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Administration discuss new office, building projects and Trump's campus impact
By NEMMA KALRA JUSTICE DEPUTY EDITOR
Faculty and staff gathered in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall for the meeting as Chair of the Faculty Senate, Prof. Jeffrey Lenowitz (POL), opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and outlining the day’s agenda. He also noted that a special faculty meeting will be scheduled in the near future to address the implications of recent executive orders on the University which impact federal funding and international student enrollment. Lenowitz then turned the floor over to University President, Arthur Levine ’70. Levine began his speech by explaining why he has now assumed the role of University President, despite his original appointment being temporary. According to Levine, as the Board of Trustees began to recruit his successor, they struggled to find an adequate candidate. His continued leadership came with a condition: that the Board allocate funding for improvements in three areas: enrollment, development and marketing. By funneling resources into these priorities, Levine hopes to generate revenue that can be reinvested into research, faculty and graduate programs.
He also took a moment to highlight the University’s accomplishments during his time as interim president, stating that what had been achieved “requires many years at most universities, if they are able to accomplish it at all.” Looking ahead, Levine expressed a desire to build on that momentum in the coming year, with one step being the appointment of Professor Lenowitz to a liaison role between the faculty and the administration.
Among these accomplishments, Levine also mentioned the recent restructuring of the University’s academic programs into four schools: Arts, Humanities, and Culture; Business and Economics; Science, Engineering, and Technology and Social Sciences and Social Policy. To Levine, this reorganization gives the founding deans of each school a chance to “take this year and dream,” something that “does not happen often in academia.” Notably, Levine shared that he
■ Following a summer of significant developments at Brandeis University, with new dormitory foundations laid and new academic schools launched, the faculty convened on Sept. 5 for their first meeting. of the year. Parking problem
will not make any staff changes until the deans have outlined their long-term plans.
Levine then addressed the ongoing academic reorganization in connection with a review of the Brandeis Core Requirements. He questioned whether the education Brandeis students walk away with is relevant to the “global digital economy” they are entering.
Finally, he expressed the need to make the liberal arts valuable again to the real world. He outlined this both from the perspective of curricular revisions and in creating a transcript that would emphasize careeraligned competencies gained at Brandeis, and provide students with a practical record they could rely on throughout their professional lives. With these structural and curricular changes, Levine concluded his speech saying he hopes to position Brandeis as a "prototype for higher education.”
Following his address, faculty members had the opportunity to ask Levine questions. Prof. Sabine von Mering (WGS) came to the microphone first, expressing her concerns about Brandeis not having a Sustainability Manager. To her, Levine’s vision of excellence is not possible without sustainability efforts. Levine agreed with von Mering, but noted that the change cannot happen without funding.
Prof. Aldo Musacchio (BUS) then asked if Lenowitz’s new role as liaison poses any conflicts of interest with his current position as Chair of the Faculty Senate. Lenowitz and Levine both answered this question, explaining that Lenowitz’s new role is an advancement of his current position, designed to bring the senate and faculty into Board deliberations.
The final question to Levine came from Prof. Bernadette Brooten (WGS/REL), who asked about the recent erasure of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the creation of the Office of Access and Excellence. Brooten expressed disappointment in the University’s decision, saying it appeared to bow to pressure from the Trump administration and was made without consulting faculty. Upon follow up, she shared with The Justice that, “Many of us worked for years to bring racial equity to Brandeis, including by urging the creation of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion … the University leadership got rid of that office and introduced the Office of Access and Excellence without even consulting the full faculty.”
According to Brooten, the Brandeis leadership laid off Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives Dr. Charles Chip McNeal and project manager Llewellen Murphy, stating, “Those initiatives could have greatly helped in creating an innovative curriculum accompanying Brandeis's new structure.
How the changes in parking designations are impacting students.
By BRIANNA EARLE
DEMONSTRATION
Welcome Back Rally celebrates Brandeis workers, cross-union and academic staff
■ In the spirit of Labor Day, University union representatives shared messages of unity, appreciation and perseverance to kick off the fall semester.
By SOPHIA DE LISI JUSTICE EDITOR IN CHIEF
On Sept. 3, six Brandeis unions held a crossunion rally on the Great Lawn, starting at noon. The unions represented were the Brandeis Library Worker’s Union, Service Employee International Union Local 888, SEIU Local 509, SEIU 32BJ and the University’s newest union, Research and Academic Staff SEIU 888.
At least 30 community members, including rally organizers, gathered on the lawn to support the event and its speakers. Some individuals held signs that read phrases such as “united we bargain, divided we beg,” “top ten programs deserve top ten wages” and “unions make Brandeis great again.” Many held small flyers that said “come together.”
University Budget and Operations Administrator, Tyson Bailey, said during his opening remarks, “we wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the people who make the Brandeis experience possible for all of us, and to help foster the community that we believe Brandeis is and should be.” Bailey is a part of SEIU 888’s administrative staff and bargaining team.
“An organization shows its values by where they spend their money, as a social justice institution, Brandeis needs to take care of its faculty, librarians and facilities workers!” Prof. Sarah
Lupis (PSYC) MA ’14 Ph.D. ’16 declared in her address to the rally. She added that the University’s administration has offered a 1.5% cost of living increase, to which the crowd responded with shouts of disapproval.
“How can we live, Brandeis?” asked Prof. Lupis. “Your students and alumni are watching; they know who keeps Brandeis running, our staff, our facilities workers, our faculty and our librarians. Solidarity!” she concluded to the cheering crowd.
Additionally, University Personnel and Business Process Administrator and bargaining committee member Lena Webb MS ’10 Ph.D.’10 described how University faculty have faced intensifying workloads without compensation to reflect the additional work. She shared that she has been at Brandeis for 10 years, and that the institution has shown that it believes faculty “can be shuffled around, that [they] just absorb extra work without compensation.”
Webb explained that this time last year, Brandeis faculty felt disrespected and uncertain due to the layoffs that took place over the summer. “... We find ourselves in a similar situation this year … where we need to be focused on doing our jobs, not wondering if we’re going to have them,” she said, to which the crowd cheered in agreement.
“But this year, we have union power!” Webb added that people can “grow” this union power by wearing a button, showing up to rallies and standing with other unions.
Graduate student worker for the math department and union member, Sarah Dennis, affiliated with SEIU Local 509, also encouraged rally attendees to maintain this support for one another in her speech. She shared that she has been on the Brandeis campus for five years and emphasized the “vital” roles that each community member has in keeping the University functioning.
“It’s a scary time, right, to be here? But we can’t
Brandeis works with Hillel to transform vacant Kutz Hall into Center for Jewish Life on campus
■ A $25 million campaign is inspiring the remodel of the hall in North Quad.
By ANN ADDAMS JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The University is partnering with Hillel, a Jewish campus organization, to transform vacant Kutz Hall into a new Center for Jewish Life.
The Center is part of a $25 million campaign sponsored by “a coalition of philanthropists, trustees, faculty, alumni, and parents,” according to the Executive Director of Hillel and Senior Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Seth Winberg. Plans for the new center include a kosher cafe, spaces for events and Shabbat meals, student lounges, a rooftop deck and more.
The center was proposed due to Hillel “outgrow[ing] [their] small office in Usdan and currently rent[ing] scattered rooms across campus for activities" as well as a way to foster Jewish life on campus. Winberg said that “Hillel has been in discussions with the university for several years about the critical need for a perma-
By ALICE NGUYEN
nent physical home.” Community Engagement Coordinator for Brandeis Hillel Coco Trentalancia '27, said that “Hillel having its own building will really take Jewish life at Brandeis to the next level and allow it to soar.”
Kutz Hall, located in North Quad, was once home to the Campus Card Office, University Events, the Registrar, International Students and Scholars Office and Office of Graduate Affairs, as well as some classrooms. The offices formerly in the building were relocated to various parts of campus, leaving the building vacant. According to Daniel Tress, the Associate Director of Capital Programs, “I don't believe [the Center for Jewish Life] was ever the "original plan" for Kutz Hall. [The project] has been under discussion for several years without a clearly viable location. Kutz became the most viable location once it was vacated.”
Planning and fundraising for the project are still in the early stages, and it is unknown when construction is set to begin. Nonetheless, construction will commence in a way that will cause the least amount of disturbance to the students living in North Quad dorms near the Kutz building, according to Tress. Winberg stated that more information on the project will be released this October.
SPEECH : President Arthur Levine addresses faculty at their weekly meeting. ELIZA BIER/The Justice
Brandeis attempts to enhance public safety with the Brandeis Safe app
■ Brandeis follows the lead of other universities with a mobile phone app that works to make emergency reaction time faster.
ARIANA AGARWAL JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
This year Brandeis introduced new changes to public safety with the Brandeis Safe app. It works together with the Brandeis Emergency Notifications System to provide real-time updates regarding safety on campus. Introduced on April 30, 2025, the app modernizes safety through features exclusively available on campus. Some of the safety features include an emergency button, safety walks, friend walks, virtual walks with public safety and other campus resources. The app also offers a mobile blue light for individuals walking alone late
POLICE LOG
Medical Emergency
Aug. 29 – There was a report of a panic attack. The patient was treated and transported to a local hospital.
Aug. 30 – There was a report of an unconscious party on the ground. The patient signed a refusal for medical treatment.
Aug. 30 – There was a medical emergency for a dislocated knee. Aug. 30 – There was a medical emergency for an injured knee.
Aug. 30 – A party was found with a head injury after making a hang-up phone call. Medical evaluation was requested.
Aug. 31 – There was a report of a party with an injured wrist. The patient signed a refusal for medical treatment.
Aug. 31 – A party called reporting they had too much to drink. The patient was treated and transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 1 – There was a report of an intoxicated party. They were treated and signed a refusal for further medical care.
Sept. 1 – A party reported experiencing chest pains. The patient was treated and transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 3 – A party reported feeling dizzy. The patient was treated and transported to a local hospital.
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
■ An arts and culture teaser incorrectly spelled the names of an article’s co-writers, reading “Mirabel Rowland and Nina Rowland.” It should have read, “Mirabell Rowland and Mina Rowland.” (May 19, Page 1).
The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org
the
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.
Editor
Media editor@thejustice.org managing@thejustice.org news@thejustice.org features@thejustice.org forum@thejustice.org sports@thejustice.org arts@thejustice.org photos@thejustice.org copy@thejustice.org layout@thejustice.org ads@thejustice.org online@thejustice.org
The Justice Brandeis University Mailstop 214 P.O. Box 549110 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Phone: (781) 736-3750
The Managing Editor holds office hours on Mondays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
at night. Additionally, Friend Walk is a resource that allows Brandeisians to send a friend their location with the click of a button. The receiving student is provided a link and map with the sender’s location. If an individual feels unsafe at any time, they can hit the panic button. The virtual walk with public safety allows a person to select a destination and begin their walk instantly alongside a trained member of public safety. This feature is available for up to two hours at a time. Moreover, a person can make reports to campus safety at any time with the report-a-tip feature. This resource allows students to support campus safety without having to interfere with dangerous situations themselves. Other features include emergency contacts, which allow students to call Brandeis Public Safety and 911, as well as a map to orient themselves around campus. Additionally, the app sends a text to a close friend or loved one so that they know that the sender is safe if they were previously in danger. The Brandeis Safe app also offers support resources for individuals who may not be in cur-
rent danger but are at risk due to mental health concerns or other crises.
Previously, Brandeis relied on blue light emergency phones. This system consisted of tall blue poles with blue lights, keypads and intercoms to immediately contact Brandeis Public Safety. However, this campus safety feature is outdated compared to many technological advancements Brandeis has made in recent years, such as mobile device two-factor authentication and digital student ID cards. Moreover, many schools in the nation, including Ohio University and the University of Tampa, have switched to a mobile safety system. Brandeis is following in their footsteps with the recently developed free app, which gives instant access to emergency alerts and direct contact with Brandeis Public Safety from anywhere on campus. Brandeis’ shift away from blue light phones reflects its transition to a more contemporary safety system that ensures quicker, more efficient and more accessible responses to emergencies.
Sept. 3 – There was a report of a student feeling unwell. The patient signed a refusal for medical treatment.
Sept. 3 – There was a report of a party injured while playing basketball. The patient was treated and transported to a local hospital.
Sept. 4 – There was a medical emergency for a party having an allergic reaction. The patient signed a refusal for medical treatment.
Motor Vehicles
Aug. 29 – A car was struck in a parking lot. There was no injury reported.
Sept. 2 – A party reports being struck by a vehicle. The Waltham Police Department advised and responded. The situation was cleared.
Miscellaneous
Aug. 31 – A party reports their clothing went missing from a dryer. There will be an investigation to follow.
Aug. 31 – A party reported a violation of a no contact order. There will be an investigation to follow.
Sept. 2 – A party reported being threatened. There will be an investigation to follow.
Sept. 2 – There was a report of theft. There will be an investigation to follow.
Sept. 2 – There was a report of vandalism inside a bathroom. There will be an investigation to follow.
Sept. 2 – A party reported pamphlets were found in a building. There will be an investigation to follow.
Sept. 4 – There was a report of loud ringing coming from an office. Community Living was notified to respond.
— Compiled by Iyla Lichtenfeld
BRANDEIS MOUNTAIN CLUB : Club members pose in front of their table.
REUBEN GARTENBACH /The Justice
INVOLVEMENT FAIR : Members from The Justice discuss the club.
R REUBEN GARTENBACH /The Justice
GLOBAL BRIGADES : Club members inform students about their organization. REUBEN GARTENBACH /The Justice
RATS REMAIN: Brandeis stops use of rat poison known to harm local wildlife
■ Potent rodenticides were killing wildlife on campus, leading Save Waltham Wildlife to plead Brandeis to stop their use. The University obliged and now faces a booming rodent population.
By LUCIA THOMAS JUSTICE NEWS EDITOR
On July 25, a sickly coyote pup was found on Brandeis campus. It later tested positive for a potent rodenticide known as SecondGeneration Anticoagulant Rodenticides which has been used by Brandeis to minimize the rat population. SGARs are poisons that prevent blood clotting and lead to internal bleeding and ultimately death. These poisons take about a week to kill rats but live in their system for over four weeks and can
be transferred to any animal that consumes the rodent. This poison “causes a very painful death for the wildlife,” said Brandeis Students for Environmental Action, a local and regional environmental activist group, president Justin Kiozumi ’27 in an interview with The Justice on Sept. 8. SGARs poisoning has resulted in deaths of several species of predators that are eating the rats, such as owls, coyotes and most commonly red-tailed hawks.
Save Waltham Wildlife, a sub group of the Waltham Land Trust, had been contacting Brandeis officials about the effects of SGARs on wildlife since the spring of 2024, according to Waltham Land Trust director Sonja Wadman in an interview with The Justice on Sept. 8. On May 1, Wadman and Justin Kiozumi met with Chris Gould, Manager of Grounds and Fleet Services, and Lois Stanley, Vice President for campus operations. This meeting resulted in Brandeis vowing to phase out SGARs over a two week period starting July 2.
Brandeis kept their promise and replaced SGARs with a form of vitamin D known as Cholecalciferol, but this alternative is not without its issues. This poison causes kid -
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ney failure in the rodents and death in a few weeks to a month. While vitamin D3 does not harm raptors, it is toxic to canines such as coyotes and dogs, although a high dosage would need to be consumed for it to be deadly. Wadman listed several alternatives to poisoning, such as electric traps, rat sterilizers, carbon dioxide fuming and “good old fashion snap traps.”
Along with a switch to more environmentally continuous rat prevention, Wadman and Kiozumi’s meeting with Brandeis officials resulted in a discussion of the root of the abundant rat populations. Kiozumi explained, “These rat populations are increasing because students are not throwing out their trash” in residence halls such as East Quadrangle, accumulating to a larger rat population in and around buildings. The May 1 meeting proposed a “kind of ultimatum,” said Kiozumi. Brandeis will stop using SGARs, while Brandeis Students for Environmental Action in partnership with Save Waltham Wildlife plan to educate students on how to properly dispose of trash and what are the consequences if they do not. This education aims at freshmen and sophomores in particular as their dorm area often has the
most trash issues, says Kiozumi. Responsibly caring for trash means ensuring it is kept in a sealed dumpster or trash can, not beside or left open.
Kiozumi and Wadman have begun this initiative by asking Brandeis students to sign a pledge to dispose of their trash responsibly as a “symbolic gesture” at a Helping Hands event on Aug 27. They have plans to laminate posters and place them on dumpsters throughout campus which educate students on the importance of trash upkeep and the booming rat population that would be worsened by irresponsible behavior.
Rats are not a Brandeis-specific issue, says Wadman. Waltham is struggling with the infestation and Waltham Land Trust is encouraging residents to ensure they are completely sealing bins, picking up for themselves, reporting any unsecured waste bins to the county and overall being responsible with their waste.
Kiozumi feared the implication of an outof-control rat population would force the school to once again resort to wildlife-killing poisons. “Students need to take action,” he said.
Recent updates to the 2025-26 Student Code of Conduct: Hazing, Doxxing and Artificial Intelligence
Each academic year, Brandeis updates the Rights and Responsibilities Student Code of Conduct. This year, adjustments were made to the Hazing Policy (Section 2.11), the use of artificial intelligence (Section 4), and the Doxxing Policy (Section 10.4a).
Regarding the use of artificial intelligence, the website states that “The use of AI tools is not permitted without the written permission of the instructor for a given course.” Additionally, if AI is permitted by the instructor, the student must acknowledge that they utilized AI for the assignment. The chemistry and biology departments are testing a new AI study tutor, CircleIn, which can help students by generating practice problems and clarifying material.
The policies on hazing were updated to comply with the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which was passed late last year. This act aims to prevent hazing on college campuses by having universities include hazing in their yearly security reports, provide campus-wide hazing education, and require institutions to publish their hazing policies and the organizations that have violated them. Brandeis defines hazing as any intentional, knowing or reckless act against another person that is committed for initiation or maintenance of membership in a
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student organization and causes or creates a risk of physical or psychological harm above the reasonable risks for the activity.
The university also updated its doxxing policy, in response to concerns raised by members of the community. They define doxxing as “the public disclosure or threat to disclose another individual’s personally identifying or private information.” It may occur through various media, including social media, print materials, websites and more. These behaviors may also violate other various university policies, including 2.9 Electronic Devices and Privacy Policy, 2.10 Threatens, 2.10c. Harasses, 2.10d. Bullies, and 2.10f. Invasion of Privacy. These changes can be found on the website for the Brandeis Department of Students Rights and Community Standards.
A new department titled the Office of Access and Excellence has taken effect
In an email sent on Sept. 2, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Fierke announced the creation of the Office of Access and Excellence. The new office “will focus on recruitment, support, and retention of students, faculty, and staff.” Additional goals of the office refer to coordinating resources to “remove barriers and create pathways for success.” Collaborations between Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Human Resources will ensure a tangible administrative process for students and staff. Notably, the Gender and Sexuality Center and the Intercultural Center, formerly part of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Education & Learning Initiatives (ODEI), have been moved to the new office. The still named ODEI website now takes viewers to information regarding the Office of Access and Excellence. The website provides resources to the Alumni of Color Network, the Brandeis Faculty and Staff Pride Alliance and the Staff-Faculty Accessibility Group. Also highlighted are information about all-gender restrooms and a “know your rights” section linking to the Brandeis Counseling Center and Hiatt Career Center. It remains unclear if the Office of Access and Excellence is a remodeling or renaming of the ODEI, and much of the language on the website still refers to “diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging [within] the Brandeis Com-
munity.” The new director of the office will be Lee Bitsóí, who previously served as Brandeis’ Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Associate Vice President for Diversity Affairs and Special Advisor to the President for Indigenous Affairs at Fort Lewis College. His address to the University in the aforementioned email with Fierke concluded, “Our commitment to our founding values remains unwavering as we implement this university-wide approach to strengthening a sense of belonging for all in our community.”
—
— Madeline O’Hearm
RAT: A dead rat that may have been hit by a car on Moody Street.
LUCIA THOMAS/The Justice
SARA YANDOW/The Justice
Iyla Lichtenfeld
HAWK: A red-tailed hawk was found dead in a Waltham resident’s yard in March.
RALLY: Six Brandeis unions unite to protest poor contracts and compensation
give into nihilism,” Dennis said. “We have to organize, and mobilize, and stand together, all right?
Brandeis works because we do!”
Joanna Fuchs MA ’11, University Metadata Coordinator for Arts and Humanities, also spoke of the importance of collaboration among the six unions, expanding on how the Brandeis Library Worker’s Union SEIU 888 is one of the oldest on campus, having unionized in the 1970s. “We are here to support all of you. We are one big family, we are stronger together. In these challenging times, we must lead by example,” she stated.
Another common theme the speakers elaborated on was the importance of public support for unions. For instance, Lennie Donohoe, a union steward for SEIU 32BJ and plumber of 21 years, discussed
the seventh contract he was involved in during his speech. He shared that the union settled this contract the week after its rally last Labor Day, having received public support and media coverage.
“We got our strongest contract since I’ve been here,” Donohoe recalled. “You come here, you support yourselves and your other unions — we’re happy to see the research and administration staff unionizing, getting out here and getting all the support they can, and getting their own contract.”
In an Aug. 29 interview with The Justice, University Academic Administrator and SEIU 888 bargaining committee member, Eileen Kell, explained that the next steps for the new union are to gather insight from the bargaining unit, which would entail surveying all 140 of its research and administrative
staff. She said that the survey results would then inform the team of the faculty’s priorities, giving them a foundation to bargain with the University’s labor relations. Kell recalled that the union has been told that the standard time for a contract to be completed takes about a year.
Additionally, Prof. Prakash Kashwan (ENVS), representinwg the University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, explained that the AAUP is an organization “dedicated to advance academic freedoms and shared governance to promote economic security” of all involved in “teaching and research in higher education,” such as faculty, students and academic professionals. He said that the organization is here to fight for liberty, justice and inequality, “including protection for im-
migrant faculty and staff and students on campus, as well as defending from academic freedom in the broadest sense, especially in response to the ongoing attacks on higher education as we speak.”
Bailey provided the rally’s closing remarks, thanking those who made the event possible, “I want to encourage everyone to take a look around the crowd here today and take note of the faces that you see here. We are all Brandeis — and when the change is coming this year and the challenges they pose, we will see them through with the help and support of the community.”
FACULTY MEETING: Concern for renaming of Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Without a racially diverse faculty, we are unable to prepare students adequately to live and work as equals in a multi-ethnic world.”
Levine responded that the change was in wording only, not in commitments, and that it was made to preserve federal funding for the University. He emphasized that Brandeis has always been dedicated to supporting underrepresented groups in higher education. Levine also referenced his forthcoming book, to be released by Johns Hopkins in January 2026, noting that “DEI as a term is a lightning rod — let’s change it.” According to him, the programs and their outcomes would remain the same, with only the language and framing altered.
Brooten, however, countered that in all her 30+ years at the University, she has not seen a significant increase in faculty diversity. In a follow-up with The Justice, she said , “I would like to add my hope that Brandeis reverses this decision and restores the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion."
In response, Levine said that the diversity of faculty was not an administrative issue. Brooten attempted to add an additional comment, but Lenowitz moved the meeting forward stating that these are the issues that will be discussed at the future special faculty meeting.
Next came an address by Provost Carol A. Fierke
'84. Fierke highlighted the efforts of the University to complete the reconstruction of the academic institution, and now offer further developments in the form of microcredentials and a skills based transcript starting January 2026.
When the floor was opened for questions, Brooten revisited her earlier remarks, stressing that a DEI office is essential to prepare students to enter a racially diverse world. Fierke responded by imploring the faculty to look at all the available talent while hiring. However, that answer was not sufficient for some members of the faculty. Prof. Robin Feuer Miller (RUS) echoed Brooten’s sentiment that the faculty should have been consulted before any changes were made to Brandeis’ DEI office. She stated that given Brandeis’ unique nonsectarian identity, the University had an opportunity to honor its founding values and take a stand for diversity and inclusion against the Trump administration.
Fierke reinforced that renaming the Office of Access and Excellence does not alter the central goal –-- access has always been important to Brandeis. Miller countered that “words are important too.”
Following the Provost address came an update on the progress of the construction of the new residence hall. As of now, the concrete foundations for the buildings have been laid and construction is set
to be complete by summer 2027.
Last of the administrative updates came from admissions. The new initiatives to foster growth in Brandeis’ undergraduate schools are centered around digital marketing. The Office of Admissions shared that they have become more intentional and selective with where Brandeis marketing is sent, in the United States and abroad. Financial aid packages are also being presented differently. First, Brandeis provided full tuition scholarships for students coming from community colleges. This change brought 10 enrollments from community college graduates, compared to an average of four in previous years.
Additionally, the Brandeis Commitment was outlined in spring 2025. While the monetary aid provided by this package is not dissimilar from Brandeis’ previous financial aid package, it is outlined in a more accessible manner so more households understand how they may be able to afford a Brandeis education.
Finally, admissions statistics showed that while enrollment was challenging this year, the Class of 2029 is larger than the Class of 2028. Brandeis also welcomed 58 transfer students and saw an increase in the number of first-generation students. The percentage of applicants submitting standardized test scores rose in the most recent admissions cycle. At
the same time, the University reported a decline in international student enrollment, attributed both to fewer applications from abroad and to increased difficulty in obtaining visas.
Ultimately, the current initiatives around undergraduate admissions are to amplify the Brandeis’ message through marketing, convert prospective student interest into matriculation to the school, partially through introducing early applications alongside early decision, and the employment of a committee of high school faculty to advise on student interest.
In terms of graduate admissions, Brandeis previously had multiple offices of enrollment for the different graduate programs. These have now all been consolidated into one role taken up by Colleen Hynes as the Dean of Graduate Admissions. The goal amongst all the graduate programs is to standardize data management and create a unified brand so that every recruiter can talk at a high level about every graduate program at Brandeisw.
The faculty meeting adjourned with a celebration of faculty, honoring promotions and new hires across the undergraduate schools.
Lost time is never found again.
ON THIS DAY…
Congress officially renamed the United Colonies to the United States of America in 1776.
FUN FACT
About 60% of all human genes and 75% of diseaseassociated genes are shared between humans and fruit flies.
Things Are About To Get Loopy
Brandeis undergraduate students explore fruit fly genetics and beyond in University labs.
For a Brandeis undergraduate, the Brandeis Core Science requirement has inevitably brought you to a classroom where the words DNA to ribonucleic acid to protein are chanted almost as a mantra. The process, as we learn it in its most basic form, flows in a straight line: step A, then step B, then step C.
For Shirley Jin ’27, a biology major and undergraduate researcher in the Kadener Lab, this process is a little more convoluted.
She studies fruit flies, which are home to a specific gene called Muscleblind. The transcription of this gene catalyzes a complicated pathway in the cell, producing two forms of RNA: one linear and one circular. The linear RNA produces a protein called Muscleblind protein. MBL promotes the synthesis of a circular RNA from the Muscleblind gene, and that circular RNA, in turn, negatively regulates the levels of linear RNA in the cell.
Unlike other genes that follow that predictable straight path, RNA molecules and the MBL protein interact in a feedback loop enabling self-regulation of the gene. Understanding this system could reveal fundamental principles of RNA regulation and that may help in curing human
By SAAYA DAGA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
disease at some point in the future.
Previous research has shown that the MBL protein doesn’t act alone. Other RNA molecules within the cell also bind to the protein and influence its work. That leads us to Jin’s key research questions: Which RNAs physically bind to MBL and is MBL’s circular RNA involved in these interactions? Understanding these relationships in more detail will help reveal new roles for MBL in the cell.
Jin’s mentor, graduate student Michael Canori, set the stage for her research by conducting experiments that provided Jin with raw data to analyze. He began by extracting all cellular proteins from the heads of fruit flies — if you’re like me, don’t think about this for too long — and then isolating the protein through an abstruse-sounding process called immunoprecipitation. During this process, MBL protein is pulled out from a mix of cellular components, along with any RNAs bound to it. A round of RNA sequencing later and Jin has a raw count of how often each RNA appeared bound to the MBL protein.
This is where her work begins.
To analyze the data, Jin used the programming language R to translate RNA counts into a ranked list of RNAs most likely to interact with the MBL protein. The analysis confirmed that many RNAs bound by MBL are involved in splicing — a process in which non-coding bits of RNA are removed and the remaining coding bits rejoined — affirming MBL’s role as an RNA-processing protein.
ing them more stable than their linear counterpart. Moving forward, Jin plans to investigate what role Muscleblind’s circular RNA product plays in cellular function, beyond regulating its own gene expression.
However, other RNAs that were found were associated with RNA regulation, metabolic processes, and cellular organization. By spotting which RNAs most abundantly found bound to MBL, Jin is mapping out the possible ways in which RNA molecules participate, alongside MBL, in the regulation of cellular machinery.
Jin described the project as “exploratory,” with no single result representing a definitive answer. Instead, it provides a broad map of RNAs that MBL regulates throughout the cell.
While Jin’s work focused primarily on linear RNAs bound to MBL, circular RNAs are also an important area she hopes to study in the future. As its name explains, circular RNAs are RNA molecules that exist in a circular shape, mak-
For a process that seemed so straightforward before, Jin’s research reveals that these pathways are more complicated than what first meets the eye. By identifying the RNAs that bind MBL, she is uncovering new ways MBL functions in the fly and what role Muscleblind’s circular RNA product plays in the cell.
“There’s always more to look into,” she said.
Moreover, this research holds the possibility of having near-term impact. Muscleblind has a human counterpart, and misregulation of this gene causes myotonic dystrophy, a disorder affecting muscles and the nervous system. Studying the fly system provides a simpler model to explore fundamental questions about RNA regulation and protein interactions, which can then inform research on human genes.
Design: BRIANNA EARLE/The Justice. Photos courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
DNA: Undergraduates explore the pathway from DNA to MBL.
FRUIT FLIES: Brandeis students use fruit flies for lab research.
Brandeis’ Parking Problem
How new construction on campus is changing student life for upperclassmen.
As new students and returning students alike arrived on campus, they more than likely found Loop Road scattered with traffic cones, fenced in construction zones, dug up sidewalks and caution tape.
Brandeis has begun to tackle a few new construction projects this year, and amongst these projects is a new dormitory.
In April 2025, Brandeis announced the launch of a construction project for a “state of the art” residence hall. The new five-story dormitory is set to include 630 beds, air conditioning and full accessibility.
The construction for the new residence hall commenced in June 2025 in the South Residence Lot, also known as X-Lot. Prior to the demolition, the parking lot serviced commuter students and faculty.
According to an announcement made by the Office of Parking and Traffic in June, in addition to the elimination of South Residence Lot, approximately 100 parking spaces were eliminated in the adjoining Theater Lot. Although the project is aimed at improving student life, it is currently inconveniencing students as the already limited parking situation has shrunk once again.
Due to fears sparked by the housing lottery and the lack of guaranteed housing, many upperclassmen students made the decision to move off campus. With a higher number of students commuting to campus with vehicles and the demolition of an entire parking lot, the parking issue on campus is amplified.
The class of 2026 was the largest admitted class in Brandeis history with a reported 1,007 students. Since then, the University has seen increased concern from students about available housing options. As of last year, The Justice reported that upperclassmen students were fleeing campus living in wake of those concerns.
In August, the University released a series of changes in parking designation. In wake of losing South Residence Lot to the new building, the University also released plans to eliminate parking pass availability to any student
that does not have senior status.
Parking for senior students is designated by resident student parking and commuter student parking. Resident students are able to park in the Charles River and Foster Residence Lots with the purchase of a residential permit. Commuter students are designated to Tower Lot, North Quad Lot, Athletics Lot, MBTA/
By BRIANNA EARLE JUSTICE FEATURES EDITOR
nically allowed to park on campus. Students with special circumstances who are not seniors are still able to purchase parking permits if necessary with special permission from a doctor and Student Accessibility Services.
Seniors arriving on campus quickly became acquainted with issues created by the change in parking designations.
times, emailed and called twice before I talked to an actual person who told me she couldn’t do anything.”
The issue became particularly evident among students who were a part of the mid-year class. Allison Orr ’26, received a similar response from the University when she heard that mid-year students were having trouble
Brandeis Roberts Lot, and Theater Lot.
Senior status, as described by the University Registrar, includes any student with at least 88 credits. Students who are not technically designated as a senior by credits but are still set to graduate in May 2026 are technically unable to purchase a parking permit.
Prior to the changes in parking pass designations, the permits were available to purchase for junior students as well as sophomore students who were chosen through a lottery process. Now, neither of these groups are tech-
Students who purchased parking permits online prior to arriving on campus were unable to pick up the passes until many of the issues were resolved.
Even students with the correct credit standing faced problems when purchasing a pass. Riley French ’26 was unable to purchase a resident parking permit despite being listed as a senior by the University Registrar.
French told The Justice in a Sept. 7 interview that, “I’m a senior and [the parking office] insisted I was a junior, refusing to give me a pass.” She continued, “I went to the office three
purchasing permits. “I emailed the parking office twice and no one ever responded,” said Orr. Fortunately, other Brandeis offices have been more helpful with solving the issue. “My academic advisor was able to help me figure out the situation,” she said. “I had to email the registrar’s office to move my graduation date so they could categorize me as a senior in order to be eligible.”
Brandeis announced that parking permits were available for pickup on Sept. 4 in the Office of Administration and Finance’s InBrief newsletter. There was little communi-
cation about the status of the parking permits until the announcement was made. For most, information was being spread by word of mouth.
Despite the trouble seniors were running into based on their matriculation date, some juniors were able to bypass the status and purchase a permit. “I sent an email to the parking office and the Student Union when I heard about the change,” said Miles Laker ’27 in a Sept. 7 interview with The Justice.
Last year, Laker had to get a doctor’s note in order to purchase a parking pass because he was only a sophomore.
After finding out that seniors were having problems purchasing permits he said, “I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get one this year.” He continued, “When I actually went into the parking office they just had me fill out a form and I was able to get one.”
Although the purchasing issue has seemingly been fixed, students are running into other problems created by the construction. With half of the remaining Theater Lot blocked off as part of the site, students living in Ziv Quad are being forced to park nearly half a mile away even despite their proximity to the adjoining lot.
Jaiden van Bork ’26, a Ziv resident, is particularly unhappy with the decision to nix the lot for available student parking. She told The Justice on Sept. 8, “Why am I paying $200 to park in a remote part of campus that I don’t live on? It’s completely out of the way and if I park anywhere closer I run the risk of getting a ticket.”
Van Bork explained that the parking is inconvenient, and the noise level of the construction is constant and “quite oppressive.”
According to the construction site update posted by the University in June, the project zone is in Phase 1. As construction is set to continue through the summer of 2027, it is unclear whether or not the site will expand as the project continues to grow.
The Brandeis Parking office has not responded to The Justice’s request to comment at this time.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS. Design: BRIANNA EARLE/The Justice.
NEW DORM: A model of the proposed residence hall.
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Sophia De Lisi, Editor in Chief
Julia Hardy, Managing Editor
Eliza Bier, Anna Martin, Senior Editors
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EDITORIAL
Is Brandeis better yet?
At the start of this new academic year, marked by leadership changes, University restructuring and ongoing geopolitical issues, The Justice Editorial Board hopes to give the student body a comprehensive look into the state of Brandeis as it stands today.
On housing and admissions:
As commuters may know, the construction of a new dorm in South Residence Lot is now underway. The class of 2026 remembers the stressful housing process and dorm overcrowding in their first three years at Brandeis. Many of these issues faced are now moot due to a decrease in applicants to Brandeis. There are no longer lofted triples — rooms intended to be doubles that held three people — some natural triples are used as doubles, East Quadrangle and Village Residence Hall doubles are being made available as singles for an extra price and the Shapiro basement, known for small windows providing little light, flooding, noisy pipes and an inadequate bathroom, is now empty for the second year in a row.
More and more students are resorting to living off-campus as campus housing is often expensive, unsafe and of poor quality. In 2021, The Justice reported the presence of blackcolored mold on a wall and green-colored mold under a bed in a Ziv Quad suite, with references to earlier instances of mold. The same article provides details about mice appearing in Gordon Residence Hall in North Quad. A Feb. 6, 2024 article also reported a sewage flood in Ziv 129 “caused by improper disposal of nonflushable items.” However, this flood was not the first of its kind, and the University faced criticism from Ziv residents for its lack of preventative measures.
Other housing options and additions that have begun taking place are also encountering a set of issues: namely, the “Bigger Bed” rental option, which gives the option for students to upgrade their Twin XL beds to a full-size mattress, has faced many late deliveries, leaving students lacking the beds they paid for weeks into the semester and demonstrating a greater issue of disorganization at Brandeis when undertaking new initiatives.
At the Sept. 5 faculty meeting, the Vice President of Enrollment Management, Jennifer Walker, shared the incoming class profile, which detailed a decrease in international students from 17% in 2024 to 11% in 2025. This is worsened by the fact that international students transfer out after their first year at higher rates, meaning a drastic decrease in diverse voices on campus. This is most likely a direct result of the Trump administration’s attack on visa holders in the United States. According to an Aug. 18 Reuters article, the Trump administration has revoked more than 6,000 student visas. The article clarifies that 4,000 of these visa cancellations took place “because the visitors broke the law, with the vast majority being [instances of] assault,” but a “small minority” of these visa cancellations happened because their holders demonstrated “support for terrorism.”
There has been a decrease in the average high school GPA — from 3.89 to 3.83 — and average SAT score — from 1435 to 1398 — of admitted students, illustrating Brandeis’ admission standards dropping in wake of their need for students. The total fall matriculants is 767 students, up from last year’s 735. The class of 2027 had 873 students and the class of 2026 included 1007 students, making it the largest in Brandeis’ history. The most disquieting change in admissions is the dissolution of the Brandeis Midyear program for the 2025-26 school year. On the financial implications of Brandeis’
restructuring:
On Aug. 4, the University announced the launch of four new academic schools: The School of Arts, Humanities and Culture; The School of Business and Economics; The School of Science, Engineering and Technology and The School of Social Sciences and Social Policy. This reorganization plan also included the restructuring of Brandeis’ graduate schools. The Heller School for Social Policy and Management continues to grant graduate degrees under the new School for Social Sciences, and the Brandeis International Business School has been renamed to the School of Business and Economics. The School of Business and Economics “incorporates” both graduate and undergraduate degree programs while the former Heller School continues to grant graduate degrees — though it is “more closely connected to the undergraduate social science programs,” according to the University’s frequently asked questions page.
The same page guarantees that the reorganization plan’s financial model will include a “phased budgetary process as we move from revenue shortfalls to our new model.” Further, the plan describes that “during the initial period, staff and faculty budgets will move with departments, centers, and programs into their new units.”
This board questions how this plan will impact academic departments and schools that were already facing budgetary challenges. Furthermore, how will it guarantee financial fairness among the four schools when only one of them is dedicated to arts and humanities?
In the wake of losing the Lydian String Quartet and Musicology and Music Composition
Ph.D. programs due to ongoing budget cuts, this Editorial Board understands that programs in the arts at Brandeis are typically the first to go. The University made that prospect abundantly clear when it silently eliminated Brandeis Arts Engagement, as well as terminated the contract of beloved Prof. Taylor Ackley (MUS) with no discretion to the public. This Board hopes that this reorganization plan will reinstate these lost initiatives and address the plethora of student critiques that have largely been sidelined.
On the Office of Access and Excellence: Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Carol Fierke, announced the creation of the Office of Access and Excellence, which, in her Sept. 2 email, she explains “will focus on recruitment, support, and retention of students, faculty, and staff.” The Office of Access and Excellence’s website outlines three main objectives and action plans for each point. “Educat[ing] and empower[ing] the community through workshops and professional development, programming, and engagement.”
The student workshops will be developed by the Intercultural Center and Gender and Sexuality Center, while the faculty workshops will be headed by the Center for Teaching and Learning to “[provide] expertise to assist in developing robust learning modules.” The center will also “provide supportive services and resources through referrals and consultations,” essentially acting as a middleman between students and other Brandeis offices. The final goal, “[To] cultivate an environment of respect and connection by providing spaces for civil discourse and opportunities to learn with and from one another,” is the least elaborated upon in Fierke’s email, does not include an action plan and is the most unlike the other objectives.
It is possible that this office is where complaints regarding politically motivated doxxing or other such provocations will be directed to. It
is unclear what “providing spaces for civil discourse” entails: whether or not there will be professional staff involved in guiding discourse or if intergroup communication will be permitted for resolving issues of differing views on campus. Through the financial challenges Brandeis is currently facing, this Editorial Board is wary of the major spending decisions Brandeis is making, namely the new renovation of Kutz Hall and the new dorm building, especially as these construction projects are taking priority over the functioning of the academic departments at Brandeis. Overall, Brandeis is in a major period of transition, and it’ll be difficult to tell if the University will be better off after the changes taking place, especially considering that Brandeis’ priorities, which landed the University in its current situation, seem to remain unchanged.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Lock up fascist criminals and rebuild America By Jon Hochschartner
We need to imprison the fascist criminals currently running the federal government and begin the process of rebuilding the country so the right-wing authoritarian takeover we’re now experiencing is never possible again. Any elected Democratic official who doesn’t comprehend this should be primaried by a candidate who understands the totalitarian threat we’re facing.
I’d prefer to advocate forgiveness toward such lawbreakers. It’s what the best of religious tradition calls for. However, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have made it clear they can’t be swayed by appeals to reason or morality. The only thing they respect is raw power. Democrats must exercise this — if, with any luck, they’re provided another opportunity to do so.
Former President Joe Biden took what might be termed ‘the high road’ with ringleaders of the Make America Great Again movement, largely attempting to turn the page on their numerous crimes, including an attempted coup. Look where that approach has brought us. Now the fascists are once again in control of the government. Every day they push us closer and closer to dictatorship.
Beyond prosecuting Trump and his allies, Democrats must begin a rapid process of remaking this country to eliminate the threat of a similar right-wing power grab. One important step is packing the Supreme Court, which is fanatically conservative and deeply out of step with the American people. The existing justices will be an impediment to any forward progress we seek to make.
Ideally, Democrats would work to abolish the Senate, which advantages small, Republican states to an outrageous degree. At a minimum, they should try to add new, potentially liberal-leaning states to the Union, like Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Democrats must aim to
to eliminate the Electoral College and create a modern, multiparty, parliamentary system.
To a certain extent, rage fueling the fascist movement is a product of economic inequality. The trouble is right-wing leaders are all too able to redirect this inchoate anger from where it belongs, on obscenely rich capitalists like Elon Musk, toward powerless groups, like immigrants and transgender people. Reducing economic inequality will, among other things, limit the appeal of fascism.
Personally, I’d like to see the United States move toward socialism, by which I mean democratic ownership and control of the economy. At the very least, however, some significant reforms of the capitalist system, on the level of the New Deal, are needed to stop the spread of right-wing authoritarianism. In order to save the country, Democrats must become genuine champions of the working class.
The anti-fascist coalition has a wide variety of policy goals. For instance, as an animal activist, I’d like to see a massive infusion of public funding into cultivatedmeat research. If readers are unfamiliar with the term, cultivated meat is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. I view the technology as the most promising means of reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death.
That said, no policy goals of the antifascist coalition can be achieved under a right-wing dictatorship. This is why elected Democrats have to be prepared to lock up the fascist crooks now running the federal government and rebuild the country so the ongoing totalitarian assault is never feasible again. Liberal politicians not on board with the broad strokes of the plan should get out of the way.
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. Visit his blog at SlaughterFreeAmerica.Substack.com.
SUNSPOT: The sun shining through the trees by the library.
SKYE ENTWOOD/The Justice
A snapshot of the personality of Brandeis students
By ERIC CHERNY JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I’ve recently set about collecting data that might give me a peek into the general personality of Brandeis students. For this study, I used the “Big Five personality traits” framework because it’s one of the most frequently used models of measuring personality. It observes all personalities as having varying levels of the same five traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. These traits are defined by Mark Dziak in his article, “Big Five personality traits.” Openness is defined as “a person’s willingness to engage with novel ideas and experiences.” Extraversion is “marked by sociability and assertiveness.” Conscientiousness is one’s tendency to be “organized and goal-oriented.” Agreeableness is one’s tendency to be “kind and empathetic” towards others. Finally, neuroticism is “associated with emotional instability and anxiety.”
I conducted the study with 128 participants who were recruited at the campus library using a Google Form. 62.8% of participants identified as women, 32.6% identified as men and 4.6% identified as transgender, nonbinary or preferred not to say. Additionally, 39.5% of participants identified as White, 33.3% identified as Asian, 7.8% identified as Black or African American, 7.8% identified as Hispanic or Latino, 7% identified as more than one race, while 4% preferred not to say. One student identified as Caucasian and one student identified as Jewish. The frequency of class year had greater variance, 33.3% were first-years, 20.9% were sophomores, 25.6% were juniors, 16.3% were seniors and 3.1% were graduate students.
The participants filled out the MiniInternational Personality Item Pool (MiniIPIP), a 20-item set that assessed their Big Five personality traits with four statements per trait. Item statements included; “I have a vivid imagination” (openness to experience), “I like order” (conscientiousness), “I feel others’ emotions” (agreeableness), “I am the life of the party” (extraversion), and “I get upset easily” (neuroticism) and were ranked on a five-point scale ranging from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). From this data, I was able to calculate how much of each trait Brandeis students had on
average. Each trait level will be given as a percentage towards that trait or its opposite. It would be very unlikely that an individual, let alone a sample of a population, would have absolutely zero inclination towards a specific trait. Though, for this demonstration, 0% will be presented as perfectly centered between a trait and its opposite. From the sample of Brandeis students, the calculated average of those surveyed are 12.5% more open than they are conventional, 21% more conscientious than they are disinhibited, and 49% more agreeable than they are antagonistic. However, the calculated average taken from the sample of Brandeis students showed neither skew towards being extraverted or introverted, and neither neurotic or emotionally stable, as the participants varied equally on both sides of these two trait spectrums. From the data, one can gather that the average Brandeis student desires intellectual stimulation, is focused on achieving their ambitions and has an immense amount of compassion for others. The results with little skew suggest that Brandeis is made up of a similar amount of extroverts and introverts, and an equal distribution of neurotic and emotionally stable individuals. These results beckon an interesting question. Does Brandeis attract students of these types of personalities, or does going to Brandeis affect students in a way that causes their trait levels to shift accordingly? Higher levels of trait conscientiousness predict productivity, which means better performance in the classroom and the workplace. Additionally, higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of neuroticism predict better mental health outcomes. To truly know the answer, another study would have to be conducted with a survey containing more items and a larger sample size of students that are studied during their time at Brandeis. If the traits remain consistent throughout, then it would seem that Brandeis is attracting such personalities. If the trait levels are continuously shifting in a certain direction, then it would seem that attending Brandeis is affecting students’ personalities due to the culture of the University.
Exclusion at the Involvement Fair
By ESTHER BALABAN JUSTICE FORUM EDITOR
During Brandeis’ 2025 Fall Involvement Fair, which showcased 201 varied clubs and organizations to the student body, one organization found itself facing major intervention from other students and the Department of Student Engagement. The Brandeis Jewish Bund, an anti-Zionist, antiimperialist group, has been operating on campus for the past year, hosting vigils, sitins, protests and Jewish culture events. As I was walking around the Involvement Fair, I witnessed Bund members “tabling” on a blanket near the Shapiro Campus Center,
facing verbal aggression and intimidation from students holding “Brandeis Students
Support Israel” signs. Five anonymous students gave statements of what they witnessed happening between the Bund and other students at the fair.
Both first-year students who witnessed the event characterized the Bund as “approachable and conversational” and “friendly and welcoming.” One first-year student detailed their experience at the Bund blanket, stating, “They were very inviting and took the time to ask my name, about
me, and if I was interested in their cause. However, some members of the student body made me feel deeply uncomfortable as I was trying to learn more. As I was listening to what the Bund had to say and introducing myself, a group of students hold[ing] SSI [Students Supporting Israel] signs with Israeli flags kept staring me down, giving me dirty looks, and attempting to divest my attention away from the group by pointing and waving their signs at me.” The Students Supporting Israel chapter at Brandeis, also an unchartered club, were in attendance at the Involvement Fair. The other first-year recalled: “I saw students (some displaying Brandeis Stands With Israel flyers, who were lingering all around the fair) take a number of BJB [Brandeis Jewish Bund] flyers from the ground and tear them up while they walked away.” Additionally, the student reported that most interactions with the Bund were positive, and that the Bund did not respond to the provocation. A sophomore described further disrespect towards the Bund, claiming “a group of Zionist students went up to their flyers with pictures of murdered children and took selfies while smiling,” before “ripping up two of the flyers” and “taking pictures of the Bund students.” A junior corroborated the claim, stating, “I saw students holding up the Israel signs and taking selfies around the [Bund] area” before expressing that “several of [these students] approached my table and the table next to me continuing to hold up the pro-Israel signs. They didn’t speak to me directly, only held up the signs, but the entire situation made me feel very uncomfortable.”
The Bund was situated near the Shapiro Campus Center — away from the Involvement Fair space in Fellows Garden — first utilizing their own table before being told by DSE staff that tabling was not allowed, according to one student witness tabling for the Bund. They briefly switched to laying their materials out on a blanket, then resorted to personally handing out materials. The sophomore attempted to look further into why the Bund was not granted a table, saying “one of the organizers told me that they were not allowed to table because they were not chartered but a few yards away I saw a different not-chartered club member with a makeshift table,” then asserting that “clearly it was politically motivated and I left feeling disgusted with Brandeis and those Zionist students.”
I received a witness statement from one of the students tabling for the Bund who claimed that ”we faced constant harassment
from Zionists,” specifying “multiple Zionist students grouped up next to our ‘Murdered by Israel’ flyers with pictures of dead children on them. A group of those students went up to the flyers and took gleeful selfies while posing.” In the statement, they reference a Substack article they recently posted on their Instagram page: “Later, a friend of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldier depicted on the Bund’s ‘This is a Colonial Campus’ cover came up and ripped up the flyers while hysterically yelling.” The member added that students were “taking nonconsensual photos and recording us.” They hold that “the climate was clearly meant to be hostile to any anti-Israel voices.” This is corroborated by the fact that there were numerous tables allowed to openly express support for Israel, yet one of the few openly pro-Palestine organizations at Brandeis was not permitted to represent itself to the student body, painting a concrete picture for Brandeis students of the political beliefs they are allowed to hold on campus.
The inconsistent actions taken by the DSE in terms of whether or not unchartered Brandeis organizations are allowed to have a space at the Involvement Fair may point to politically motivated silencing of proPalestinian voices. Certain members of some of the Pro-Israel organizations on campus — of which there are many — have repeatedly targeted Bund members and events with no repercussions from Brandeis administration, causing the Bund to end their statement with “we won’t bother with OEO [Office of Equal Opportunity] this time, and we encourage everyone to read our most recent article to learn more about why we have no faith in the conduct process.” The Substack article also details doxxing efforts by chartered pro-Israel clubs, including screenshots that were presented to the OEO, though those investigations were never furthered. While college campuses are meant to act as meeting places for diverse voices, the Involvement Fair has demonstrated that Brandeis University only supports one form of involvement in regards to the Israel-Hamas War, and dissenting opinions will not be represented in any official capacity. Despite this, based on the witness testimonies, there is an outspoken population of students who feel deep discomfort with the heavy presence of pro-Israel groups on campus. It seems that Brandeis may soon have to accept that their students intend to create a space for themselves to be heard if one will not be given to them.
Klein, unrelated: The Creamery
By AARON KLEIN & MAX KLEIN JUSTICE STAFF WRITERS
Klein : Good morning, Mr. Klein, and welcome back to Klein: Unrelated.
Klein : Woah! Doesn’t it feel good to be back?
Klein : One last year of telling my parents that I’m a columnist at The Justice and pretending to have a promising career in journalism lined up? It feels great!
Klein : And for those who are new to campus, can we take a second to explain what this column is all about?
Klein : Of course! Seeing as how we are two guys with the last name Klein, who happen to be unrelated to each other, last year we decided to start a food review section dedicated to local restaurants near campus.
Klein : Exactly! And for year two, are we switching it up at all?
Klein : No.
Klein : A man of few words.
Klein : Yep. So, where are we this week?
Klein : This week, we visited The Creamery, a clear money laundering joint.
Klein : Huh? Explain.
Klein : Well, considering their lack of patrons and incredibly low prices, I can’t think of any other way they could still be in business.
Klein : OK.
Klein : I see we’re still doing this man of few words bit.
Klein : Yep.
Klein : Regardless of their alleged ties to organized crime, what did you think of the ice cream?
Klein : 2.43.
Klein : What are you talking about? What scale could that possibly be on?
Klein : Out of three. 2.43 out of three. Klein : OK, dude. I agree, I would give them a 2.55 out of three. A very solid rating, all things considered. I was pleasantly surprised. Klein : I had the butter pecan and was impressed by the deep flavor. I got a small cup for $6.41 after tax, and was impressed by the large amount of above-average ice cream you get for that price. What did you get?
Klein : More words this time! I’m impressed! I ordered a small cup of moose tracks with M&Ms on top. Just like you, I also appreciated the value on offer. Best of all, the moose tracks were rich and creamy — hence the name! So, would you go back?
Klein : Yeah, I would. It’s a nice treat after AK’s or Prime Deli.
F1: Rookie racers impress
CONTINUED FROM 12
trajectory shows a bright future ahead in F1 for Bortoleto. If superlatives were to be given out to all the drivers, the “most improved” award would definitively go to the last rookie on the list, Isack Hadjar. Hadjar, the F2 championship runner up to Bortoleto, found himself in a Racing Bulls seat after Oracle Red Bull Racing (the senior team to RB) driver Sergio “Checo” Perez left the team. In his maiden grand prix, Hadjar qualified the highest out of all the rookies, but during the forma-
tion lap, he spun off of the track into the barriers, resulting in a “Did Not Start.” Comforted by Anthony Hamilton, Lewis Hamilton’s father, after the crash, Hadjar was able to turn his disappointment around into a podium finish in the Dutch Grand Prix. In qualifying fourth, Hadjar was able to fend off Mercedes’ George Russell from behind, which put him in a prime position to benefit from Charles Leclerc crashing out and losing his P3 position late into the race, which was claimed and main-
tained by Hadjar for the rest of the race to earn his maiden podium and Driver of the Day. Scoring 38 points in the season so far, Hadjar comes in right behind Antonelli in the driver’s championship standing at ninth. There are eight more rounds of racing in the 2025 season, and although the Constructor’s Championship and Driver’s Championship results may be decided already, there is still a lot more driving to be done, with a very competitive and fluctuating midfield.
Student athletes reflect on their time at Brandeis
■ Isaac Lo '27 and Hugh Licklider '27 discuss their exeriences on Brandeis sports teams.
By JULIA HARDY JUSTICE MANAGING EDITOR
Athletics at Brandeis are in full swing; games began as early as Aug. 29. With the calendar increasingly filling up with sporting events, students start preparing for their upcoming seasons and fall teams begin competition.
Amidst the anticipation and excitement of athletics for the upcoming academic year, two students shared with The Justice their experiences on the team and how Brandeis Athletics has impacted their college career. Brandeis Athletics strives to bring the community together and aims to enrich “the current and future lives of our community through sport, fitness and wellness offerings.”
Isaac Lo ’27 is on the Brandeis men’s swim and dive team and spe-
cializes in the breastroke. He walked onto the team his first year of college, but started swimming competitively in high school in Pennsylvania. He is an All-Academic Recognition award winner, and was a Central League Championships qualifier. When asked what he is most looking forward to during this year’s season, in an email correspondence with The Justice on Sept. 6, Lo said, “This year we got a lot of new members on our team including a new assistant coach and one of my good friends who couldn’t swim last year. I’d say I’m most excited to have him back as a training partner, and to meet all the new people on our team.”
Lo also talked about the immense support he has received from his teammates throughout his time at Brandeis. Lo wrote to The Justice about his favorite part of being on the team, “I would have to say it’s my teammates. It’s something really special to have a close group of friends that you can do challenging things with and know that you will all hold each other accountable.” Lo says that “the most influential impact has been having people on my team to look up to.”
Hugh Licklider ’27 is a member of the men’s cross country & track and field team. He was recruited and started cross country and track in his first
year of college. Licklider competed in the first meet of the season Aug. 29 at the Wellesley Invitational. He won the men’s race with a time of 16:20:9. Licklider was out the past cross country and track seasons due to a meniscus repair surgery and the subsequent recovery period. He’s looking forward to getting back to competing. Like Lo, Licklider expressed how important his team is. In an email correspondence with The Justice on Sept. 4, Licklider said that the best part of being on the team is “The supportive environment surrounding me — whether it's team dinners in sherm, trips off campus, practice, workouts and races together, academic advice, or just their presence, my fellow distance runners always bring me great enjoyment.”
Licklider also considered the positive impact his student athlete status has had on his time at Brandeis. He explains how his weekends are often taken up by meets and that practicing takes a lot of time too, but “despite this time commitment, this is also some of the most fulfilling time I've spent here [at Brandeis].”
Lo’s and Licklider’s reflections underscore the larger mission of Brandeis athletics: to bring students together, both as individuals and athletes.
TENNIS: US Open Champs
CONTINUED FROM 10
but there’s also the possibility of the swift emergence of a completely new player, just like Djokovic at the time. Even Djokovic claims, “It will be very difficult for me to overcome the hurdle of Sinner and Alcaraz.” However, Djokovic remains a fan favorite. With 24 slams, the Serbian player has surpassed both Federer and Nadal for the all-time record, and he has no plans to stop anytime soon. His experience battling Nadal and Federer, coupled with his immense skills and unbeatable mentality, has kept him at the top of the game throughout his career. At 38 years old, he is the oldest player to make the 2025 semifinals
of all four Grand Slams in a single season. Though Djokovic has defied age and expectations with his 2025 performance, he has hinted at uncertainty at what his 2026 schedule will look like. Nonetheless, he has said he has no immediate plans to retire and hopes to play in all Grand Slams next year. As the 2025 season comes to an end, tennis fans are excited to see who rises to the top next year. Will it be Anisimova? Sabalenka? Swiatek? Keys? Gauff? Or perhaps an entirely new player will have their breakout season. What about the men’s side? Will someone challenge the likes of
Sinner and Alcaraz? Will Djokovic finally secure his long-awaited 25th Slam? Whatever the case, the 2026 season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ones yet.
– Editors Note: Due to technological restraints, Iga Swiatek's name is missing special characters on the S and the A in her name.
– Justice Associate Editor Anika Jain ’26 contributed to the reporting of this article.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Brandeis women's soccer defeats Rhode Island College 2-0 on Sept. 6.
Sports just
Sabalenka's and Alcaraz's climb to the top
■ The 2025 US Open saw new champions, new rivalries and new records.
By SRINIDHI SRIRAMAN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sabalenka Claims a Fourth Slam
On Saturday, Sept. 6, Aryna Sabalenka won her fourth Grand Slam, defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6(3) in the US Open finals at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This victory makes Sabalenka the first woman since Serena Williams to win back-to-back US Open titles. Sabalenka, a Belarusian player, started to rise in the ranks in 2021 when she reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. Known for her powerful hits, strength on the hard court and irregular playing style, she continues to prove her dominance as world number one.
Currently, the top contenders in women’s tennis are Sabalenka, Iga ŚSwiatek and Coco Gauff. Sabalenka stands in the middle between Świ tek, who has six slams, and Gauff, who has two. ŚSwiatek is a Polish player known for her powerful forehand, who is nicknamed “The Queen of Clay” due to her four French Open titles — a tournament that takes place on clay courts. However, this year at the 2025 French Open, Sabalenka defeated Swiatek’s 26-match winning streak in the semifinals. Sabalenka and Swiatek have faced each other 12 times before this US Open. Świ tek held an 8-4 head-to-head record with five of these wins on clay courts. Sabalenka’s win last week closed the gap to 8-5.
Earlier this summer, Gauff, who thrives on hard and clay courts, beat Sabalenka in the Roland Garros final. The Gauff-Sabalenka rivalry is vibrant both on and off the court. The two have provided fans with memorable matches at the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open Finals.
In 2023, 19-year-old Gauff beat Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the US Open, earning her her first Grand Slam. In 2025, Gauff performed similarly, losing the first set and then recovering 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 against the powerful hitter. Sabalenka, on the other hand, triumphed over Gauff in the 2025 Madrid Open Title, evening the playing field. After the 2025 French Open, Sabalenka’s comments downplaying Gauff’s victory sparked controversy. However, tension and online discourse eased after the two posted a TikTok dance together, confirming to fans that there was no ill will between the two. While there has not been an American men’s Grand Slam champion since Andy Roddick in 2003, the American women have been in the spotlight, with one American making the final of every Slam this year. Anisimova played in both the Wimbledon and US Open Finals. She has immense strength on both grass and hard courts. Another American, Madison Keys — historically a star on the grass courts — obtained her first Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open, an unexpected achievement on a hard court. And Gauff, world number 3, as previously mentioned, won the 2025 French Open. These women have demonstrated their dominance and dynamic skillset on every court this year.
The Men’s Side: Alcaraz v Sinner Heats Up
On the men’s side of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz just won his sixth Grand Slam against Jannik Sinner on Sunday, Sept. 7, earning him the spot of world number one. He defeated Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 42 minutes. This marks three consecutive finals, with these two men facing off against each other for the championship. Considering both of their exceptional athleticism and mentalities, it is likely that we will see more of the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry in the upcoming years.
At just 24 years of age, Sinner has had a historic year. An Italian tennis player with exceptional hard-court skills, Sinner made every slam final in 2025, making him the youngest man to do so. He beat Roger Federer’s 2006 record, when he played in every Slam final as a 25-year-old. Federer achieved this feat again at 26 and 28. Sinner also becomes the 6th person, along with Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Mats Wilander and Rod Laver, to have more than 25 Grand Slam match wins in a season. He is now Italy’s most successful Grand Slam player, obtaining his fourth Slam title at this year’s Wimbledon; he defeated the record previously held by Nicola Pietrangeli, another Italian player who claimed two Grand Slam titles before the Open Era began. Alcaraz, a Spanish player with immense power and agility on the grass court, has also set many records this year. He became the first man to reach the US Open Final without dropping a set since Federer in 2015. He is also the youngest male singles player in the Open Era to win multiple Majors on all three surfaces, with two clay court Roland-Garros titles, two grass court Wimbledon titles and now two hard court US Open titles. In a postmatch interview following his win on Sunday evening, Alcaraz said to Sinner, “I see you more than my family. It’s great to share the court, to share the locker room, to share everything with you. Watching you improve every day, working really hard with your team.”
The Next Big Three?
With Sinner’s and Alcaraz’s success in Grand Slams, and their backto-back showdowns, there’s no doubt that this is the era of Sinner versus Alcaraz, mirroring 2003-2008, famously remembered as the era of Federer versus Nadal. Due to their continuous back-to-back Grand Slams in the 2000s, it was nearly impossible for another player to measure up. Then, in 2007, Djokovic entered the court, reaching the US Open finals, but ultimately losing to Federer. Soon after, Djokovic beat Federer, winning the 2008 Australian Open and marking the beginning of the so-called “Big Three” of men’s tennis. Between 2003 and 2023, the Big Three won 66 of the 83 Grand Slam titles.
In the past two years, all eight Grand Slam titles were claimed by either Alcaraz or Sinner. If Sinner and Alcaraz are the next Nadal and Federer, it brings the question of who will complete the new Big Three. Just like Djokovic entered the leagues in 2008, who will enter and become the next big player as Djokovic starts to step down? Their young age indicates that they can shape the next decade of tenis Jakub Mensik, or Ben Shelton,
BRANDEIS SOCCER PHOTO STORY
The Brandeis womens' soccer team defeats Rhode Island College, p. 11.
The 2025 F1 rookies start their season
■ The Formula One season kicks off with a number of rookie drivers making their mark on the sport.
By ELIZABETH LIU JUSTICE ASSOCIATE EDITOR
As the Formula One season is more than halfway done and the drivers have dusted off their helmets from the summer break, now is as good a time as ever to take a look at how all the rookies are doing after their first 16 races.
After Lewis Hamilton shocked the world in February 2024 by joining Scuderia Ferrari HP after 12 years with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, the F1 world was brimming with anticipation to see who would fill that empty seat he left behind. It was later announced in August 2024 that then 18- year old Italian F2 driver Kimi Antonelli would join George Russell at Mercedes. With high expectations on the rookie to perform well for the championship contending team, Antonelli has proved that their trust in him was not misplaced. At just 18 years and 251 days old, he became the youngest pole winner after qualifying first during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race. Although he could not convert his pole position to a podium finish in Miami, Antonelli found himself in third after overtaking Oscar Piastri on the opening lap of the Canadian Grand Prix weeks later. He was able to maintain his position for a podium place finish, making him the third-youngest of all time to do so.
Racking up 66 points over the season so far, it is no surprise that Antonelli has found himself eighth in the Driver’s Championship, highest among his fellow rookies.
Another rookie that had lots of discourse surrounding their entry into F1 as a full time driver was Oliver “Ollie” Bearman. Bearman had previously been pulled up from F2 for a singular race after then-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had to sit out due to appendicitis last year. Bearman impressed everyone by finishing seventh after just one practice session with the car. His reliability showed through when later in the same season Bearman subbed in for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen, outqualifying his Haas teammate Nico Hülkenburg and scoring a point for yet another F1 team in the process. Returning to Haas as a full time driver for the 2025 season, Bearman has continued to show consistency, tying the all-time F1 record for most consecutive finishes in a position other than first by finishing in P11 for four straight races. The British driver is coming off of a personal best finish of P6 at the Dutch Grand Prix and totals 16 points, with room to improve for the rest of the season. Similar to Bearman, Jack Doohan also previously raced in F1 last season before becoming a full time driver for BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team. During the last race of the 2024 season, Alpine benched driver Esteban Ocon in favor of Doohan who was the team’s reserve driver at the time. Doohan’s grand prix debut gave him needed experience before the 2025 season, because as Doohan was promoted and given a seat, Alpine also signed a multi-year contract with Franco Colapinto who would become the team’s new reserve
driver. Colapinto had raced for Williams in nine grand prix races in the 2024 season, giving Alpine the perfect backup candidate if Doohan couldn’t perform early on.
Unfortunately, after only the first six races of the season, Doohan failed to score any points and crashed out twice. Alpine later announced on May 7, 2025 that Doohan would lose his seat to Colapinto, who would start in the seventh round. Many called the switch harsh, with his fellow rookies coming to Doohan’s defense saying, “It feels quite unfair, because six races in, he didn't have much time to show anything, and it's not that he had a rocket ship as well.” Despite an early exit, Doohan’s F1 career is far from over as he remains Alpine’s first choice reserve driver.
Having never previously driven in an F1 car before, Gabriel Bortoleto’s rise into the spotlight came from his position as the reigning F2 champion in 2024 after winning the F3 championship just the previous year. Bortoleto joins good company as this feat had only been achieved in recent years by George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc — all of whom are in the top five driver’s standings as of now. Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber signed Bortoleto along with Hülkenburg for the 2025 season, pairing the experienced veteran to help guide a talented rookie. Bortoleto has surprised everyone though by outqualifying his teammate 10-6 and reaching Q3 a total of four times in the past six races in the car people call the “green tractor.” His good qualifying results have translated to promising race results too, with a personal best P6 in Hungary and gaining a total of 18 points. This upward
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
TENNIS COURT: The crowd gathers in New York City to watch the US Open. TENNIS
Photos: Bryan Wolfe/The Justice. Design: Skye Entwood/The Justice.
Waltham, Mass.
Fall Festivities: Fun oF Brandeis and Boston
By MIKEY TERRENZI JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Hello everyone! I would like to welcome you back to campus and to another semester of amazing arts and culture experiences. Whether this is your first semester or you are a returning student, you should always be aware of the cultural and artistic events happening in and around your community. Do not miss opportunities to enjoy yourself and to best support the works of others.
While we all adjust to our new classes, there are big things happening that can ease the stress of your busy schedule. First, this Wednesday, Sept. 10 will be the Fall Celebration at the Rose Art Museum, dedicated to welcoming the incoming class of 2029 and celebrating the Rose’s work this past year. If you arrive before the 6 p.m. opening, there will also be a catered barbecue at 12:30 to 2 p.m. on the Spingold Lawn! The Rose has two exhibitions, opened in August, that will close in the winter: “Fred Wilson: Reflections” and “Danielle McKinney: Tell Me More,” open on Aug. 4 2025 to Jan. 4 2026. Both of these exhibitions are on view at the Rose and are spectacular.
If you would like to visit a museum off campus but still want to take full advantage of your Brandeis student status, I would highly recommend checking out the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as all Brandeis students get free admission to the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions shown there.
Besides the MFA’s incredible permanent collection and newly renovated halls, there are two parts of this museum I recommend. First, the Japanese garden, Tenshin-en and the Calderwood Courtyard are lesser visited parts of the museum, but make excellent green spaces and cute hangout spots. Second, a favorite exhibition of mine will be running through Sept. 28 at the MFA: “Qi Baishi: Inspiration in Ink.” Qi Baishi (1864-1957) is an amazing Chinese artist whose works stun and stupefy. Subtle complexities of ink on paper bring the quotidian to stark dynamic calligraphic movements. His works are a fantastic representation of Chinese modernism, with stark juxtaposition between bright colors and dark ink. This exhibition is a chance to see works on loan from the Beijing Fine Arts Academy here in Boston. I would not miss the opportunity to see an artist’s beautiful work a shuttle ride away before they leave for China at the end of the month.
However, if you have been to the MFA already this month and want something different this upcoming season, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will be showing the “Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory” exhibition which opens Oct. 14. This exhibition will show 20th-century Boston through the eyes of an amazing African-American artist. Represent -
EXCELLENT EXHIBITIONS
ing the people of Boston, Crite combines religious imagery along with the neighborhoods of Boston to present a reimagined divine Boston and the people themselves. The exhibition showcases neighborhoods we all have walked, seen and experienced, and is one that will be a welcome introduction to our incoming students who are not from the area. I hope you all benefit from the beautiful cultural events in and around Boston this year.
V an G o G h , V an G o G hin G , V an G one
By MAEVE COAKLEY JUSTICE ARTS EDITOR
I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s “Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits” exhibit just before it closed on Sunday, Sept. 7. The exhibition was an in-depth look into Vincent Van Gogh’s relationship with the art of portraiture, the Roulin family and his struggle with mental illness during the last years of his life. It featured 23 different Van Gogh works, both owned by the Museum of Fine Arts and works on loan, along with formative portraits from previous Dutch masters, Japanese woodblock prints and letters sent to Van Gogh from Joseph Roulin. Curated altogether, the exhibit showcased Van Gogh’s portraiture of the Roulin family and painted a tender portrait of the artist himself. The exhibit was a look into what he admired about other artists and art forms, how he brought those inspirations into his art and his deeply important relationships with his family and friends.
The exhibit began by situating the visitor within the town of Arles in Southern France, Van Gogh’s home from 1888-1889, where he painted the Roulin portraits. Included among the artworks was a map that depicted places important to Van Gogh while he resided there, including the location of his home, the Roulin’s home and the hospital he would later stay at while he struggled with his mental health. The exhibit also included a plywood mockup of Van Gogh’s studio space constructed according to scalefeet and ceiling height, information pulled from surviving floor plans as the original space was destroyed during World War II. Visitors were invited to step inside and imagine the space as it was typically occupied: full of easels, art supplies, at least one artist (but likely two), and a sitting model.
The exhibit introduced portraiture as being important to Van Gogh for two closely related reasons. The first is that, portraiture was a way to create and depict people who would live on after him, as he was unable to start a family the way he wished. The second was the admiration he held for the portraits created by Dutch artists like Frans Hals, Rembrandt van Rijn and Adriaen van Ostade. Each of these artists had works featured in museums that stuck in Van Gogh’s mind after seeing them; he remembered them fondly and in incredible detail. Van Gogh’s love for these artists and their portrait work is evidenced in the first portrait on display in the exhibit, “Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888” (Oil on canvas).
“Postman, Joseph Roulin, 1888” was painted early on in what would later become a very close friendship between Van Gogh and Roulin. The simple portrait of Roulin seated in a green chair adjoining a green table is awash with vivid color, ,from the bright blue of the background to the royal blue of Roulin’s uniform and yellow and rosy tones that make up the postman’s face. Though Roulin’s pose is somewhat awkward and stiff, the portrait is still striking. He gazes out at the viewer impassively but somehow the setting still feels intimate. Van Gogh’s signature textured brushwork is on display in this portrait as well.
The painting clearly takes inspiration from Frans Hals’ “Merry Drinker” (about 1628-1630) also painted with oil on canvas, which was also on display in the Museum of Fine Arts exhibit. The rose of Roulin’s round cheeks is reminiscent of the face of the man in “Merry Drinker,” and in Van Gogh’s compositional sketch of the same portrait, he included a glass on the table by Roulin’s elbow (this sketch was also on display). Van Gogh also referred to Roulin as a “drinker” in letters to his brother Theo. Taken together, the exhibit provides a clear view of the way that the art Van Gogh admired influenced his own works; he was eager to emulate another artist’s work that he deeply loved.
The next part of the exhibit examined the close friendship Van Gogh had with the Roulin family and displayed the portraits he did of each family member together as a set. Of the
twenty-six portraits Van Gogh painted of the five Roulin family members, fourteen were on display as part of the exhibition. During the 19th century, portraiture was an art reserved for members of the upper class, so for Van Gogh to have depicted a working class family at all, let alone several times over, was especially unique. It reveals that not only did Van Gogh truly covet the chance to do portrait work, but he held deep affection for the sitters as well. Each composition was done several times over so that the Roulin family could be compensated for their time with the portrait, Van Gogh might have a copy for himself and he might send a copy to his brother Theo, the art dealer in Paris. Van Gogh’s portrait “Camille Roulin” (1888) effortlessly captures the qualities of 11-year-old Camille, Roulin’s youngest son. Camille’s bright blue eyes are downcast, away from the viewer, portraying the slight shyness that seems inherent to childhood. The bright green of Camille’s coat and the blue of his round hat pop against the portrait’s yellow background. Van Gogh’s short brush strokes bring life and texture to the subject. Additionally, the museum hung each of the four portraits in this part of the exhibit on deep purple walls which made Van Gogh’s characteristic vivid colors pop all the more.
Adjacent to Camille’s portrait was Van Gogh’s portrait of Roulin’s elder son titled “Armand Roulin (1888, oil on canvas).” Armand portrays another classic aspect of adolescence: teenage angst. When the portrait was painted, Armand was 17 and had just begun working as a blacksmith, teetering on the brink between adolescence and adulthood. Armand is dressed more formally than his younger brother. He wears a large black coat, white undershirt, neck tie and a large black hat. Van Gogh opted for a rich green background, to bring out the green of Armand’s eyes which are also downcast and turned away from the viewer, much like his younger brother, though Armand appears almost in profile. The gaze of Armand’s eyes, his slouched shoulders and somewhat downturned expression come together to make a picture of a teenager’s sullen distance.
Also on display was “Madame Roulin and Her Baby (1888, oil on canvas),” a portrait of Augustine Roulin and newborn Marcelle Roulin. Marcelle is undoubtedly the portrait’s focus, she is centered in the frame, her round face is paler and pinker than that of the other Roulins. She too wears a cap, though hers is white. Underneath peaks out one tuft of yellow hair, which matches the portrait’s bright background. Marcelle is held aloft by her mother who occupies the right side of the painting, her green dress contrasting Marcelle’s bright white gown. Augustine’s face is in profile as she gazes intently down at her daughter. Her blonde hair, pulled back in a bun, is one of the most textured parts of the portrait. Though Augustine’s features are less defined, you can almost see the resemblance between mother and daughter.
The final portrait in the set was my favorite, “Joseph Roulin (1889, oil on canvas).” Unlike the previously displayed portrait, this painting focuses solely on Roulin’s face, similarly to how his family members are depicted. Roulin appears in his blue postman uniform which again stands out against the predominantly green background. Though instead of keeping with a single solid color, Van Gogh layered the background with a floral design. Orange and green swirling stems with white and pink flowers, artfully accented leaves and dozens of little black ovals with white center dots filling in the gaps across the background create a dynamic and eye-catching scene. Dozens of visible brush strokes make up Roulin’s pale face with accented rosy cheeks, a significant aspect of Van Gogh’s impression of Roulin. Roulin’s beard is also more stylized in this portrait, brown with large swirls of yellow, blue and even green, creating a textured highlighted look that is characteristically Van Gogh.
The stylistic background of “Joseph Roulin” (1889), can be found in other Van Gogh portraits of the Roulin family such as “Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin Rocking a Cradle (La Berceuse) (1889, oil on canvas).” Van Gogh’s vivid floral backgrounds were likely inspired by the design of Japanese woodblock prints, which the artist closely admired and collected. His fondness for this particular type of art was mentioned several times throughout the exhibit, including earlier in the mockup studio which included a quote from one of Van Gogh’s letters to Theo where he mentioned ordering Japanese prints for decoration. Several prints were displayed in the exhibit, though they were not specifically ones Van Gogh had purchased and owned himself. Van Gogh also likely took inspiration from the calligraphic form of the prints, as evidenced by the composition sketch of the “Postman Joseph Roulin” portrait whose pen strokes and lines are extremely calligraphic in nature.
The exhibit did a fantastic job of building a narrative throughline surrounding Van Gogh and Roulin’s friendship; an entire room was dedicated to showcasing letters Roulin sent to Van Gogh and Van Gogh’s family during the most tumultuous time of Van Gogh’s life. Though Van Gogh’s side of the correspondence is lost, Roulin’s side remains to showcase the concern Roulin showed for his friend. He wrote Van Gogh letters of comfort and encouragement, often urging Van Gogh to continue painting and updating him about Roulin’s family. Also on display were letters Roulin wrote to Van Gogh’s brother Theo updating him about Van Gogh’s condition as he recovered in the hospital and later the asylum. During this time, Augustine Roulin’s face appeared in other Van Gogh works such as “The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) (1890, oil on canvas),” proof that Van Gogh was thinking of his dear friends despite their distance and time spent over a year apart.
The exhibit ended by showcasing the iconic “Self Portrait (1889, oil on canvas)” alongside uncredited gelatin silver prints (one of the earlier forms of photography) of the Roulin family later in life. This display neatly wrapped up the exhibition’s thesis surrounding Van Gogh’s relationship with Roulin and his family. Overall, the exhibit captured the way Van Gogh brought aspects of the artistic styles and people he loved into everything he did.
Design and Photo: MAEVE COAKLEY/The Justice.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
‘MAN’S BEST FRIEND:’ FAILED SATIRE OR SUBTLE GENIUS?
Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album, released on Aug. 29, has already sparked massive controversy due to its striking cover. “Man’s Best Friend” — Carpenter’s seventh studio album — walks the listeners through the phases of a toxic relationship including everything from the initial contempt to the final goodbye. Co-produced by Jack Antonoff and John Ryan, this concept record delivers a unique blend of country-pop, disco-rock, synth and folky ballads, presenting a breath of fresh, 80s-inspired air that the world of pop music hasn’t seen in a while.
With this album, Carpenter took many risks by mixing different genres within singular songs and she exceeded expectations. The fusions from country to shoegaze worked together harmoniously in an unexpected, but wonderful manner. Each song was filled with a rich blend of playfulness, dreaminess and an eclectic quality. However, as a whole, the album felt disconnected musically and lyrically. Abruptly switching from genre to genre every few songs gave the project a disjointed feel, sounding more like a scattered playlist than a meticulously crafted album. That’s not to say that genre-hopping isn’t possible — Lady Gaga, Kali Uchis and Beyoncé are all artists who have successfully switched genres within a single album. Though what distinguishes said artists from Carpenter is their well-formulated storytelling through deep and emotional lyricism.
The lyricism of “Man’s Best Friend” falls short in comparison to her previous works. Although there is a cohesive storyline between songs that follows the journey of a toxic romantic and sexual relationship, the lyrics are shallow and the metaphors are painfully simple. I believe Carpenter was going for a satirical concept, but in comparison to her prior album — which was filled with thoughtful and deliberate lyrics — it’s underwhelming.
Each song is individually successful; they’re packed with catchy tunes, theatrical visuals and sublime vocals. The songs were filled with delightful and addictive melodies that will be going into my playlists, but as a whole album, it falls short. It’s clear that Carpenter’s genre-hopping is an attempt to represent the chaotic and raw nature of a toxic relationship, but in combination with the lackluster lyrics, the album feels empty.
In consideration of her most recent album, “Short n’ Sweet,” the purpose of “Man’s Best Friend” is unclear. Carpenter is in the middle of the “Short n’ Sweet” tour, so many fans thought that this album would be an extension
THEATER TRADITIONS
By ALICE NGUYEN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
of her prior project. Reddit user @flopheadsbot stated, “I love Sabrina but this album is just bad. SnS [Short n’ Sweet] was genius ... this album felt like an extension of SnS, but like the evening version.” Prior albums such as “Short n’ Sweet,” “Emails I Can’t Send,” “Singular: Act I” and “Singular: Act II” had brilliant songwriting and the songs felt more cohesive. So, the release of “Man’s Best Friend” on the heels of the success of “Short n’ Sweet” simply highlighted the work’s incoherent feel and shallow lyricism.
Immediately following the release, fans were quick to criticize the suggestive album cover. On the cover, Carpenter is seen kneeling on the floor reaching for an unknown man while he grabs her hair. Alongside her hypersexual lyrics, many condemned the album claiming that it’s antifeminist. In an interview with the British Broadcasting System, Carpenter responded saying, “Y’all need to get out more ... for what the album is, [the cover is] perfect.” She went on to say that her pose on the cover is supposed to represent a woman’s lack of control within a relationship and their want for more control.
It’s apparent that the album is supposed to make a mockery of the toxicity in relationships and the submissive role that women play. In each song, there’s a deep message of reliance on men and sex being the solution to all of her issues. Carpenter overplays this theme which crosses the line of satire into a failed joke. I believe that the mocking nature of the album would have landed if she had shifted her focus from men after the track “Never Getting Laid” or if her lyrics had more passion and more complex metaphors.
Another issue I had with this album was how half of the songs had very similar sounds, and I believe that this is due to her collaboration with producer Jack Antonoff. Prior to this project, Carpenter rarely struggled with repetitive songs — but we see a high volume of redundancy within this single album. This isn’t the only instance though. Taylor Swift has had a longstanding partnership with Antonoff and he’s had a similar effect on her music — stripping her of her unique sound and reusing the same formula for every track. I believe the same laziness is being applied to Carpenter, and hopefully she will regain her unique sound in the future.
Overall, this album was satisfactory. Although songs like “Manchild,” “Go Go Juice,” “My Man on Willpower” and more were extremely repetitive, they allowed the songs that didn’t follow that formula to be highlighted. My per -
sonal favorites were “Sugar Talking,” “We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night” and “When Did You Get So Hot?” because they strayed away from the recurring sound. Although the album didn’t properly showcase Carpenter’s artistic and storytelling ability, it made for individually catchy tunes that I’m positive will accumulate immense success. I hope to see Carpenter recapture her talented songwriting abilities, and I’m excited to see what she will release next.
TradiTion ConTinues
By SOPHIA GARCIA JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Brandeis’ 25-year-old tradition, the 24 Hour Musical, is a staple in the life of any Brandeis student. This fun and comedic production, where undergraduates have 24 hours to learn and perform lines and songs from classic musicals, is completely student-run and performed. The Undergraduate Theater Collective, the largest student-led organization on campus, is in charge of making sets, costumes and auditioning actors and actresses alike. The 2025 performance was no exception with their rendition of the musical Cinderella, written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and directed by Connor Papantony ‘26 and Vivi Cao ‘26. The show starred Natalie Conklin ‘29 and Luke Benanav ‘29 as Cinderella and Topher. Just like every Cinderella story, this musical was comedic, witty and had its happily ever after. Other notable performances were Sasha Lintovska ‘29 as Madame, Alex Raskin ‘29 as Marie and Kieran van Hooser ‘29 as Jean Michele.
What many find a highlight of the 24 Hour Musical is the audience participation and encouragement of actors and characters. Cinderella had the audience cheering her on as she went on her journey through the kingdom to find her true prince. Additionally, you could feel the love the Undergraduate Theater Collective had for one another and their work. From choreographers cheering in the front row to helping actors remember lines and even moving props, this show, at its core, has community. For many actors, it is their first time on the stage, and with its no-cut policy, the 24 Hour Musical gives everyone a home. “The show was utter chaos. It was so much fun, and working with the cast and crew was amazing. At the end of the day, everyone is so supportive of one another,” said Unique Zhang ’29.
This support is felt from the moment you sit in your seats right up until the moment the curtains close. Cinderella, like many of the Undergraduate Theater Collective shows, was sold out, and the screening area outside the theater was packed as well. What really makes the show magical is the love and support of fellow Brandeis students who can’t wait to cheer on their classmates. You can feel this vibration of community throughout the show and the pride that these students take in their work.
The 24 Hour Musical is one of the best Brandeis traditions, and a great kick-off to the new school year. When you consider the fact that students have 24 hours from the reveal of what they are to perform to actually performing on stage for an audience, the 24 Hour Musical is a daunting task. Consequently, the Undergraduate Theater Collective leaves many in the student body empowered — both those on stage and those in the audience — truly making this a one-of-a-kind experience. It is no wonder that students and staff look forward to this quite silly, but community-driven event every year. But, until next season, the 24 Hour Musical curtains are closed, and the last bows have been taken.
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS. BRYAN WOLFE/The Justice
Top Ten STAFF’S
Top 10 First Week of Class Icebreakers
By IYLA LICHTENFELD JUSTICE NEWS EDITOR
1. Two truths and a lie (all lies).
2. Two truths and a lie (regular).
3. What’s your name?
4. Would you rather...
5. What are you studying/what’s your major?
6. Tell me the best thing you did this summer.
7. What’s your name? Let me know if I pronounce it correctly. (They won’t).
8. What year are you?
9. Give me a fun fact about yourself.
SUDOKU
By NEMMA KALRA JUSTICE DEPUTY EDITOR
