Benjamin "Min" Moldover '07 admitted full responsibility Saturday for posting a flier around campus last week following Daniel Pipes' visit that mocked a "one thought at a time campaign" by Student Union and Coordinator of Diversity Nathanial Mays. Moldover's flier read: "There are 6.5 million Muslim-Americans in the United States comprised of African-Americans, and last night they all did your mom. Twice. Did you know that?"

Moldover explained his intent to the Justice and then posted his statement online.

"My intent was not to target any minority group, but rather to target those who have been campaigning recently for what they call 'diversity,'" Moldover wrote. "What have all the signs and protests accomplished? Have they truly changed people? Is there anyone on this campus who used to hate blacks, whites, Shintos, vegans, whoever, and now doesn't, because of all this?"

The Brandeis Muslim Student Association (BMSA) held an open forum attended by President Jehuda Reinharz and other members of the Administration last Thursday responding to the fliers as well as the campus reaction to a pro-tolerance rally that traveled through several residence quads Monday.

For the first hour of the meeting students described what former BMSA member Bariza Umar '04 called the "environment of hatred" surrounding the reaction to the pro-tolerance rally.

"I am absolutely disgusted by all that happened in the past few weeks and condemn it in the most way I know how," Reinharz said. "The most important thing for us as a community is to move on. We all feel beaten up by what happened...however, I still believe that this does not represent the majority of students at Brandeis."

Umar said students were physically prevented from entering certain halls, physically threatened and "felt unsafe walking through quads" during the rally.

Although many at the forum said they knew people who were threatened during the rally, when Reinharz asked how many would be willing to give more details, only three raised their hands.

"I was born Muslim, why should suffer for that?" Umar said. "It's a struggle for my existence (at Brandeis). This is about my identity that I have to constantly defend."

Throughout the forum, various students present began to cry while talking.

BMSA member Qaiser Saify '04 said that while he credits Brandeis with helping him progress personally, Brandeis does not realize that the problem of intolerance is pervasive and is not addressed on a large enough scale here.

"Three years ago, I was really impressed with the welcoming here. I thought Brandeis was getting somewhere with its ideas of pluralism," Saify said. "The dreams of pluralism and tolerance, however, have been shattered."

"I am rather upset that so much of the community is so ignorant," Saify said.

Saify said he hopes the Brandeis community can become the one envisioned by the first president of Brandeis, Abram Sachar.

"Whatever Sachar's vision, it wasn't mine," Reinharz said in response to students at the meeting who cited a quote from Sachar in which the former president described a goal of eventually having a mosque on campus. Reinharz said it was unrealistic to have a place of worship for every religion represented at Brandeis.

Students used the forum to suggest constructive measures against racism and intolerance. One student said everyone should place signs in their rooms that say, "No Hate," taking inspiration from a similar campaign at the University of Indiana at Bloomington.

"I want people to walk this campus and see that they are not alone," the student said.

After initial discussion, students spoke directly to Reinharz and presented him with a list of suggestions they said Reinharz should act upon.

Some of the ideas expressed by students were to revamp the Islamic Studies program to focus on Islamic religion instead of Middle Eastern politics. Several students said they hope to see a class devoted to coexistence.

Many students said they feel the Administration has not done anything in response to the recent incidents of hate on campus. Reinharz said he takes exception when people say the Administration does not react to such incidents.

Reinharz said current diversity training provided during orientation is "clearly not enough" and that there are many ideas being considered by the faculty. Reinharz also told students they must also participate in the process of healing the community.

Co-Director of Students Organized Against Racism and Union Judiciary Justice Daniel Mauer '06 read a list of ideas that students had compiled prior to the meeting. The requests included Reinharz attending a "pro-coexistence rally," requiring all club leaders to undergo diversity training, involving the Graduate Schools in discussions on racism and building a mosque.

Reinharz said he would not be opposed to going to a coexistence rally. But he said that requiring club leaders to undergo diversity training was not up to him as Student Union clubs are independent of the Administration.

On the issue of the mosque, Reinharz said that it is not financially possible to build one at this time. He did promise to add it to the school's master plan and said that if a donor is found it will be built.

Arunoday Singh '04 was one of the only students to disagree with the majority of the students at the forum.

"It only gets worse from here," Singh said, saying that life outside Brandeis becomes more challenging and that it is much better at Brandeis than it is elsewhere.

Reinharz said that he hopes that students take what happened, learn from it and internalize it. He said students should "not forget, but move one."

Reinharz also relayed his commitment to diversity on campus.

"I spend a great deal of my administration recruiting Muslim students," Reinharz said. "I didn't bring them here to be tolerated but to be accepted."

The original fliers that Moldover parodied said: "There 6.5 Muslim Americans in the United States comprised of African-Americans, South Asians, Arabs, South East Asians, Latin Americans and Africans."

"I feel it was very hurtful for a lot of people. Not only Muslim students themselves but a lot of minority students who felt directly or indirectly affected by them," Community Integration Coordinator Yanina Seltzer '05, who wrote the original flier, said. "The idea of the campaign was not to force anything on anyone, but to bring more awareness."

"To me, diversity is not about you being Islamic and me being Christian and us learning about each other's culture and becoming brothers." Moldover said. "Diversity is about you being Islamic and me being Christian and us not letting that get in the way of talking about the latest Tarantino film. It's true that even as college students we're still children in many ways. But are we such ignorant, unthinking children that you can't depend on us to hear a racist talk and decide for ourselves that 'Yes, this man is a racist?'"

Seltzer said that while she thinks some of the points Moldover said his response statement are interesting, she said she disagrees with what he said in the fliers and the way he went about it.

"He could have realized that what he did could have hurt a lot of people. He could have just e-mailed me and told me he didn't agree with my campaign and it could have made a lot of people's lives a lot easier," she said.

Moldover said, "I've heard that a lot of Muslim and black students are considering leaving the school, because they find the atmosphere threatening. I find this disappointing. Brandeis has a reputation as a liberal school, an accepting school, and after you strip away the politics it is.

"For me, all along this has been about treating each other as people. . .We are not the groups we belong to. . .You're better than this Brandeis. I know you are. I believe in you."

Public safety initially announced that two students were suspected to be involved with the flyers. The second student has not been identified. No information is available about any pending judicial action that may be brought against the parties.

Editor's Note: Moldover's full statement is available online at www.geocities.com/senorbazo/statement.html