The scattered editorial attempts to string together a collection of perceptions and facts about Brandeis and then tries to blame their existence on a lack of diversity here. The editorial fails to touch upon the real problem at Brandeis. It suggests that increasing the number of minority students and changing the image of Brandeis will solve many of the problems that were encountered last semester. Such claims show a profound misunderstanding of both the problems and how to address them. The lack of communication between many of Brandeis' groups is one of the major problems.Changing the demographics of Brandeis will not help in fostering discussion and understanding. Brandeis first must utilize the diversity at hand before resigning to saying that the only way to fix the current tensions within the student body is to throw more diversity at the situation.

It is important to ask what happens at Brandeis when diversity related tension arises. Are people conditioned to speak to each other in forums and cordially discuss the problems or will they scream at each other and resort to name calling or rock throwing? Will they discontinue dialogue? At Brandeis, often, angry crowds of people scream at each other throwing around the "ism" of the week often spreading misinformation and sometimes hate. As a result, there is a perceived divide on the Brandeis campus between many ethnic, religious, and racial groups.

Continuous and sustained open dialogue is vital to achieve an understanding of any group in the community. By adding more people to one side or another Brandeis will accomplish nothing but increase the number of people unhappy with each other. Instead, everyone should work together to create forums and workshops for students to communicate and work out their differences. Such a dialogue is not only vital when problems arise, but is also important in trying to circumvent any potential problems. If students of all walks of life begin to feel comfortable at Brandeis then the applicant numbers will increase and no concerted effort will be needed to make it appear that students are happy here--as such will then be true. It is, thus, more important to foster an atmosphere of coexistence and acceptance then to concentrate on the apparent lack of diversity.

The board mentioned that Brandeis is not a party school and has no fraternities. It seems odd that it would use that as an excuse for a lack of diversity on campus. As mentioned previously, many students attend schools that they feel they will be comfortable at. Many students chose to come to Brandeis due to its lack of Greek Life and a non-existent emphasis on athletics-which is part of Brandeis' charm. Changing such a defining aspect of the University will subvert many of the University's values. At Brandeis, students choosing to study Friday and Saturday feel safe from the taunting of their peers. Anyone coming to Brandeis expecting parties and athletics that rival those of the Univeristy of Massachussetts, definitely did not do his or her homework.

Ultimately, Brandeis is an academic institution, known for its rigorous curriculum. Many students come to Brandeis, not be educated about other cultures or to be challenged on their views in regard to religion or philosophy, but to get into medical school or law school. While a few here will call these ambitious students ignorant, narrow-minded, and a slew of other names often ending in "ist," it is anyone's right to come to this institution and learn and not be bombarded with social issues.

Saying that "the perceived lack of campus vitality may impede our University's quest to attract applicants who could add much needed diversity to this campus" is stereotypical of the editorial. It is doubtful that such a perception has anything to do with the fact that Brandeis is only 45 percent non-Jewish.

It is interesting to note, that among the U.S. universities, Brandeis is unique in its student composition-thus adding to the diversity of choices for aspiring undergraduates. It is ironic that there is a vocal minority striving for Brandeis to be just like every other diverse institution-to reflect the vision of a diverse institution. This, while in a way will increase diversity at Brandeis, will decrease from the diversity of institutions available to prospective students.

Yet there is no clear definition presented of what an ideal diverse institution should be like. Is it one that reflects the census numbers of the United States or one that is skewed to allow more minorities than the national percentage (which Brandeis exceeds by nine percent)? Instead of blindly slamming Brandeis for its perceived lack of diversity, it is more productive to clearly define what would an ideal Brandeis be like. Instead of acting to divide students (and administrators) into different camps on diversity, fostering an open discussion, one free of name-calling and allegations will benefit the entire community.

-David Cutler, David Fudman and Igor Pedan