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The Justice unanimously elected Gilda Geist ’22 editor in chief for the 2020-2021 academic year on a Zoom call on Aug. 16. Geist presented her vision for the paper’s future, reflected on the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic and answered questions from Justice editors and staff before being voted EIC.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the health and safety of communities across the globe, Brandeis welcomed students back to campus with a number of new protocols in place to prevent the spread of the virus and keep students and staff healthy. On Tuesday, Aug. 25, President Ron Liebowitz, along with other administrators, hosted a virtual check-in for students and their families in order to answer questions about the fall semester. “We are very confident about the plan we have put in place,” Liebowitz said.
Following the first Sankofa Community Conversation held in December 2017, the University’s Sankofa event series has continued to promote intimate and critical conversations surrounding social justice, race and ethnicity. On June 2 and 3, the Heller School for Social Policy and Management's Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity hosted a virtual Sankofa Community Conference titled “Co-Constructing Racial Justice through Life and Work.”
In early March, Brandeis students were invited to participate in a decision that would affect student life at the University for years to come. With COVID-19 only beginning to impact campus operations, presentations from four dining vendors competing to earn the next University dining contract took center stage March 4 and 5. Yet in the chaos that ensued in the next weeks, the debate over the future of Brandeis dining fell to the background. According to the Dining Services Request for Proposals website, a new dining contract was supposed to be awarded in April and was set to begin on July 1, but amid the disruption caused by COVID-19, no such announcement has been made. The Justice examined where that leaves the RFP process and the current state of Brandeis dining services for students still on campus.
Due to the cancellation of the May 17 in-person Commencement ceremony because of COVID-19, the University administration decided to host virtual mini celebrations to honor graduating students. While an in-person Commencement will still take place in the future, the virtual celebrations are meant to pay tribute to students’ “hard work and achievement” while at Brandeis, according to the University’s website.
In an email sent May 1, University President Ron Liebowitz updated the Brandeis community on the mission of the COVID-19 Task Force and how the University will be moving forward with plans for both the remainder of this school year and reopening campus in the fall.
The Student Union’s spring elections will be postponed until the Fall 2020 semester, according to an April 23 email to the community from Union President Simran Tatuskar ’21. This includes the race for Union president.
Wrapping up a year of innovative projects and unprecedented challenges, the Student Union delivered its annual State of the Union address virtually in a collection of videos and transcripts emailed to the Brandeis community on Monday. Members of the Union Executive Board and heads of the Union’s five branches shared their accomplishments, how they responded to the COVID-19 crisis and their plans for the future.
Student organizers from the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, the Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis, the Gender and Sexuality Center, the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center and Students Talking About Relationships sponsored the annual Take Back the Night event April 23. The event, which usually occurs towards the end of April, explained organizer Becky Schwartz ’20, took place online after the campus shut down in early March. Initially a way to raise awareness about the dangers women face when walking alone at night, the event “has evolved into a transnational movement … to raise awareness for commonplace campus sexual violence,” co-organizer Alison Hagani ’22 explained in an April 27 email to the Justice.
What started off as the parents of Brandeis students talking in a group chat eventually turned into a donation of 30,000 one-time use surgical masks to Massachusetts General Hospital and 4,500 one-time use surgical masks to Newton-Wellesley Hospital. With worry surrounding mask shortages spreading across the United States, parents decided to do their part in helping the University and its surrounding community.
University Provost Lisa Lynch will remain in her position through December to help guide the University through the COVID-19 pandemic, delaying her planned transition to teaching at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
Given the financial uncertainty institutions are facing as a result of the coronavirus, the University is taking specific steps to respond to the emerging economic situation, according to a March 30 address from University President Ron Liebowitz.
DEMOCRACY IN THE US: State and local government members gathered in Rapaporte Treasure Hall on Monday, March 9, to discuss democracy and voter engagement in the American democratic process.
RAPIDLY CHANGING SITUATION: University President Ron Leibowitz, whose office is housed in Bernstein Marcus, sent updates to the Brandeis community as the COVID-19 threat expanded.
In response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the University has moved its classes online and required that students who live on campus leave by Wednesday, instead of the previous date of March 25, University President Ron Liebowitz announced in an email on Monday.
The International Center of Ethics, Justice and Public Life hosted a panel, “Voting and Democracy in 2020 and Beyond,” on Monday, March 9 in Rapaporte Treasure Hall. The panelists were Boston city councilor Lydia Edwards, Massachusetts State Sen. Becca Rausch ’01 and Ethics Center Board chair John Shattuck. Scheduled panelist and mayor of Framingham Yvonne Spicer was unable to attend due to complications relating to COVID-19. Former Rep. Jay Kaufman ’68, MA ’73 (D-MA) moderated the event.
For the past 72 years, Time Magazine has named a “Man of the Year.” Beginning in 1999, women were allowed to hold this title when Time broadened its parameters to “Person of the Year.” However, women were still largely unrepresented in these issues — only 11 women were featured, and three women were named Woman of the Year prior to the 1999 change.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
In the Senate’s first meeting since the University’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, senators discussed the Union’s response to “uncertainty” surrounding communications from the administration and how they could help students who will remain on campus.
Several local St. Patrick’s Day parades have been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, including parades in South Boston, Worcester, Holyoke and on Scituate St. and Newport St., according to a March 12 Wicked Local Waltham article.