About 20 students marched in the "Funeral for the Rose" procession last Thursday to protest the Board of Trustees' Jan. 26 decision to close the Rose Art Museum and sell part of its collection. Students gathered at the Rabb steps and made their way across campus to the Rose Art Museum chanting, "Don't Close the Rose." They held up signs and carried roses, which they then placed outside the library and the Bernstein-Marcus administrative building, along with a reproduction of a piece of artwork from the museum's collection, which they left on the windowsill next to the main entrance of the building. "We're putting up a shrine at the administrative building so that the administration knows how many students came here tonight to show their support for the Rose Art Museum," explained Zev Rowlett '11, one of the organizers of the event.

The procession was sponsored by Art Attack, an arts club on campus. It was held despite an e-mail sent to students and faculty by University President Jehuda Reinharz earlier that day, in which Reinharz wrote, "The Museum will remain open, but in accordance with the Board's vote, it will be more fully integrated into the University's central educational mission."

However, according to Amy Tsao '10, a Studio Art major, some of the plans for the procession changed after Reinharz's e-mail last Thursday.

"We had a casket made and we had a funeral planned, but obviously we had to change our plans a little bit," Tsao said. "In the e-mail, [Reinharz] said that the Rose would remain open, so it's not really a death anymore, . so we didn't think it appropriate. This is meant to be more of a resurrection and just a signal that we do care," she explained.

"Right now I'm just hoping to show that the students in the Brandeis community don't think closing the Rose is an option," Emily Leifer '11, who organized the procession, said. "While earlier today [Reinharz] said that he never said that he was going to close the Rose, he has talked about making it into an educational facility, . not [a] public museum." Leifer said Reinharz's announcement is just another way of saying that they're going to close the museum. "I'm not OK with that," she said.

As the students made their way across campus, they stopped in front of the Shapiro Campus Center to make speeches before arriving at the Rose Art Museum. At the campus center, Kathleen Rees '10 explained that what Reinharz "is still overlooking and what he overlooked once is that the Rose Art [Museum] is already a big part of art education of this school, and it does mean a lot to students."

"The Rose has sent out their own statement that seemed to indicate that they would not remain open. It's important that we don't get confused or distracted and we maintain energy and find some constructive ways to let the administrators know that this isn't over yet," Brian Friedberg (GRAD) said in a speech.

Friedberg later said in an interview, "If we continue, maybe we will be able to actually save the Rose."

Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH) said that he attended the funeral procession to support his students. "I think that everyone I have talked to doesn't understand [Reinharz's e-mail] yet," Auslander said. "We're sure that [Reinharz] will clarify what he said soon, but at this point we understand that the plan is still to sell art, the museum is still in danger and that the [Rose Art Museum] staff is fired," he said.

"I believe that upon consideration, the University will decide that they really cannot close the museum; it's too valuable a resource," Auslander said.



- Nashrah Rahman contributed reporting.



Editor's Note: Emily Leifer is an Arts staff writer for the Justice.