Correction appendedWhat do University President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz, Prof. Stephen Whitfield (AMST), famed New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and renowned political philosopher Michael Sandel all have in common? They all call Brandeis their alma mater. For Reinharz and Whitfield, the University offered a haven for high scholarship; the two received their Ph.D.s together in 1972. Friedman and Sandel, on the other hand, experienced something a bit more comparable to our own undergraduate years and obtained their bachelor's degrees together three years later in 1975. Put together, all four of these scholars have a past interwoven by friendship, scholarship and their connection to Brandeis.

This impressive group of four reconvened on campus on the afternoon of Dec. 15, 2010 for an academic symposium to celebrate the conclusion of Reinharz's presidential tenure. With administrators, trustees, faculty members and students present, the symposium offered only a taste of the high degree of intellect cultivated at this University.

All told, the program appropriately contextualized the main themes of Reinharz's presidency and personality within Brandeis' political and academic history. With Whitfield's presentation on elements of German Jewry, which was the focus of Reinharz's scholarship, coupled with Friedman and Sandel's dialogue on issues in contemporary Brandeis thought, the event was a perfect way to honor the outgoing president. "I'm thrilled that good friends Michael Sandel and Tom Friedman, [and] Steve Whitfield are all involved in this. It's a big honor, and a wonderful way to end my presidency," Reinharz said.

And none could have done it better than the three alumni who took the stage in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater before an audience of approximately 200.

Initiated by the Faculty Senate, the concept of an academic symposium to honor Reinharz emerged in spring 2010, Faculty Senate Chair Prof. Tim Hickey (COSI) said in an interview with the Justice. "The faculty really wanted to have an academic symposium to honor [an] academic, and I think this served the purpose really well," said Hickey.

Whitfield spoke during the first part of the event, titled "Weimar in Waltham: An Early History of Brandeis." The topic was fitting for the symposium. In an interview with the Justice, Whitfield explained, "The aim of this program is to honor the president by addressing issues that have mattered to him not only over the 16 years of his presidency but over his entire academic career ... because he started as a historian of German Jewry."

Undoubtedly, Whitfield's intentions were fulfilled. Through remarkable detail, he described how German intellectual achievements in art and thought shaped traditional Brandeis thinking at the University's birth. Having fled their homes in Germany, German thinkers founded Brandeis on the ideal of bildung, or, as Whitfield explained, "the cultivation of character through the refinement of taste, the intensification of education through the exploration of the heritage of thought and art."

The 30-minute talk spanned generations of historically significant German thinkers who had direct involvement in Brandeis' beginnings, from Albert Einstein, who began writing to Justice Louis Brandeis in 1935 on the notion of forming a Jewish-sponsored institution of higher learning in response to domestic bigotry, to Herbert Marcuse, the most famous German-born Jew to ever teach at Brandeis.

In between, Whitfield also mentioned the careers of other figures, such as Rudolph Kayser, who fled Berlin and made his way to Brandeis to teach philosophy and, later, Germanic language and literature. Whitfield also highlighted the career of Nahum N. Glatzer, "the first Judaic scholar to arrive in Waltham," who chaired of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department until 1969.

The symposium progressed easily from Brandeis' foundations to the products of its intellectual culture as Friedman and Sandel took the stage and prepared to engage in conversation on an ambitious topic, "Brandeis, Social Justice and the World."

To begin their dialogue, the two contextualized their relationship, which actually predated their undergraduate careers to their years as students at Talmud Torah Hebrew School in St. Louis Park, Minn. Once they touched base again while "walking up the hill to [the Usdan Student Center]," as Sandel said, the two have been in constant discussion and debate over just about everything.

And in honor of Reinharz, Friedman and Sandel proceeded to launch into a discussion of-well, just about everything, including their own evolving careers, their friendship with Reinharz, their commitment to the University, and a topic on which each has considered extensively: globalization and its impact on the world, which certainly reflected on Brandeis' mantra of social justice.

The two scholars shared with the audience their differing worldviews on contemporary politics. Friedman classified himself as a "technological determinist," explaining his rationale: "If it exists, people use it." In his opinion, technology has generated this deterministic element of globalization, creating social phenomena such as Interpol and WikiLeaks. Technological development and economic growth, said Friedman, have allowed for greater social mobility.

Sandel, on the other hand, expressed his belief in "market triumphalism." He explained his philosophy by citing the eras of United States President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as defining moments for this philosophy, which treats markets as instruments for achieving the public good. In contemporary times, however, this means that the primary focus of society has shifted toward the market and away from the government, leading to "an exhaustion of the sense of democratic purpose," he said.

"The open question now is whether the financial crash will represent the end of this period of unquestioned market triumphalism, and generate a new debate about what the public good consists of and what democratic purpose should be," Sandel said.

Friedman responded to this question with some concern about the challenge facing the United States to translate these social concerns into public policy while maintaining a strong democracy as well as its status as "a beacon of those values."

At the conclusion of the presentation, Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL) awarded Reinharz a special Brandeis teddy bear in the spirit of the symposium, which she explained was "meant to spread the love."

"I didn't know how smart my move to Brandeis was when I came here in 1968. [My wife, Prof. Shula Reinharz (SOC] persuaded me," said Reinharz as he received the memento. "It was the smartest thing I ever did."

Friedman concurred. "[Reinharz] has really been a dear friend to both of us. ... But [the event] was just fun for Michael and I. We've been having a conversation for 30 years. You heard a little bit. ... You see where we sort of intersect and agree and disagree, and it's always different. Going mono a mono with him is always a challenge; ... [it] really sharpens your mind. That's what Brandeis is about."

And truly, the academic symposium outdid itself in celebrating Reinharz, Brandeis and a wonderful web of friendship, scholarship and heritage. In an interview with the Justice, Whitfield articulated the sentimentality of the event.

"President Reinharz and I both got our doctorates together in the same year from this institution in 1972. I suspect that he was a bit more serious about that commencement than I was, because I chose to play tennis that day. I did not quite see the point of attending a ceremony in which my role would be very a minimal one. But Jehuda and I did get our Ph.D.s together. ... We have that sort of entwined career."

Correction: The article originally misstated the department affiliation of faculty member. Prof. Stephen Whitfield is a member of the American Studies department, not History.