Brandeis sports. It seems to be common knowledge, or rather, public perception, that saying these two words next to each other are oxymoronic. Our University has typically been known for the quality of their academics over their sports, and the student body tends to enforce that notion. That being said, The Justice Editorial Board believes that Brandeis sports are currently undergoing a renaissance, and we want to encourage the student body to recognize the work our athletes and coaches put in to compete with other schools.

Where does the bad perception of our athletics come from? One of the issues could be that we lack key sports that bring attention to the program. Since 1960, Brandeis has cut sports such as golf, sailing, wrestling, lacrosse and football. Metrics show that football is by far the most popular collegiate sport, but in the Boston area it is second to hockey, another program that Brandeis does not have. Recent turbulence in the program has included the firing of men’s basketball head coach Brian Meehan in 2018 and women’s basketball coach Carol Simon in 2024 after being reported for racist behavior, as well as an all-new coaching staff for the tennis team being ushered in this year. However, these changes may have opened the door for a resurgence of Judges’ excellence. 

Filling the vacant coaching positions, Jean Bain, Julie Prichett and Alan Dubrovsky have had exceptional results with their respective teams. Bain has led the men’s basketball team to an overall winning season every year except for the 2022-23 season and has been commended for his team production, often falling within the top 10 of offensive and defensive efficiency every year in the division. In her short time with the women’s basketball team, Prichett doubled their overall win record from the previous season. Finally, Dubrovsky took the 2-15 men’s tennis team to a 13-7 record this season.

It’s true that while our sports teams do well overall, they struggle when performing within our conference, the University Athletic Association. This could be due to how competitive the UAA is: The men’s basketball team has a worse record than four teams in the conference, but those teams were ranked second, fourth, 14th and 24th out of all 404 Division III men’s basketball teams. The women’s team was playing against the New York University’s number one D-III team in the entire nation. Despite the competition, both our men’s tennis and women’s soccer programs are the highest ranked they’ve ever been this season at 28th and 25th respectively. 

Even if our teams haven’t yet been able to match the competition within our conference, it’s important that we give our athletes support for their hard work and dedication. This year we’ve had many standout stars, notably track and field competitors Sarai Sealy ’28, who placed fourth in the nation in triple-jump, and Peterly Leroy ’28, who placed 10th in the nation in the 400 meter race. Fencer Lev BenAvram ’26 placed fifth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships for saber, and is also well on course to compete at the Olympics in 2028. Hugh Licklider ’27 finished first in the men’s 3000 meter at the UAA championships. Elias Rodl ’26 led the men’s basketball team in both points and rebounds, averaging just over 23 and 7. Jordan Wallace ’28 leads the softball team with almost 60 runs batted in. All of these Brandeis athletes have successfully climbed to the apex of their sport and haven’t let  negative perceptions of their school’s competitive spirit stop them.

This Editorial Board understands why students may be skeptical of updates to our athletic programs such as a new softball field or adding a lacrosse team, but these changes can have a positive impact on our University if we support the process, rather than trying to tear down the new credibility our Judges are building.