A controversial column printed in the Oct. 21 edition of the Justice sparked an uproar on campus last week, ultimately resulting in the resignation of three editors. According to a campus-wide e-mail University President Jehuda Reinharz sent on Oct. 22, the column contained, "what can only be interpreted as insensitive and racist remarks."

Former columnist Daniel Passner '06, who declined to comment for this article, wrote the column in question, "Dusty Baker Exposed," in which he quoted a reference to Baker, manager of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, using derogatory language.

"The only thing Baker has a Ph.D. in is something that starts with an N and rhymes with Tigger, the cheerful scamp who stole all of our hearts in the Winnie the Pooh series," the quote read.

Passner attributed this quote to Joseph Shmulewitz '06. Passner's previous columns have cited Shmulewitz on other occasions.

Shmulewitz said that he had not been interviewed for the Oct. 21 column, nor had he been interviewed by Passner for any previous article.

"My initial response was the same as everyone else's - surprise, shock," Shmulewitz said. "I was just as shocked to see those comments but even more so because my name was near them. I was shocked because my name preceded the quote."

According to Student Union Executive Officer Adam Herman '04, the Union government first received word of the incident late last Tuesday evening after a prescheduled meeting with the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO), held for an entirely separate reason. Shortly thereafter, at a regularly scheduled Union Executive Board meeting, Herman said that the Union "decided to get in touch with Dan (Passner) and to continue dialogue with the BBSO."

At the time Passner was a Union senator representing Rosenthal Quad.

Herman said Passner resigned from his position as Rosenthal Quad Senator at approximately 3:40 a.m. Wednesday after consulting with members of the Union government. By Wednesday evening, Passner had also resigned from his capacity as a columnist at the Justice.

Over the course of the week, individuals, officials and members representing various Brandeis groups and organizations conducted a number of discussions and communications concerning the appropriate course of action.

A post on the Student Union Web site dated Oct. 24 stated: "Throughout the past 72 hours, members of the Student Union Executive Office have engaged in dialogue with many concerned student groups, the Brandeis Black Students Organization, the Intercultural Center organizations, the Justice, Senior Vice President Jean Eddy, Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer and the student representatives to the Board of Trustees."

Reinharz's response to the incident on Wednesday afternoon came in the form of a community wide e-mail. "I expect the highest level of student journalism and commentary from our paper," Reinharz wrote, "and knowing that at least three student editors found no concern with the offensive lines presented by the author stuns me."

Justice Editor-in-Chief Stephen Heyman '06 said he deeply regretted the "tragic error" of the editorial board in failing to recognize the inappropriate content of Passner's column. Heyman said he would resign as editor-in-chief with the completion of this issue.

Heyman traced the events of Oct. 20, during which the newspaper was produced electronically for the following day.

"The sports editor received a column by Dan Passner late Monday night. He neglected to read it," Heyman said. "He put it into layout. He printed out a proof which was then given to a copy editor-in-training. The copy editor-in-training then identified the inflammatory comments in the column ... but he neglected to inform either the sports editor or the editor-in-chief about it, and he handed the proof back to the sports editor, (who) gave it to his assistant, who overlooked the note (the copy editor-in-training) made, and it went to press."

Heyman said that he himself did not read the column in question.

Rob Siegel '04, who had been sports editor, submitted a letter of resignation to the Justice last Saturday. Siegel, too, said he felt remorse for the incident and its consequences at a public forum organized by the paper's editorial board last Thursday night.

Siegel spoke before the several hundred in attendance. "What happened on Monday night was a tragedy," he said. "It was horrible ... it was insensitive. It was racist. I'm sorry, it was a horrible mistake."

At the time of the forum, Siegel said he would not resign from his position.

Later, in an interview, Siegel offered an explanation for the printing of the column in its entirety.

"That Monday night we had eight to nine articles in the sports section," Siegel said. "Dan (Passner) sent his article in late and it wasn't read till about 10 or 11. It was the last one to be read of the sports articles and I remember reading at least half of it.

"The point I want to make is that I didn't consciously want to leave it in," Siegel added. "It went to the copy editor and all the comments made were given to my assistant because at that point, my role was kind of finished. Maybe because Dan has written for so long or because it wasn't made a big deal of when my assistant read it."

Passner's quotation was identified as inflammatory by the paper's copy editor-in-training, Ben Freed '06. Freed said his role in the editorial system is to read articles and submissions after they have been read by the section editors and Heyman. In his review of articles and columns, Freed said he edited for grammar, punctuation, style, form and clarity, and would at times make layout notes. After reading Passner's column, Freed said he "immediately realized the potential gravity of (Passner's comments), circled the column, and wrote a note to Rob Siegel ... I had no idea that he or his assistant or that eventually Steve (Heyman) would miss my comment."

"I've been kicking myself all week for not being more vocal ... about Passner's comment," Freed added. "I realize I should have said something."

BBSO DEMANDS FOR THE JUSTICE
BBSO made a list of demands with which it said the editorial staff was to comply in order to confirm the Justice's accountability for its actions.

Heyman said the demands consisted of Passner and Siegel either resigning or being fired, the printing of a front-page apology from the Justice and a front-page response letter from BBSO in the issue directly following Oct. 21. According to a representative from BBSO at last Sunday's regularly scheduled senate meeting, BBSO set a deadline of Oct. 22 at 8:00 p.m. for the meeting of these demands.

The Justice did not meet any of BBSO's demands by the deadline.

After the initial deadline had passed, BBSO additionally demanded the resignation of Heyman as editor-in-chief.

Concerning Heyman and the other editors' resignations, Alana Hamlett, president of BBSO, said, "The people in the Justice were irresponsible for what was published, and these are people who I don't feel should be running our school newspaper because they don't represent us."

Heyman and the editorial board initially resisted the demand for Heyman's resignation, stating publicly Heyman was the best-qualified student for the position and that there had been no other student willing to pursue his role.

At last Sunday night's senate meeting, Andrew Meyerson '04, co-photography editor of the Justice, defended the editorial board's desire for Heyman to retain his position, fearing the future of the newspaper otherwise.

"Because this was done with no malicious intent whatsoever, it should not be taken further," Meyerson said. "It's counterproductive."

The editorial board additionally stated that it would extend the deadline for BBSO letter submission to Thursday if BBSO would drop its demand for Heyman to step down.

Heyman and Siegel met with Reinharz last Friday to discuss the situation at hand and possible courses of action. Heyman said Reinharz encouraged them both to resign at that point.

"The president was very understanding, and he urged us to do what was best for the community," Heyman said. He stressed that the Justice is an independent student newspaper and that he had no control over what we did, that he's not going to attempt to implement any of our decisions as to what we thought the appropriate response was."

Heyman resigned from his position as editor-in-chief at approximately 9:00 p.m. Thursday evening, to go into effect immediately following the publication of today's issue.

"I resigned only to appease the forces in the community that were besieging the Justice," Heyman said. "Hopefully with my resignation, the community will begin to heal."

"I think people are angry not because these reprehensible sentiments were printed by mistake in the Justice but because they exist in our community," Heyman said just prior to his resignation. "And while the Justice can atone for screwing up and printing something that should have never been printed, we should not be held accountable for any kind of greater racial tension in the University."

As no agreement had been reached, the editorial board began preparing to go to press last Monday night to print on Tuesday. At approximately 1 a.m, BBSO staged a demonstration outside the Justice's office. Representatives of the group said they took this action because the production date had not been changed, and their statement would not have been included.

"I was proud of the fact that students came together to get what they want," Hamlett said. "We didn't want the newspaper printed until Friday."

The COMMUNITY'S REACTION
Passner's column sparked debates and protests all over campus, and people began pointing fingers at who was to blame.

Shmulewitz was enraged by the column's appearance in the Justice. "I am upset ... at Passner and shocked at his bastardization of a line taken completely out of context," Shmulewitz said. "Being interviewed is part of journalistic integrity, and I was never interviewed ... I am really sorry that this whole thing happened and I am very sorry that people were hurt. I honestly didn't want to hurt anyone by having been badly misquoted like this."

"I am not a racist in the slightest," Shmulewitz added. "To see this quote butchered and misquoted so inaccurately in what is a big issue is completely shocking."

The editorial board held a panel on Oct. 23 in order for the Brandeis community to communicate its questions and concerns regarding the incident, according to various editorial board members.

"We have to realize that a forum like this is meant to bring the campus together," Paul Kandel '06 said at the forum.

As a statement of protest, when Siegel stood up to speak, members of BBSO and their supporters staged a walkout.

In light of this action, Class of 2007 senator Mark Sandburg '07 said, "I ask that the Brandeis community recognize that there is a large enough rift that these four rows of people felt the need to walk out tonight."

"There was a severe breach in the trust that is put into our school newspaper, and that caused a group of students to walk out because they were uncomfortable," said Union President Joshua Brandfon '05. "I want the students to feel like they can comfortably engage in dialogue."

"I think these forums should continue on a regular basis and there has to be a lot more self-initiative on both sides," Jocelyn Berger '04 said. "This has to go beyond tokenism. This has to be a legitimate change."

This incident was not the first time students complained of racist speech in campus media. Two years ago, "The Men's Room," a show on WBRS, offended many on campus. A controversy erupted when the hosts of the show sang an "Ode to Asian Strippers" on air.

"It's an interesting pattern that the biggest hate incidents have been through the campus media, so something structurally has to be done," Berger said.

Passner himself has a long history of including racist remarks in his columns. A case in point is his column in the Sept. 16 issue of the Justice, titled "The Art of Selig Bashing," in which, according to Professor Jacob Cohen (AMST), "he used the same language as the Nazis did when they referred to Jews in terms of diseases as a way of describing Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who himself is a Jew."

In that issue, Passner continued further to say that "if the Third Reich were making Der Sturmer today, there is no doubt that Allen 'Bud' Selig would be on the cover." He followed this comment in the next paragraph by comparing Selig to Yasser Arafat.

"Upon reading the article and after reading a letter of apology to community members, in which the writer told what his intentions were not, I am left wondering what his intentions were," Professor Georgiary McElveen (MUS) said. "And that is the crux of my reaction to the column - questions about intentionality. This column leaves me wondering what I am to make of the intentions of the writer, the newspaper and, by extension, the University. What am I being asked to swallow in the name of community at Brandeis? Without a doubt, every member of this community is being asked to swallow a lot."

"This article went beyond bad taste and entered the territory of politicized prejudice," Professor Ibrahim Sundiata (HIST) said. "I am glad that the administration, the student government and the Justice have taken action."

JUSTICE ALUMNI EVENT
The Brandeis University Justice Alumni Organization held an event Saturday that served as a second forum for students to speak about the column. The keynote speaker for the Fall Fest Justice Reunion was Merry Firschein '87, a Brandeis alumna and former Justice staff member. Firschein, who has served in numerous journalistic editorial and reporting capacities since her graduation, currently resides in New Jersey and writes features for The Record, a newspaper based in Hackensack, N.J.

Firschein spoke about "Ethics in Journalism" to an audience of more than 100 students, parents and other community members.

Many members of BBSO attended the event and occupied much of the first few rows.

One student commented on how the failure to identify and prevent the use of language such as what was employed in Passner's column results in a complete loss of faith and trust in the Justice as a newspaper.

In terms of how similar situations would be approached in the professional arena, Firschein said, "I can't imagine that happening at a newspaper. I really can't. There are words that don't go in newspapers, and that is one of them."

Firschein added, "(The editor-in-chief is) the one who has to take responsibility. If I make a mistake ... he would have to take the fall."

STUDENT GOVERNMENT RESPONDS
As soon as its leaders had received word of the inflammatory comments printed in the Justice, the Union government got involved in the situation.

Following the forum coordinated by the Justice last Thursday, the senate held a special five-hour meeting in order to draft a resolution that would be presented and approved at its regular meeting on Sunday.

After nearly five hours of "Communications" on Sunday, during which members of BBSO, the Justice editorial board, senators, concerned representatives of other groups and individuals spoke out about the proper approach to remedying the situation and addressing racism on campus. Much of the debate revolved around what steps the Justice should take in order to satisfy the needs of BBSO and the entire community.

"It is important to have a student newspaper that represents all groups and people on campus," Hamlett said. "There must be a new bridge built between the Justice and the ICC."

According to representatives from BBSO, a compromise was nearly reached between the former organization and former Justice senior editor Matthew Bettinger '05, who resigned for personal reasons later Sunday night

The compromise would have allowed for the resigning of Heyman for the duration of one year, after which he would be able to return as editor-in-chief. BBSO would then resume fostering a working relationship with the Justice. Bettinger said he ultimately did not have the authority to make this kind of decision, while others said the failure of possible compromise jeopardized renewed possibility for trust and cooperation with the Justice.

Following a closed executive session, the senate passed its resolution by a vote of 15 to 6 in favor. The resolution acknowledged the insensitivity and wrongfulness of the column's remarks, recognizing them as "a direct attack upon the black community at Brandeis University" and as an "indirect attack on all racial minority students, the Intercultural Center, and the general student body, and recognizes the full right of students to react."

It also acknowledged the measures members of the Justice said the organization was prepared to take in order to improve its editorial process and resolve the situation.

Among a number of recommendations, the resolution resolved that the senate request the resignation of editorial board members responsible for the situation and additionally advocate actions taken to "regain a high level of journalistic integrity."

It also encouraged the establishment of a "liaison" and the fostering of a strong relationship between the Justice and the ICC. It also cited parts of the "Rights and Responsibilities" handbook that pertained to the issue.

Class of 2005 Senator Mitchel Balsam participated in the original drafting of the resolution, yet voted against it in its finality because of the resignation clause.

"Stephen (Heyman) is just a guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time," Balsam said.

Class of 2007 Senator Chris Allison '07 voted in favor of the resolution.

"The Justice editorial staff, they screwed up," Allison said. "When they are put in charge of a paper read by 3,100 undergraduate students ... that's a great responsibility, and when something goes wrong, there should be a show of responsibility."



THE FUTURE OF THE JUSTICE
Various groups and individuals on campus said they foresee different solutions to what the community has recently encountered. Changes proposed are those of hierarchical proportions as well as structural changes in the Justice's editorial process.

Students addressed possible solutions to the situation at the Sunday's senate meeting. Some suggested that measures be taken to taper funding for the Justice through constitutional amendments. Others recommended that outside advisers oversee the actions of the Justice's editorial board on a regular basis.

Alan Tannenwald '05 said the Justice should hire a professional external adviser. He also recommended that there be several editors reviewing the articles so that in the end, each article would be read. Tannenwald's said also that the editorial board should "undergo serious training for all your editors and staff members."

Justice Associate Editor Jeremy Hamburgh '04 enumerated the following steps that the Justice will consider as a means of reform. First, he announced the coming "codification of the chain of command" in which each article would be read six times before it went into print. It would go before the section editor, the copy editor, the editor-in-chief, and a second time in the same sequence.

Second, the Justice would implement office hours following every editor's last class on Monday.

Third, the Justice would appoint an ombudsman to act as a "liaison" between the student body and the newspaper.

Fourth, if a writer misses a deadline, the writer's article would be cut from that week's issue.

According to Hamburgh, these possible measures would begin to repair the relationship between the students and their newspaper as well as a means to prevent oversights from happening again.

Former Union president Ben Brandzel '03 attended Sunday's senate meeting. "The issue here is that there has been a phenomenal breach of trust that has been experienced deeply and personally as a betrayal," he said. "So no resolution will ever be sufficient until all parties believe or see that it will be sufficient.