one mission statement it served as a common
STUDENT PROTEST
By
gathering of different movements bringing together activists and students from a range of backgrounds, all fighting their own distinct battles. It was an exchange of stories and insights, encouraging collaboration and solidarity between communities in the Greater Boston Area.
SPEECH: City Councilor at-large Julia Mejia speaks.
RALLY: James McAffrey founded Harvard Students for Freedom.
SKYE ENTWOOD JUSTICE PHOTOS EDITOR
features
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
ON THIS DAY…
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled the state’s ban on samesex marriages was unconstitutional in 2003.
FUN FACT
Naked mole rats are immune to cancer.
A New Molecular Approach to Prostate Cancer Treatment
The
Pochapsky Laboratory is examining how enzymes are reshaping cancer research in student labs.
By SAAYA DAGA JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Prostate cancer drugs have saved countless lives, but even the best-known treatments come with a long-standing problem: They often affect far more of the body than they should. Medication meant to shut down one enzyme responsible for producing testosterone, the hormone that fuels prostate tumor growth, can end up blocking several other enzymes that have nothing to do with cancer. This broad action leads to serious side effects including liver damage and hormonal imbalance. Inside Prof. Thomas Pochapsky’s (CHEM/ BCHEM) Laboratory at Brandeis University, chemical biology major Talia Lazar ’26 has spent more than a year investigating a more precise molecular approach that could eventually help avoid these complications.
Lazar studies CYP17A1, a member of the cytochrome P450 family of enzymes found in the liver. These enzymes, she explained in an Aug. 25 interview with The Justice, “are vital for hormone balance and drug metabolism.”
CYP17A1 plays a central role in making testosterone, so without it, the body cannot produce the hormone. Since testosterone is one of the main drivers of prostate cancer growth, blocking CYP17A1 has become a major strategy in treatment. Drugs like abiraterone do this effectively, but their flexible chemical structures allow them to bind not only to CYP17A1 but to many other enzymes. This broad activity is what causes many of the side effects that patients experience and it is exactly the issue Lazar’s project is working to address.
“If it doesn’t bind exactly at 180 degrees, it won’t do it. It will pop off,” Lazar said. This strict requirement makes isonitrile-based molecules far more selective. However, early tests showed
The Pochapsky Lab studies a different type of molecule called an isonitrile inhibitor. Unlike abiraterone, which can bind where it shouldn’t, isonitriles attach to enzymes only if they match a very strict angle and orientation.
they often develop ways to overcome inhibitors: by producing more of the enzyme, changing its structure or switching to alternate pathways. As a result, Lazar and Pochapsky began exploring a newer technology called PROTACs, short for Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras. These molecules aim not just to block harmful proteins
brought together, the ligase “basically tells the cell, okay, you need to chop this up.”
Once E3 tags CYP17A1, the cell uses its proteasome to break down the enzyme entirely. One major advantage of PROTACs is that they can be reused: After a protein is destroyed, the PROTAC can move on to tag another one.
“You can reuse the PROTAC
that although the compound was more selective, some of its inhibitive abilities might have been compromised. When compared directly to abiraterone, she said, “We found that it’s not as good as an inhibitor.”
interacted with CYP17A1 and also created opportunities to expand the molecule in new ways. Those opportunities became important when the team began thinking beyond inhibition altogether. Traditional drugs work only as long as they can block a protein, but cancer cells are adaptable. Over time,
Lazar spent last summer working on optimizing the isonitrile’s function, aiming to improve its ability to bind to and inhibit CYP17A1. She and Prof. Pochapsky added a hydroxyl group to the molecule, a small chemical feature that can strengthen binding interactions and serve as a site to attach additional components. “Having that hydroxyl group is a good handle to add other things,” she explained. This change improved how the inhibitor
but to remove them completely from the cell. PROTACs have two ends joined by a chemical linker. One end attaches to the target protein, in this case, CYP17A1, while the other end attaches to an E3 ligase, a cellular machine responsible for tagging proteins for destruction. As Lazar explained, when the two are
again,” Lazar said, “so it recycles and it can attack another enzyme.”
To turn her improved inhibitor into a PROTAC, Lazar needed to physically connect it to the PROTAC’s other half, the part that recruits the E3 ligase. Over the summer she produced a complete PROTAC molecule, which the lab then sent for
testing to see whether it could successfully degrade CYP17A1.
But the test results showed a setback. “We tested it in vitro and found no activity with the enzyme,” Lazar said. The issue likely comes down to distance: The site targeted for binding on CYP17A1 sits so deep in the cell’s membrane that the PROTAC couldn’t physically reach it. “We’re thinking that’s because the active site is buried too deep,” she explained, “so the linker is just not long enough to reach.” To solve this, the lab plans to try PROTAC designs with longer linkers and repeat the experiment.
The lab’s size has played a major role in the pace and structure of the work. Beyond Lazar, the lab only has two graduate students, meaning that the lab has to move efficiently and focus only on what shows the most promise.
Although still in its early stages, the project points toward an exciting direction. PROTACs are widely viewed as a potentially transformative tool in cancer therapy, offering a way to eliminate harmful proteins instead of temporarily suppressing them. Applying this technology to CYP17A1 could one day lead to a more selective, longer-lasting prostate cancer treatment with fewer side effects.
For Lazar, the experience of taking on such a large project as the only undergraduate researcher has been meaningful. At the same time, it has left her thinking about the future. While she is interested in drug development, she is not ready to commit to a specific career path. “I think I can take a gap year or two and, like, figure that out,” she said.
Design: BRIANNA EARLE/The Justice. Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
CANCER RESEARCH: Prof. Pochapsky’s lab focuses on cancer cell research.
Club Close-Up: Middle Eastern and North African Society
“Taste of the Middle East.”
By SKYE ENTWOOD JUSTICE PHOTOS EDITOR
a
Photos: SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice. Design: BRIANNA
The Brandeis Middle Eastern and North African Society, better known as MENAS, is a cultural club on campus dedicated to fostering an active community centered around shared identity and cultural exchange. MENAS hosts events open to the wider Brandeis community in order to share their culture and their story with the rest of campus. On Nov. 13, MENAS hosted a “Taste of the Middle East” dinner featuring Persian food catered by Cafe Vanak. The event had quite an active turnout. At the beginning of the night, there was a long line of students waiting to sample the food. MENAS has more upcoming events open to the public, including a game night on Nov. 18 and
dessert night on Nov. 21 in collaboration with the Southeast Asia Club, Brandeis Asian American Student Association, Brandeis Latinx Student Organization, Club Cantonese at Brandeis, Students of the Caribbean Association and the Vietnamese Student Association.
We have reached a point in our world where Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, bringing with it ethical and logistical challenges. In educational spaces, this new technology often means reckoning with multiple conflicting truths: On one hand, AI is a useful tool with increasing relevance in everyday life. On the other hand, it can be used as a false replacement for exercises in learning and critical thinking. As these considerations persist, the Brandeis community continues to grapple with its usage in our classrooms.
Just as many students have differing opinions about using AI, members of this editorial board have observed a wide range of AI regulations across our classes, with some professors encouraging students to use AI to facilitate completing their assignments, some explicitly using AI themselves and others vehemently bashing it to their students. As students, how can we know how and when it is permissible to use AI if there is no clear consensus among the faculty? How can we learn the best way to interact with AI as we prepare to enter a workforce that engages with it in so many different ways as well?
The University provides resources for students to navigate and understand how AI will be used in each class. However, with each professor setting their own policy — policies that are often unclear to students because of vague, general language in course syllabi — some students struggle to know how and when AI is acceptable in each class unless they explicitly ask their professor about it, and even then the rules can remain unclear. This uncertainty is indicative of a larger problem: a lack of consensus about when and how to use AI in our classes.
This editorial board recognizes that the University has launched a smattering of resources to address AI usage in classes from the instructor perspective. The University’s AI Steering Committee’s website features an Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use policy, and last February, the Center for Teaching and Learning shared some Preliminary Guidelines for Teaching with Gen AI. Unfortunately, these guidelines place the responsibility of how to implement AI onto each individual professor. The Acceptable Use policy states that “under this policy, there will be disciplinary differences in how AI is integrated into coursework depending on learning objectives.”
This language is extremely noncommittal and vague, and does not offer specific guidance on when and how each department or discipline
should expect to interact differently with AI in their classrooms. Many of the proposed guidelines for teaching with AI suggest asking students to include personal experiences or current events in their assignments to make it more difficult for AI to successfully complete the assignment — but not all assignments can logically include elements like this. Assignments built to foil AI rather than inspire students’ critical thinking and learning can feel like an unproductive use of time for students already juggling so many assignments.
This editorial board calls on the University to implement department-level policy on AI usage for students. It is unfair and confusing to expect each professor to curate individual AI policy for their class without clear guidelines from the departmental or administrative level. While it is nearly impossible to write clear AI policy on a university-level due to the breadth of possible usage, this editorial board believes that department-level guidelines would benefit both students and faculty. Ideally, faculty from each department would collaborate on a detailed set of guidelines that apply to all classes across the department. These documents would provide specific guidance for assignments typical of that department, relieving individual professors from having to make their own policy and providing consistent expectations for students.
Furthermore, this editorial board calls for transparent, faculty-level guidelines on appropriate AI usage. If the purpose of defining appropriate AI usage for students is to preserve the integrity of our liberal arts education, it only makes sense that faculty are held to similar standards. The necessity for this kind of regulation is being made clear in universities across the country: already, a Northeastern University student has asked for an $8,000 refund after learning that her professor was using ChatGPT to generate materials. While no such event has taken place at Brandeis, members of this editorial board have expressed similar concerns that their professors are using AI to consult or generate course material. It is clear that discontinuities between student and faculty AI usage foster mistrust and discontentment, a problem which the University would be wise to examine sooner rather than later.
It is clear that concerns surrounding AI usage on college campuses will not go away anytime soon. If Brandeis truly wants to become a leader in liberal arts education, the time is now to implement curated, intentional AI policies that will effectively protect our school’s standards of academic integrity and excellence.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Historically, America has killed fascists
By Jon Hochschartner
There isn’t a lot Americans agree on. However, up until very recently, there was a broad consensus, among representatives from the socialist left to the neoconservative right, that the United States’ effort to halt the spread of fascism in World War II was laudable. Of course, all violence is a tragedy and, for the religiously inclined, a sin. But if violence is ever necessary, as I sometimes believe it is, surely the campaign to defeat the genocidal far right was one such case. We can see evidence of this consensus in popular films. Audiences cheered as protagonists killed endless numbers of Nazis in movies like 1967’s The Dirty Dozen, 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and 2009’s Inglorious Basterds. Of course, there were other cinematic villains based on real-life geopolitical foes during this period. However, none were as widely understood as unequivocally evil as the fascists of the first half of the 20th century. I recently attended a protest against President Donald Trump. Besides the occasional driver who cursed at us or swerved at us, it was a great event. I enjoyed talking with others who are similarly concerned with far-right threats to democracy. At one point, members of the picket line in my immediate vicinity were discussing what led to the rise of the current generation of conservatives, who are increasingly open about their authoritarian and racist ambitions.
Activists offered a variety of different explanations, all of which were likely contributing factors. One I put forward was simply those who had fought the fascists of the 1930s and 1940s had largely died of old age. When I was a cub reporter at various Adirondack newspapers in the late 2000s, I was often tasked with interviewing veterans at lo -
cal events. I made a conscious choice to seek out the most elderly of these, some of whom had served in World War II. My editors and I were very aware these figures wouldn’t be around much longer. For the most part, their generation is gone now. We’ve lost that direct connection with the prior global struggle against far-right authoritarianism. As a result, today’s conservatives increasingly flirt with outright Nazism. These aren’t fringe characters. Rather they’re people in close touch with the White House. As just one example, look who Vice President J.D. Vance follows on X. The anti-fascist coalition has an assortment of policy goals. For instance, as an animal activist, I want a massive infusion of state and federal funding into cultivated-meat research. The new protein is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. I view the developing technology as the most promising means of reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death. But none of our goals can be achieved under a rightwing authoritarian government. As the Trump administration goes further and further to clamp down on dissent, it’s worth reminding them that, historically, America has killed fascists. If our cultural output is any indication, we’re quite proud of the fact. I pray violence isn’t necessary to defeat the gangsters controlling our government, however, America has fought farright authoritarianism in the past and is willing to do so again. For their own sake, I hope today’s fascists take this into consideration.
Jon Hochschartner lives in Connecticut. He is the author of a number of books, including The Animals’ Freedom Fighter: A Biography of Ronnie Lee, Founder of the Animal Liberation Front.
from animal cells, without slaughter. It offers a number of potential environmental, public health and nonhuman welfare benefits.
“Wildtype’s achievement is a watershed moment for domestic seafood production and for the cultivated protein industry overall,” said Dr. Suzi Gerber, executive director of the Association for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation. “Food technologies meet the highest safety standards, and can play a vital
role in healthy American diets, while strengthening our food system’s domestic production and resilience.” Despite such progress, significant technological challenges remain for cultivated meat to reach price parity with incumbent, slaughtered options. Thankfully, these can be overcome with increased public funding for cellular agriculture research. Any politician interested in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, pandemic risk, and the suffering we inflict on animals should support this forward thinking effort.
PELICANS: A pod of pelicans loiter around some park benches.
SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice.
ISLANDS: Gray, rocky islands stand against a cerulean sea.
In defense of the modern novel
By GRAHAM GLOVKA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
There has been a recent discussion in The Brandeis Hoot about the downfall of the novel due to capitalism. To me, this seems like a surface-level argument. The novel chosen as the pinnacle of “pre-capitalist” peak literature in this debate is George Eliot’s 1871 novel “Middlemarch,” a novel that astute readers might point out was written and released at the end of the Victorian period, a time during which capitalism had already sunk its fangs deep into the anglophone world, as demonstrated by Mark Twain referring to the period in American history as the Gilded Age. So, is “Middlemarch” truly unaffected by capitalism? Probably not, but that is neither here nor there.
The point being made about “Middlemarch” refers to Eliot’s use of multiperspectivism and how it is a tool that modern authors have lost the art of. But truly, you can only see this as an argument if you have only read genre fiction and popular literary fiction that has been published since 1871. Eliot was far from the first to shift from character to character in a chapter (or whatever section system an author uses in their novel). For instance, Jane Austen’s works heavily use this technique through free indirect speech.
This brings me to the fact that this — and other forms of experimental or unorthodox literary techniques — has not died out, and there has been much progression in the novel as a form since the publication of “Middlemarch.” As a fan of mostly American literature, I must admit that I do tend to think that Victorian literature is held up on too high of a pedestal. Victorian literature feels like the time: heavily corseted, very tight and structured. Sure, there was experimentation, but it’s obvious why, once Queen Victoria died, modernism was quick to follow.
The stated goal of the modernists was to “make it new,” and that they did. This includes authors such as Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Knut Hamsun, Joseph Conrad and James Joyce, among many more. It is the last author, James Joyce — who is often considered the most important of the modernists — who took the novel to new heights.
Eschewing conventional novel writing, Joyce’s 1922 masterpiece “Ulysses” changed the novel for the better. The novel is a retelling of Homer’s “Odyssey” and is told through three main perspectives, following in Eliot’s multiperspectivism. Although novels soon to come would overtake its claim, “Ulysses” is often considered one of the most difficult novels to read — spurring many guides on how to read the novel. There is even a Brandeis course solely dedicated to it — the only novel, to my knowledge, with this distinction. This is all to say that “Ulysses” makes “Middlemarch” look conventional.
I have been talking around what makes the novel more difficult and experimental than “Middlemarch.” To begin, the novel is heavily referential, leading it to be called an “encyclopedic novel” — a term which will be important soon. The novel is written in Joyce’s signature stream-of-consciousness style, which allows us into the thoughts of these characters.
The last episode, generally given the title “Penelope” or “Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy,” takes this to the extreme; it is 45 pages containing only eight sentences. While not shifting perspectives throughout the episode — aside from shifting from Leopold Bloom’s perspective in the third person to Molly Bloom’s first person perspective — the episode shifts topics countless times, which, to most, is much more difficult to follow than shifting which character a third-person narrator is focalizing on.
While not as actively socialist as his peers, Joyce certainly is an author opposed to capitalism, and his work, contrary to the
picture of the post-1800s writer presented in the argument, wasn’t written to make him rich. This is evident by his last novel, published in 1939, “Finnegans Wake.” The novel is almost universally considered the most difficult read to ever be written — and Joyce knew it. The novel is inspired by an Irish-American folk ballad, “Finnegan’s Wake,” about an Irish man, Tim Finnegan, who falls off of a ladder and dies. At his wake they place whiskey at his feet, the whiskey falls and Tim revives; this is because of a pun in the Irish language where the word whiskey comes from water of life. In the novel, Joyce uses this story to talk about various amounts of rising and falling, including but not limited to Adam and Eve and Humpty Dumpty.
This, coupled with Joyce’s usual streamof-consciousness style, would make a novel difficult in its own right, but the other important aspect of note is that, in opposition to “Ulysses” being the novel of the day, with the entire novel set in one day, “Finnegans Wake” is meant to be a novel of the night — specifically, dreaming. To accomplish this, inspired by the nonsense verse of Lewis Caroll, the novel is written in its own dialect made up of words from 60 to 70 different languages. The novel is also full of puns — a feature prominent in Joyce’s writing — and oftentimes “Finnegans Wake” involves punfilled portmanteaus. The novel feels a lot closer to poetry than perhaps any other novel I’ve read. Words here are supposed to bring you along the river Liffey in a dreamlike manner; to read the novel is not to understand every reference made, but to let the novel flow over you like water. It should be no surprise that trying to read it closely takes a long time, one might remember the headline from 2023 announcing a book club finished the novel after 28 years. The novel demands attention, it demands close reading.
While the capitalism that is being accused of ruining the novel is not necessarily the capitalism of Joyce’s day, it certainly is the capitalism Thomas Pynchon experienced. Like Joyce is the modernist who stands above the rest of the modernists, as does Pynchon stand as the king, or, as he would probably prefer, the jester of the postmodernists. It confounds me that there could be an argument about structure in literature in which it is claimed that the novel has gotten less experimental and more readerfriendly since the Victorian period, when the postmodernists and modernists were expressly deconstructing the exact structure that the Victorians maintained in the novel.
This kind of deconstruction of narrative structure in Pynchon is first seen in his debut novel, “V.” While you can read the novel and not notice this, a close reading of it shows that at least half of it is narrated by the character Herbert Stencil, who, like Henry Adams before him, only refers to himself in the third person, and so the chapters he narrates can be read as just third person narration, but, in reality, Pynchon wrote these with Stencil narrating in first person.
However, the novel which I think is a perfect counter example to “Middlemarch” is Pynchon’s masterpiece, and perhaps the greatest novel ever written, “Gravity’s Rainbow.” The novel, which is impossible to describe as the description would always be excluding something, is what led to Edward Mendelson coining the term “Encyclopedic Novel.” It is a novel ostensibly about the development of the V-2 rocket at the end of World War II, but, as alluded to in Mendelson’s moniker for it, is about so much more. In a summary of Mendelson’s argument, the way Pynchon achieves the encyclopedic novel is not by truly including everything, but by alluding to a number of selective things that, through use of synecdoche, alludes to the world as a whole.
I could write about the novel forever, so I will try to keep it brief, but the novel demands a lot of attention. There are around 400 characters in the novel, it switches perspective countless times, includes metafictional jokes and talks about a number of topics extensively: rocket science, the Herero Genocide, recipes for bananas and a whole lot more. While it was unanimously recommended by the Pulitzer Advisory Board for the prize, it was considered turgid and obscene, and no award was given that year.
I bring up “Gravity’s Rainbow” because it is a novel written under capitalism which, just like “Middlemarch,” demands attention. Two years later, there was an even more damning novel against this argument, William Gaddis’ “J R.”
“J R” is the second novel by postmodernist William Gaddis, released 20 years after his debut novel “The Recognitions” in 1975. Both “The Recognitions” and “J R” are written in Gaddis’ signature style which is made up of mostly unattributed dialogue. “J R” is a novel that is perhaps the greatest critique of capitalism ever written. It is about a school boy who, by trading penny stocks, gets rich. The novel has no chapters and like “Middlemarch,” the perspective shifts without much signaling. This has led to Gaddis being crowned “Mr. Difficult” by novelist Jonathan Franzen.
But this begs the question: If these sorts of techniques being held up in “Middlemarch” are present in novels written over a century later, when did capitalism kill the novel? Certainly not in the 20s and 30s when Joyce was writing his masterpieces. Certainly not in the seventies when Pynchon and Gaddis were writing their masterpieces. Was it the 90s? I can’t imagine it to be the case. 1996 brought us every pompous reader’s favorite novel “Infinite Jest,” which also uses similar techniques and forces the reader to be engaged by its use of footnotes. Is it since Trump’s first term? Again, I think not.
Lucy Ellmann’s great one-sentence novel “Ducks, Newburyport” was published in 2019 and, like the rest of these novels, forces the
Being
reader to pay attention by constantly shifting events and only referring to them through the narration of the unnamed narrator. The example given in this argument for a modern novel is “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo. Why? This is comparing apples and oranges. Yes, genre fiction can push the boundaries of literature, hell, “Gravity’s Rainbow” was nominated for the Nebula Award which celebrates science fiction and fantasy. But even outside of that there are novels such as William Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch” or Samuel R. Delany’s “Dhalgren” that too have pushed the boundaries of literature — in the time of capitalism I might add — that are also genre fiction. However, to compare Eliot to Bardugo makes no sense; of course Bardugo’s style is going to be easier to read than Eliot’s, it’s meant for a wider audience, and while, yes, popularity doesn’t necessarily negate quality (see Steinbeck), it’s not a fair comparison.
There are lots of novels being written and published today that are experimental, that do demand something from their readers, and to say otherwise is to show an ignorance to today’s literary scene. While it would probably be difficult for, say, Pynchon’s “V.” to be published by a Big Five publisher today, that doesn’t matter. There is a third option that was totally overlooked in the argument: indie publishers. Indie publications such as Deep Vellum or New Directions are where this brand of literary fiction is being published today. Authors such as recent Nobel Prize Laureate Laszlo Krasnahorkai or Mircea Cartarescu aren’t being published by the Big Five, but are keeping this kind of literary fiction alive. So while capitalism has ruined a lot of things, it is not ruining literature. It is just an ignorance to where this literature is being published that is ruining the image of contemporary literature.
Editors Note: Due to technological restraints, Mircea Cartarescu’s name is missing special characters on the A’s in her name.
busy is a social currency at Brandeis
By MAYA AVRAHAMI JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
At Brandeis, there seems to be an unspoken rule: “If you’re not busy, you’re not doing enough.” Every conversation seems to begin with a schedule rundown of every club meeting that has to be attended, the endless amounts of essays, homework and midterms — probably due within the next 24 hours and, usually, those conversations end with an apology since it is hard to find time to hang out in the midst of the endless flow of work. Being from Germany, people at my high school always used to pretend that school was not a priority. Saying that you didn’t study at all and then getting the full score was what people strived for — showing that they were being chill about school and could still exceed all expectations. Here, I found the total opposite: people openly bragging about their workload and using it as a social currency, almost seeming to compete on who the busiest is. Of course, this mindset doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Many of us arrive at Brandeis already conditioned to have overflowing schedules. The habits we got used to in order to make our college applications stand out are taken into college life. A lot of students have internalized that their value is determined by
their resume and nothing else. The pressure to perform, achieve and succeed without a pause becomes part of the personality.
I know that Brandeis students genuinely spend a lot of their time on their work and are trying to involve themselves on campus in so many different, amazing ways, but sometimes, it seems as if talking about being overwhelmed becomes part of the performance. It is unsettling to see how people use busyness to not only judge themselves, but also other people around them. This drive to be busy obviously also has its consequences. It’s taking a toll on many of my peers’ mental health, since they feel as if saying no or taking a rest decreases their value as a student, instead taking on every possible task and class offered.
I feel it’s important to mention that the performance of not caring about school was also affecting students’ mental health back in Germany — pretending to not care comes with its own kind of pressure.
I’ve seen both extremes now, and neither of them leaves much room for honesty or rest. Somewhere between pretending to not care and pretending to thrive, the truth of how we’re actually doing gets lost.
Sports just
Nico Harrison fired
■ Fans chants ring true as Dallas Mavericks' general manager is relieved of duty.
By LUCA D. JORDAN
Does Nico Harrison deserve the hate he receives? Did he deserve to be fired? Is he the worst thing to happen to the Dallas Mavericks since they didn’t re-sign Steve Nash in 2004? The short answer is yes. Harrison was first hired as the Mavs general manager in 2021, despite having no experience with managing a basketball team or managing anything. His previous work efforts include pharmaceutical sales and a long career with Nike, eventually becoming vice president of North American basketball operations. While his job with Nike does put him in contact with the NBA world, he still had shortcomings in his position. When presenting a sales pitch to Stephen Curry, he mistakenly called him “Seth,” referring to his brother, and his presentation was originally intended for Kevin Durant, which Harrison retooled when he learned he was pitching to Curry. This botched presentation led to Curry choosing Under Armor for his merchandise line, which generates around $ 100 million a year. Since he lost Nike a projected $ 1.2 billion, it only makes sense that he should be given the keys to a $ 5.1 billion franchise. Harrison has something of a magic touch when it comes to trades, that being the players he trades immediately become some of the best stars in the NBA. He traded Kristaps Porzingis despite the fact that he had three 20-point-per-game seasons in
JUDGES ON THE FIELD
Ben Khayat '28 breaks down the Judges' performance at the NCAA soccer tournament.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
a row with the Mavs. Porzingis went on to be a pivotal piece of a championship team, the 23-24 Boston Celtics, who notably beat Dallas for the championship. Harrison also lost Jalen Brunson who now averages close to 30 points per game for the New York Knicks. As a little extra cherry on top, he traded away Quentin Grimes who proceeded to have three 40-point games immediately after the trade.
Of course the final nail in the coffin came when Harrison traded away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers who had just previously carried the team to the finals while putting up a 34-point triple double. This decision just has absolutely no basis; there is no way to justify it. It is already one of the most infamous trades in sports history mostly due to Harrisn’s incompetence. There have been many speculations about why this trade happened. Harrison cited Doncic’s poor physique and lackluster defense as his reason for being traded, but those reasons are in no way substantial enough to trade easily a top three player in the league. There is no justifiable reason for trading Luka Doncic short of conspiracy theories, as the internet has been quick to discuss.
Every Mavs game since the trade, the stadium has been filled with signs and screams of one phrase: “FIRE NICO.” Harrison’s fate was sealed the second the trade went through. While Mavericks shareholders likely wanted to see how the trade would play out, the team's abysmal start to the season was the last straw needed to give Nico the boot.
— Editors Note: Due to technological restraints, Luka Doncic's name is missing the special characters on both Cs.
Judges secure seventh seed at 2025 UAA Championships
■ After consecutive losses, the women’s volleyball team swept the University of Rochester in three sets.
By SOPHIA DE LISI JUSTICE EDITOR IN CHIEF
On Nov. 15, the Brandeis’ women’s volleyball team fell to Washington University in St. Louis in the quarterfinals of the 2025 University Athletic Association Championships and to Emory University in the consolation semifinals. The team lost all three sets to WashU but managed to win one set against Emory. The next day, the Judges took a match win against the University of Rochester, securing the seventh seed out of eight in the 2025 UAA Championships.
The Judges lost each set against the WashU Bears, with the final scores being 19-25, 13-25 and 17-25 respectively. Anna Ertischek ’26 and Madison Haft-Abromovitch ’28 led the Judges with nine kills each; however, the Bears ultimately outhit and out-blocked the home team. WashU completed the match with a total of 44 kills to the Judges’ and nine blocks to the Judges’ three. The Bears opened the first set strongly with a service error on the Judges’ part, and used this momentum to gain a promising three to four point lead for the rest of the set.
During the second set, a combination of attack and service errors made by the Bears allowed the Judges to briefly attain a threepoint lead, which put the score at 6-3, until three kills and an attack error tied the score. One kill made by Colette Ejang ’29 put the Judges ahead by a point, but WashU ultimately recovered and commanded the lead for the rest of the set. A nearly uninterrupted series of kills and attack errors put WashU at 22 points with Brandeis trailing by 11. Katya Belyakova’s ’29 score afforded the Judges another point, but the Bears were undeterred, scoring another six points that put them ahead by 13 points. After a block from Haft-Abromovitch and a kill
landed by Ejang, the Bears scored one last time, ending the set 13-25.
Through a combination of service errors, a service ace and a kill, WashU took the lead going into the match’s final set. Kills landed by Ertischek, Haft-Abromovitch and Belyakova — alongside a few attack errors on the Bears’ part — allowed the Judges to briefly tie the score at 9-9. However, another short series of kills provided WashU with a three-point lead. The Judges were unable to recover the lead, but additional scores made by Ertischek, Haft-Abromovitch and Claudia Aber ’29, ultimately put the Judges at 17 points by the time the Bears claimed the set.
The Judges’ match against the Emory Eagles was also a strong showing for Anna Ertischek as she secured 15 total attacks, a matchhigh score. The Eagles took the first set, the score ended at 13-25 after several shorter sequences of kills progressed their score from two to seven, nine to 14 and 16 to 25. Meanwhile, the Judges’ score was mostly stagnant between these sequences, remaining at two, seven and ten for several rallies at a time. Towards the end of the set, the Judges attained three points, granted by an Eagles attack error plus a service ace and kill from Ertischek. On the other hand, the second set's score was more balanced, though the Eagles maintained an apparent lead over the Judges throughout its duration. The game concluded with the Eagles winning by six points, the final score being 19-25.
The Judges attained their first set win of the weekend in their third set against the Eagles with a final score of 25-21. Throughout this set, the teams traded scores between rallies with neither team holding a consistent lead. Scores made by Ertischek, Ejang, Haft-Abromovitch and Kay Menendez ’28, as well as some attack and serving errors, brought the Judges’ score from 18 to 25. At the same time, the Eagles saw a slow ascent between rallies, the team’s kills became fewer and farther between by the time the Judges’ score reached 21. This victory for the Judges initiated anoth-
er set to break the tie.
The Eagles won the final set of the match, the end score being 1825. Much like the previous set, the teams traded scores throughout the rallies with neither managing to conserve a notable lead until a Judges’ serving error, an Eagles’ serving ace and a kill gave way for the team to pull four points ahead of the Judges’ 10 points. At a minimum, Emory’s team maintained this lead for the duration of the game, claiming the match with two more kills and a point gained from Brandeis’ tight set.
On Nov. 16, the Judges defeated the Rochester Yellow Jackets to claim the seventh seed in the championship. The University won all three sets in this match and Alexa Ho ’28 stood out with a notable 24 total assists — the highest number out of the set. In the first set, the Judges deftly secured a promising lead, gaining 11 points before the Yellow Jackets landed their first. Assisted by serving errors made by Rochester, continuous scores made by Menendez, Ejang, Haft-Abromovitch and Ertischek secured Brandeis’ win 25-9.
The second set against the Yellow Jackets had more balanced rallies in comparison to the first. The teams traded small leads of about one to two points before a kill and serving ace by Ertischek, a score made by Aber and an attack error by the Yellow Jackets granted the Judges a four-point lead. After the back-and-forth, the score was 14-17 and Brandeis preserved its lead for the remainder of the set, the score concluding at 25-19.
Finally, the last set saw another Judges’ win, the score concluding at 25-18. At the beginning of the set, five attack errors and two scores put the Yellow Jackets ahead by three points, but the Judges immediately made up for these points and claimed the lead. For Brandeis, a combination of kills and serving aces produced a score of 11–8, giving the team the lead it would protect for the rest of the set. Consistent scores gave Brandeis the game win, concluding the volleyball team’s run at the UAA Championships.
SERVE: Alexa Ho '28 starts the point against WashU.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
MAGIC: Luka Doncic while on the Dallas Mavericks.
JUSTICE SPORTS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Waltham, Mass.
LEAP: Sanya Pandit '28 on the balance beam during gymnastics practicce.
HAMNER/The Justice.
Men's Soccer
On Nov. 15, the men's soccer team defeated Stevens Institute of Technology 2-1.
Photos: ELIJAH ROTH/The Justice. Design: JOAN COGLIANO/The Justice.
JUDGES BY THE NUMBERS
Men's soccer outlasts Stevens, but still falls to Tufts in DIII tournament
■ After a comeback victory over Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday, the Judges were unable to endure against the Jumbos.
By BEN KHAYAT JUSTICE SPORTS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The NCAA tournament for divison three Men’s soccer began on Friday where the number-18 ranked Brandeis Judges faced the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks at home. Entering the game, a concern for the Judges was their ongoing cold stretch, not having won a game since October 18 and going 0-2-2 in the time since then. The Brandeis men’s soccer team’s results have come in streaks; the Judges opened the season going nine games undefeated, but two of the three losses on the season came back-to-back against Carnegie Mellon University and University of Chicago. Meanwhile, the Ducks entered Friday on a four-game winning streak to bring their record to 9-4-6 in time for the tournament.
Stevens struck first in the 36th minute when Emerson Kekesi was able to clean up a blocked shot for his teamleading 11th goal of the season. The Judges punched back quickly with Nico Beninda ’26 notching his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Elan Romo ’26 in the 41st minute. The score was tied at 1-1 entering the half with the Judges squarely holding the momentum off of their quick response.
Ivana Marinkovic '29 with a score 174.83.
The second half tested both teams' goalkeepers with both teams taking more shots and playing with more aggression. As a result of this change in playstyle, Stevens struggled with fouls, recording eight compared to Brandeis’ four. Two Stevens players were also issued yellow cards early in the
second half, one in the 61st minute and another in the 67th. The Judges broke the stalemate, with Keller Chamovitz ’27 scoring off of a corner kick by Langston Byrd ’29 to bring the score to 2-1 in the 83rd minute. From there, Brandeis goalkeeper Tyler Correnti ’26 saved four shots and keep a clean sheet in the second half. The game ended with a 2-1 final score and the Judges moving on to face the number one ranked Tufts University Jumbos on Saturday afternoon. Tufts put a 5-0 beating on Penn State University-Harrisburg on Friday, with a two-goal first half from defender Bijan Akhtarzandi-Das being the story of the game. However, their matchup against the Judges proved to be far lowerscoring. Despite a total of 12 shots being taken in the first half, none of them found the back of the net and resulted in the half ending with the teams tied 0-0. The shooting onslaught continued into the second half for Tufts, attempting eight to Brandeis’ two. Tyler Correnti made four saves in the second half to keep the game scoreless through regulation, bringing the game into a sudden-death overtime, with the first team to score winning the game and moving on in the next round of the playoffs.
Once again, the Jumbos kept their foot on the gas, taking five shots in overtime compared to the Judges’ with just one. The score stayed frozen through the first 15-minute overtime period, meaning another overtime would be played. Unfortunately, Tufts junior Henry Brown netted a goal 55 seconds into the second overtime period off of an assist by senior James Gunn.
Despite the loss, the team arguably put together their best two games of the season against very formidable opponents, truly showing up in the biggest moment of their season. Congratulations to the Brandeis Judges men’s soccer team on a great 2025 season and we look forward to an even better 2026.
A look back at the quadball season
■ The quadball season may be coming to a close, but what exactly is quadball?
By MARK SILVA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Inspired by quidditch, a fictional sport from “Harry Potter,” quadball boasts a complex set of rules and an opportunity to get involved with a sports team in a relatively lowstakes and fun environment.
Notably, quadball is the sole Division I sport participated in at Brandeis, with the Judges ranking eighth nationally last year. Despite the team’s high ranking, the team encourages all students to join, regardless of gender or skill level. Don’t let this lead you to believe that it’s any less legitimate of a sport though. In fact, quadball is a full contact sport, with involvement from universities including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Vermont, Brown University and Harvard University.
With games on Saturdays throughout the fall, the Brandeis quadball team has achieved decisive victories, beating Brown 125-60 on Nov. 8 and narrowly losing 125-130 against RPI that same day. At present, the Brandeis team maintains a 50 percent win rate, having won three out of six official matches alongside several victories in various unofficial preseason games and tournaments.
Beyond the obvious feature of all the players riding around on broomsticks for the game’s duration, quadball's rules are intricate and exciting. The game occurs on a field, with each team having six players playing at a time. Of these six players, two per team are the "beaters” who throw dodgeballs at opposing “chasers” attempting to score points. The remaining eight out of the 12 players on
the field, the chasers, attempt to acquire the quadball and throw it into one of three hoops on the opposing side (small, medium or large), scoring 10 points for each successful goal. While doing so, they must avoid being hit with a dodgeball. If hit, the chasers have to run over and touch their team’s big hoop before they can resume playing again. Additionally, chasers can tackle other chasers in order to acquire the quadball.
After the halfway point, the game takes an interesting turn with the addition of the “flag runner.” The flag runner’s purpose is essentially to run around the field with a tennis ball in a sock, the “snitch,” attached to the top of their shorts. Their role is to avoid having the snitch seized by either of the two “seekers,” who are put into play in the second half (in addition to the players already on the field) with the sole purpose of taking the snitch and scoring in the hoops, earning their team 35 points.
Unconventional and colorful, quadball adopts the spirit of playground games into a very real, but underrecognized, sport. While the fall season ends shortly, the annual Turkey Day Fantasy quadball tournament is happening on Saturday, Nov. 22. This game gives the opportunity for quadball players from across the league to be randomly drafted into different teams and play in a tournament. The tournament will take place at Brandeis — at the fields next to the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center — so students are strongly encouraged to attend.
After the tournament, the quadball season will be over until spring of 2026, where weekly quadball practices will resume on Mondays and Thursdays from 8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Again, the sport welcomes anyone and everyone who wants to play, so consider attending a practice, becoming a member of the team or simply enjoy watching the sport in all its glory from the sidelines.
League of Legends Championship
■ T1 takes its third Worlds finals in a row in a thrilling five-game series.
By LUCA D. JORDAN JUSTICE SPORTS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The League of Legends world championship, also known as “Worlds,” had its 15th final on Sunday, Nov. 8. The final was held in Dong’an Lake Sports Park in Chengdu with 18,000 fans in attendance and online viewership reaching a peak of 6.7 million people. The best of five series was between two South Korean teams, KT Rolster, and arguably the greatest esports team of all time, T1. While Korea is usually a favorite for Worlds each year, both teams in the final were the bottom two seeds coming into the tournament. While statistically this year, T1 would be considered the underdog, the team’s history says otherwise. It was led by one of the greatest esports players of all time, Lee Sanghyeok, who is more well known by his username "Faker". There are five different roles on a League team: top, jungle, middle, bottom and support. Faker plays in the middle lane and is universally considered the greatest at both his position and the game in general. However, while he is the greatest and most decorated player, he was not the best in his position this season.
KT Rolster’s mid laner has had quite a journey this year. Gwak Bo-seong, known by his username "Bdd", started his professional career in 2016 being hailed as the next greatest prospect after Faker. However, Bdd failed to meet those expectations. Having never made a Korean championship final or Worlds final until this year and bouncing around from team to team, he only cemented himself on KT’s roster three years ago. While KT also came into Worlds looking like they were going to have an early exit, Bdd and KT’s young top laner, PerfecT, absolutely rose to the occasion and had some amazing games to take their team to the final. While KT failed to beat T1 in the series, Bdd put up an im-
pressive fight against Faker, winning the matchup in three out of the five games and putting up some eye popping statlines. Even though KT was unable to defeat T1, Bdd’s efforts in his role allowed KT to bring the series to a fifth game. While many eyes were focused on the mid lane matchup between Faker and Bdd, the top lane also had a contentious battle. PerfecT has been the star of KT’s roster since his professional career started in 2020. Known for his poetic language, he was the favorite in the top lane match-up coming in against T1’s Doran.
T1’s previous top laner, Zeus, left over contract disputes after their back to back Worlds victories in 2023 and 2024, with Zeus being crowned Worlds final Most Valuable Player in the 2023 series against Weibo Gaming. Doran had big shoes to fill in the top lane and many thought he just wasn’t up to the task. Zeus was considered one of the best, if not the best top laners in the world for the past three years. Doran was considered a choker and someone who never stepped up when it mattered by the community. Joining the team that’s constantly at the center of the community’s attention added a huge weight to Doran’s shoulders. Despite the extra pressure, Doran rose above the highest expectations and played a critical part in winning game one of the series, ending the game with a statline of nine kills, three deaths and seven assists.
T1’s bot laner, Gumayusi, was awarded series MVP thanks to his great playmaking during the second and final game of the series. However, only two weeks after being voted as the largest contributor to his championship team, Gumayusi announced that he would be leaving T1. Although he never gave an exact reason, it is assumed that he no longer wanted to live in the shadow of his teammate, Faker, and wanted to continue his career elsewhere to forge his own path. This news came as a crushing blow to T1 fans, as Gumayusi had been with the team since the beginning of his career and was a leading factor in winning three Worlds and two Korean League titles. Gumayusi is currently considered one of the best bot laners in the world, and it is clear that every team who has the ability to draft him will try to do so.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
HUSH:
MELA:
justARTS&CULTURE
Photos: JULIA MINEVICH/The Justice. Design: REUBEN GARTENBACH/The Justice.
Waltham, Mass.
“Only Murders in the Building” seasOn Five tOOk a gaMBle and Walked hOMe eMpty-handed
By LUKE BENANAV JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
“Only Murders in the Building,” Hulu’s murder-mystery comedy starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, has been a favorite of mine since it was first released in 2021. It has tight, consistent humor, a quirky ensemble, unexpected celebrity cameos and most of all, outstanding mysteries. Each episode, new details are revealed: a shocking twist or a new piece of evidence that makes the viewer wonder how they hadn’t seen a critical clue and constantly shifted suspicions between a host of equally likely suspects.
For four seasons, I was excited to turn on the television every week to get a step closer to figuring it out, and to see if I could piece together the puzzle before the characters in the show did — and even if I didn’t, the “whodunit” answer still felt like a satisfying conclusion each season.
That is, until season five.
On Sept. 9, 2025, the first three episodes of “Only Murders” season five aired and I quickly understood that this season would not be a new favorite — although I had yet to realize how far the show had fallen. As the season went on, it became harder to finish the show, to the point where I eventually stopped watching for several weeks. While there were moments of clever humor from previous seasons, many of the jokes felt forced and predictable. The season was plagued by writing that asked the audience to turn off their critical thinking and just enjoy the spectacle while also having countless smaller problems that wouldn’t have individually tanked the season but collectively made it extremely difficult to get through. To really understand my point I am going to take you through the episodes in season five and critique them. I’ll bring up the good moments and some problems that I had with the season from the perspective of someone who once adored the series.
Spoilers for season five after this point!
Episodes one through three: Many Mini Mistakes
The first three episodes of season five were underwhelming. Episode One was an okay setup for the season: Lester the doorman (played by Teddy Coluca) is dead. The episode opens with Oliver — Martin Short — reading his obituary, saying that Lester was born in 1948 and worked at the Arconia for 32 years. These details will be important in a moment, so store them away. Lester’s death is then marked as an accident. Saying Lester’s death was an accident is absurd, as that decision was made before any closed-circuit television footage was looked through and it looked unlikely that Lester could have simply fallen into the fountain with how he was sitting. Then, a subplot that goes nowhere: Oliver’s fear of the mob. I was really excited to see how this would affect the show; the idea that Oliver doesn’t want to investigate because of some bad choices he’d made in the past was interesting, but it’s turned into a one-off gag instead of being taken seriously. If you couldn’t tell, there are a lot of little problems starting from the first scene of the season. Steve Martin and Martin Short have some excellent moments in this season, but plenty of jokes fall flat. Selena Gomez’s Mabel, a standout in earlier seasons, has also been toned down. Either because of writing, directing, acting or a mixture of all three, Mabel, who is normally the powerhouse that moves Oliver and Charles forward, feels monotone and uninterested in the entire podcast which is a big disappointment.
A little further into the episode is the introduction of the most exhausting characters in the “Only Murders” franchise — the podcasting mafia sons. The initial juxtaposition of having the brothers introduced as intimidating and then being revealed as dummies was somewhat funny, but after their first introduction, I would sigh with frustration every time they came on screen and wait for the scene to end. Then, in a dramatic ending, Charles and Mabel enter the underground casino below the Arconia and Oliver goes to a closed dry cleaners where the body of mob boss Nicky Caccimelio — Bobby Cannavale — falls on him.
Episode two had a glaring problem. It is an “Only Murders” classic from-the-victim’sperspective episode and is told like a documentary celebrating doormen. I liked the concept and there were some strong performances in this episode. There’s good humor, such as Steve Martin going out for auditions against actors saying, “there’s no way I don’t get it” over the years. It gave me some hope after the first episode. But there was one issue I could not ignore. Remember the information about Lester’s age? Well, according to that information, Lester should be 45 when he starts at the Arconia. But from the flashbacks he looks, sounds and acts as though he’s only in his early 20s, dreaming of becoming a movie star. A simple fix to avoid this confusion would have been to make Lester look a little older and seem like he’d been trying to be an actor for a while instead of it being some fresh dream. Lester’s aging also looks accelerated — he appears too young at the beginning to look as old as he does when he dies. The end of the episode reminds the audience of the absurdity of Lester’s death being marked accidental, as Charles exclaims, “I mean, the guy fills a fountain with blood in the most murderous building in New York and they say it’s accidental?”
Yes, Charles. Yes, they do.
Episode three begins and immediately dashes any hope that episode two had revived when Oliver sneezes on the body of Nicky Caccimilio.
Unfortunately for “Only Murders,” this is season five, not season one. I will not accept that Oliver Putnam, the true crime podcast lover and host, would be so stupid as to forget that you don’t want to get DNA and fingerprints all over a body. Once Charles tells him not to touch the body post-sneeze, Oliver takes the corpse inside a rolling dry cleaning basket back to Charles’ apartment. Clearly, what the writers wanted was for Oliver, Charles and Mabel to have an autopsy scene, like other crime shows. But Oliver sneezing on a body and bringing it back to the Arconia, and then Charles, Oliver and Mabel doing a successful basic examination of Nicky’s body is unbelievable to me. It doesn’t help that there is an added element of pressure because the trio realizes that they have to get the body back to the dry cleaners by seven in the morning. The episode finally ends with a “big reveal” — three of New York’s biggest billionaires are gambling in the Arconia and are now the top suspects in Lester’s murder.
Episodes four through seven: Subplots of No Substance
Episodes four through seven are easier to summarize together than the first three, in large part because not much happens. Episode four starts with commentary on billionaires, which I liked. Then the trio escapes from the underground gameroom where the billionaires are, without getting caught. This is where the season introduces a theme I call “slow running,” where the protagonists can go as slow as they want but the antagonists won’t catch them.
We’re also introduced to LESTR, the doorman robot that Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) becomes especially attached to, in a character development move that made little sense. Howard seems like someone who would be heavily against a robot taking a doorman’s job, which is another theme of the show, but in this season, he defends the robot. LESTR’s inclusion is another subplot that doesn’t feel necessary other than to be commentary on Artificial Intelligence and robots taking jobs. The explanation given later in the season is that, for some reason, the Arconia board ordered this super-intelligent AI bot to assist as a doorman and it has been kept in storage until now. LESTR did witness one critical event, but that did not come to light until episode nine. Outside of that one moment, LESTR is only an annoyance and an unimportant subplot that could have been removed.
All three billionaires ultimately go to Oliver’s apartment — apparently, anyone can just go past a doorman to an apartment — and we spend most of the episode watching cliché caricatures of billionaires and learning no information about the mystery before Camila White (Renée Zellweger) magically redecorates a room of Oliver’s apartment. There is no explanation as to how this is achieved and the audience is just supposed to accept that it happened.
Episode five brings back Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s detective Donna Williams, one of the shining lights of the season. It feels like whenever she is on screen, she is actively calling out the ridiculousness of the show. Besides her return, episode five can be summarized
as “people versus machines,” and “Charles is on testosterone?” The first summary is clear — in an effort to get more information, Oliver and Mabel talk to the workers of the building to see what they know, having a building meeting to remove LESTR and show the staff that they support them. This is when a lot of the anti-robot commentary comes out, which does get a thumbs up from me.
Charles, on the other hand, is investigating Sofia Caccimelio (Téa Leoni), Nicky’s wife, by meeting her for dinner, a subplot that started in episode one. It’s revealed that he’s been taking testosterone, which explains a lot of weird behavior from the season that seemed very out of character for Charles. It’s later revealed that Charles was on a placebo, leaving Charles’ personality shift to be internal confidence in the most clichéd way possible. The testosterone subplot was once again unnecessary as he doesn’t learn anything from Sofia and instead has sex with her off-screen, forgetting his phone in the car and conveniently giving her his passcode.
Episode six was sweet. The return of Meryl Streep as Loretta is another breath of fresh air and learning about Oliver’s past was nice. It didn’t add very much to the investigation, but the chemistry between Martin Short and Meryl Streep was very entertaining. There’s a great scene that shows why Oliver loves the theater and how it inspired him followed by a shot of Sofia and Lester’s wife, Lorraine (Dianne Wiest), standing in the mezzanine about to conveniently give Oliver and Loretta evidence of their innocence. I say it’s convenient because Oliver and Loretta had been tailing them, lost them and then happened to go into the same theater as them before Sofia and Lorraine willingly gave them information. The episode ends with the first progress in three episodes: the CCTV footage was terribly altered by billionaire Bash Steed (Christoph Waltz) who owns the security company.
Episode seven has the best jokes and also the worst moment of the season. We finally find out why the billionaires are teaming up — each wants to open the first casino in New York — but it’s all overshadowed by the awful writing choice to have Oliver first run away, then come in to save the day on the slowest tractor ever made. In a scene that had me shouting at the screen, as Charles and Mabel are running away from the billionaires who are chasing them, Oliver slowly drives through a gate and picks them up. In an egregious act of slow running, the billionaires stand still and let the tractor crawl away instead of continuing to chase our trio. The episode ends with Camila White arriving at the Arconia and telling the trio that she is going to buy out the apartments in the Arconia and build her casino there.
Episodes eight through ten: An Unsatisfying Solve
Up to this point, very little proper investigation has happened in the season, causing the final three episodes to wrap up the season in a rushed and unsatisfying way. Episode eight was my personal favorite of the season, with Mabel, Loretta, Detective Williams and Lorraine teaming up and going to “ladies night” at the downstairs casino, trying to get information out of Ms. White. The dynamics between the characters playing blackjack were really fun and the jokes were flying fast. Charles and Oliver spend the episode trying to convince a therapist not to sell his apartment to Ms. White, which gives good insights into both of their characters in a very touching way even if they fail to stop the apartment from being sold.
Episode nine falls back into the patterns from the season a little more. Since Ms. White owns 51% of the apartments, she can now apparently evict everyone and build her casino. A time limit is placed: 18 days to move out. The episode then skips to one day left as the residents of the Arconia take out their boxes and begin moving out as if they’re going on vacation, not permanently leaving their homes. There are some heartfelt moments, particularly between Charles and Oliver. Episode nine’s problem, however, is pacing and plot convenience. A lot of the episode is told from LESTR’s point of view and it turns out that he has all of the answers. Randall (Jermaine Fowler), the new doorman, went into hiding at the end of Episode Eight, and everyone has been trying to find him for 18 days; LESTR delivers food for him and everyone happens to see it only on the last day. LESTR is overly intelligent and able to communicate with the residents in an unbelievably coherent fashion for current AI. He is included so the writers could lazily fill in the clues that Charles, Mabel and Oliver didn’t find while actively investigating.
The finale was disappointing. Since little setup had been done leading up to the ending, the big reveal of who the killer was — Mayor Beau Tillman (played by Keegan-Michael Key) — is underwhelming. His motive was weak, the reason Mabel figures out he’s the killer is even weaker and considering he lost his finger only four days before the season started, his hand healed very rapidly. The finger, which I have neglected to mention, is the driving force of this season. The season spends more time chasing this one finger than looking at any other clues. Tillman is stopped by a flock of pigeons and the billionaires are arrested for not providing information in an investigation, the Arconia is saved.
The best part of the finale is the very end, where we get our teaser for season six. Mabel, Charles and Oliver are listening to a true crime podcast when Tina Fey’s character is found dead just outside the gate of the building. Howard says that it’s such a shame she didn’t die in the building because of the podcast name until she grabs the gate and dies fully. It was a funny and dramatic moment that left me very cautiously optimistic for what’s to come.
“Only Murders in the Building” season five is a discredit to the previous seasons. Filled with predictable jokes and characters and plotlines that go nowhere — so many, in fact, that even in this lengthy review I could not cover all of them — the season tumbles to the end lacking the tight writing and clever investigating that loyal viewers came to expect. I just hope that they don’t make season six as plot-convenience heavy as season five — or else the show may finally have overstayed its welcome.
ThoughTs on Trump’s AesTheTic policies
As we enter into the final months of the first year in Donald Trump’s second presidency, America has witnessed many renovations of historical monuments and the generation of new architectural plans for Washington D.C.. With the Aug. 28, 2025 Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” the second Trump Administration has stated,
“Applicable Federal public buildings should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, and command respect from the general public. They should also be visually identifiable as civic buildings and, as appropriate, respect regional architectural heritage. Architecture — particularly traditional and classical architecture — that meets the criteria set forth in this subsection is the preferred architecture for applicable Federal public buildings. In the District of Columbia, classical architecture shall be the preferred and default architecture for Federal public buildings absent exceptional factors necessitating another kind of architecture.”
This executive order references mid-20th century reports concerning the distaste of the American public with contemporary modern architecture, and in response, it is clear that the federal government is choosing to establish itself through neoclassical architecture. I can agree that neoclassical architecture is an aesthetically pleasing style, and I can also agree that the goals of this quote have been framed as beneficial. In considering this understanding of federal architecture, I must remain cautious. I would like to put this executive order in conversation with another project proposed by the Trump administration that shares the same aesthetic leaning.
This executive order, again for the promotion of neoclassical architecture, is one of Trump’s clear intentions to use artistic expression as a vehicle to establish his power. Establishing a national form of architecture is akin to an establishment of a national language, as architecture is the visual language of the city and the public space. With such reforms to federal architecture, of which many buildings are already in neoclassical style, the Trump administration’s goal is to make a space that speaks a certain language. I think that it is important that we recognize the origins of this style. Classical architecture comes from the Greek and Roman empires, and neoclassical architecture was born during the Italian Renaissance and continued throughout the late 19th century. Many 20th century countries continued to utilize neoclassical forms and language in the buildings they decided to erect for their political monuments. It is in the compositional and material language that many leaders have chosen to represent their values.
Neoclassical architectural programs have been adapted and preserved very specifically in the early and mid-20th century to recall architectural values of nationhood. It is this form of architecture that signifies a certain image to the world of a nation’s intentions and goals. In these nations, such as early 20th century France, Germany and Italy the desire to exhibit a form of architecture is not simply to call forward “regional” styles as Trump’s executive or -
By MIKEY TERRENZI JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
der states, but rather they wish to present a mise-en-scene of power, domination and empire. When one thinks of the Colosseum of Rome, they see a lasting monument of power and heritage, but the extent that architecture’s regional significance in the United States as a symbol of American nobility may be a stretch.
Neoclassical architecture is not uniquely or regionally American, but it is being specifically employed by the Trump administration to project an image of itself as noble, grand and withstanding, just as other leaders have done in the past. These ideas are parallelled in Trump’s ambitious $34 million “Garden of American Heroes.” First conceived in 2021 and recently refinanced with the passing of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the garden was positioned as a form of nationalist reaction to the protest and to the removal of statues, depicting historical figures. This project’s goal is to remember a certain narrative of American history through the use of monument making. Trump addressed this goal as he states that the space will “reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism.” (Executive Order 13978 of January 18, 2021). The “Garden” has been touted as if it will restore all rifts within America, it is the “answer to this reckless attempt to erase our heroes, values, and entire way of life. On its grounds, the devastation and discord of the moment will be overcome with abiding love of country and lasting patriotism. This is the American way” (Executive Order 13978 January 18, 2021). Placing the actions of protestors and dissenters as anti-American is ironic, yet not a Trump-specific policy.
A garden filled with American heroes may seem like a generous and beautiful idea, one filled with patriotism and the promise of funding the arts of America. I personally love Aretha Franklin and Norman Rockwell, and would love to see them immortalized in an artist’s vision, purely for public view. However, the idea of a “Garden of American Heroes” would necessitate a critical lens of American history, certainly for figures such as Harriet Tubman. However, Trump’s effort of beautification cannot stray from the narrative of his nationalism. In the application for this exhibition, an applicant cannot aspire to show or reference promotion for political, religious or ideological points of view. They also cannot show support for diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, environmentalism and advocate for social action, nor can they support “specific” public policies or legislation. This is an incredibly vague set of instructions that can be purposefully adjusted, should the administration dislike certain pieces. How must we portray Civil Rights activists, environmental activists, abolitionists and artists if we cannot speak about their impact in the very nature of the statue they will be remembered with?
The National Garden of American Heroes Grant Submission instructions give quite a bit of guidance for the applying artists. First, the submission instructions state that “the statue should be in the classical style, lifelike and created from marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass.” (National Garden of American Heroes: Statues, 20250701-UG, 6). Once again following the classical ideas of aesthetics,
the Trump administration insists on control. Having specificities may not delineate control, however, in instances where freedom is given to the artists, we the nation have created masterpieces of memorial art. I think no better contrast is the Vietnam War Memorial by Maya Lin, offered as an understanding of space and the human feelings of the military involvement in Vietnam. This “Garden” of American portraiture restrains many artists into a form of sculpture without allowing them whole artistic agency. Additionally, the specifications for the construction of these sculptures dictate the exact nature of the experience the public should have while seeing the works. While on a pedestal, around three feet in height, the seated sculptures must be a minimum of five feet from head to toe, while standing figures must be taller than six foot six. A standing Abraham Lincoln, if we assume him to be 76 inches, must be then, according to the statue specifications, scaled by a factor of 1.2, making him 91.2 inches tall, atop a 36 inch tall pedestal, until he is 127.2 inches tall or 10.6 feet. These sculptures are monumental in proportion, sat on larger than life supports, giving them an almost striking position over us. As the spectator approaches these statues and crane their necks high up, the marble and bronze would glisten and a sense of superiority is transmitted. A simple sign of human grandeur undoubtedly linked to a warped and fabricated idea of American history that excludes any and all critique. This is the reaction and the response that the Trump administration is goading us into. As we approach these sculptures we have to wonder, “Why marble? Why so large? Why these people? Why not others?” However, there is hope that these sculptures may not even be finished, as the opening dates for the “Garden” have been pushed back previously. But why exactly do the specific instructions for the creation of the “Garden of American Heroes” matter? Why should the average reader of The Justice consider the aesthetics of neoclassical narratives pushed by Trump and his administration? The answer is quite simple. These are not the only changes being made, they are just the most clear. Trump’s 250th American anniversary project includes construction of the “Independence Arch” alongside a new White House ballroom, supplemented with the redecoration of the Oval Office to include a rococo-gilded look. It seems that this year is one of aesthetics being turned into a language of American imperialism and nationalism. Seeking to reconfigure the past to embolden his populace, Trump and his administration are sending the signals of a false and imagined American strength and nobility through his public projects.
However, there is something that we can all do, and that is to appreciate the preclassical, the modern and the bizarre. In rejecting the Trumpian aesthetics, we can turn to art education of contemporary regional forms of architecture like the Pueblo Revival Architecture, or even learn to appreciate Boston City Hall, despite the concrete. With greater education and wider visibility, the theatre that Trump is conducting quickly becomes clear as a falsified narrative of American history.
Design: MAEVE COAKLEY/The Justice.
GATOR: A gator leisurely enjoys a sunny South Carolina Day. SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice.
SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice.
SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice.
REUBEN GARTENBACH/The Justice. NATURE: A lovely ladybug.
BEACH: A gorgeous sunset in South Carolina.
OCEAN: Shells on a South Carolina seashore.
Top Ten STAFF’S
Top 10 Books
By ASHHWIKA SONI JUSTICE NEWS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
1. “When Breath becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi
2. “Notes on a Nervous Planet” by Matt Haig
3. “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” by Robert M. Sapolsky
4. “The Verdict: Decoding India’s Elections” by Prannoy Roy
5. “Animal Farm” by George Orwell
6. “Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari
7. “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse” by Charlie Macksey
8. “What happened to you” by Bruce D. & Oprah Winfrey
