On Feb. 13, Brandeis faculty debated three motions during their monthly meeting. The first motion concerned the establishment of a finance major. The movement was headed by Prof. Debarshi Nandy (BUS, ECON) who outlined the increase in demand for finance programs. He has worked to curate “finance, technology and society” courses and believed that a finance major had potential to attract new students. There was no debate concerning this motion during the meeting, and it was passed after a vote. The second motion, introduced by Vice Provost of Undergraduate Affairs Jeffrey Shoulson, involved a plethora of minor changes to the Brandeis Core requirements. Most of these changes involved nomenclature. The “Foundational Literacies” component would be renamed to “Core Competencies,” while the current “Digital Literacy” component would be renamed to “Technologies.” The “Global Engagement” requirement would be renamed to “Global Engagement and Justice.” Lastly, the “Schools of Thought” would be renamed to “Areas of Inquiry.” On a more substantial level, the motion aimed to add “Teamwork and Collaboration” as a new core competency with a one-class requirement. Additionally, all double-counting restrictions within the core curriculum would be lifted except for those pertaining to first-year seminars along with the level 10 and level 20 foreign language courses. Students are still permitted to count 30-level languages for two requirements. There was substantial debate concerning this motion. Some faculty members brought up concerns that these changes were rushed, while others encouraged its passage as a first step towards making more substantial changes to the Brandeis Core. The motion was ultimately passed. The third motion was the most controversial. It had previously been a part of the second motion’s revisions to the Brandeis Core, but was separated in order to improve the chances of the other Core changes passing the second motion. Shoulson once again introduced the motion. “Resolved, that the World Languages and Cultures requirement be amended to specify a proficiency level equivalent to one year of college-level study. Students will typically achieve this by successfully completing a second-semester course (normally numbered in the 20s) or demonstrating equivalent proficiency and knowledge acquired prior to Brandeis.” Many faculty members had strong opinions about this motion. Several professors advocated against its passage. These arguments included that novice-level proficiency is not meaningful in the context of becoming a global citizen, that level 30 language classes are a valuable form of student enrichment and community development and that this proposed change could cause faculty retention issues. Professors who advocated in favor of this motion argued that students should be able to choose how they spend their time. Many pointed out that Brandeis students are naturally inclined to become broadly-educated citizens no matter their area of study, and that the three-semester language requirement can cause difficulties for students who take on substantial coursework, such as pre-med students. There was an apparent subject-area divide amongst faculty who advocated for and against this motion. Nearly all who spoke in favor of the motion were STEM faculty, while most who spoke against it represented the arts, humanities or social sciences. Ultimately, the third motion was not approved and the three-level language requirement will remain unchanged.