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As the fall semester and the COVID-19 pandemic progress, the question of how spring semester will play out is on everyone’s minds. On Oct. 26, University President Ron Liebowitz, along with other members of the administration, hosted a virtual check-in for students and their families to answer questions about pandemic guidelines and plans for the upcoming spring semester.
Starting on Oct. 25, the Brandeis Wellness Programmers hosted a number of events as part of “Eat, Sleep, Move Week,” a program aimed at promoting self-care and wellness. The Wellness Programmers group consists of students and staff from a wide range of offices and clubs on campus, including Health and Wellness Promotion; the Brandeis Counseling Center; the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center and the Bridge to Wellness Peer Educators. “We embrace a broad definition of wellness that includes multiple dimensions (physical, emotional, social, spiritual, financial, intellectual, occupational, etc.),” Director of Health Promotion and Wellness Initiatives Leah Berkenwald ’07 wrote in an Oct. 30 email to the Justice. The Brandeis Wellness Programmers typically host multiple events throughout the semester, including Sleep Week, Wellness Week and Stressbusters. Per Berkenwald’s email, “The goals of these weeks are to create and organize programming that highlights wellness challenges of that particular semester or time of year.” For this year in particular, which has been filled with a number of challenges and stress-inducing changes, the Wellness Programmers decided to “return to basics and focus on the fundamentals of self care: eating, sleeping and moving your body,” added Berkenwald.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays last week in the 116th Major League Baseball World Series. It may be easy to overlook this recent event with an upcoming contentious national election and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Still, baseball has played a large part in our national identity and culture and has earned its title as our “national pastime.” This reality has not been lost on Madison Avenue, who told us that “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet, they go together in the good ol’ USA,” according to a June 2016 Tri-County Times article. Thus, it is not surprising that changes within baseball, and in all sports, will reverberate into society as a whole. With the Dodgers' historic win in this unimaginable year, the Justice looked back at another historic Dodger moment: when Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League baseball in the spring of 1947. It was a monumental moment in American history. This leads to the question: who was the man behind the ballplayer?
In an unprecedented semester, the University has implemented a number of policies both to provide students with necessary campus services and to contain the spread of COVID-19. One such policy is the University’s use of a Campus Passport Portal system, where, in order to access certain services on campus, students must fill out a daily health assessment and confirm their COVID-19 biweekly testing status. Students receive a color and status through the passport system, which corresponds to their eligibility for navigating the campus and accessing dining halls, classrooms, the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center gym and testing sites. This board commends the University for its efforts to ensure the safest possible campus at this time. The passport system is a well-intentioned attempt to deliver a safe yet effective means of both ensuring the best possible campus experience, and making sure students, staff and faculty alike can navigate the campus safely. However, key issues remain with the passport service’s accessibility and ease of use.
Following the June 2 event hosted by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion — “Coming Together to Face Systemic Racism” — that had a whopping 714 participants, students requested smaller, identity-focused spaces where they could share their pain and grievances, call for action and support, find community and create plans to address systemic racism, both interpersonally and at the institutional level.
The Senate voted to approve the creation of a new club and discussed funding for this year’s Midnight Buffet at their Oct. 18 Zoom meeting.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a sport is defined as a physical activity completed for enjoyment and exercise. The Olympic Games are the ultimate sports competition in the world. In ancient Greece, the Olympic Games were a sports competition held once every four years. The modern version of the games began in Athens in 1896, and 13 countries participated in over 40 events, according to a 2010 History Channel article. 1992 was the last year that the Summer and Winter Games were held in the same year. Now, the Olympic Games occur every two years alternating between the two seasonal events. Cheerleading is a sport that is projected to enter the Olympics in the next few years.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
After a hectic offseason and a lack of preseason, the season officially kicked off the night of Thursday Sept. 10, as the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, faced the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. Another 15 games were played throughout Sunday and Monday, providing fans with plenty of action and a semblance of sports normalcy.
For many of us, the start of the NFL season is a much-anticipated event. We will relish in rooting for our favorite team and marvel at the apparent super-human exploits of our masked and helmeted heroes — heroes who seem to be modern-day gladiators, risking and sacrificing their bodies in a violent sport. The masks may accentuate the tendency to view these players only as warriors. However, they are not just warriors. They are people with families, feelings, personal lives and dreams.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
On Monday Aug. 31, Tom Seaver (aka Tom Terrific, The Franchise), widely considered one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all time, passed away at age 75. In a statement from Seaver's wife, Nancy, and daughters, Sarah and Ann, they expressed, "We are heartbroken to share that our beloved husband and father has passed away. We send our love to his fans, as we mourn his loss with you," per a CBS Sports article. He passed away from complications of Lewy Body Dementia and COVID-19.
In the wake of the coronavirus, there is a void in the world of sports without college and professional athletics. For many who took the availability of live-broadcasted sports for granted, this can be a trying time. However, what has not stopped is scientific research, including some important research surrounding the impact of sports-related head injuries.
In response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the University has moved its classes online and required that students who live on campus leave by Wednesday, instead of the previous date of March 25, University President Ron Liebowitz announced in an email on Monday.
In the Senate’s first meeting since the University’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, senators discussed the Union’s response to “uncertainty” surrounding communications from the administration and how they could help students who will remain on campus.
This is my surprise last article ever for the Justice. It’s been a pleasure to serve as your annoying columnist for the past four years. After all, everything else isn’t exactly hunky-dory in all walks of American life right now, and our usual refuge of sports is unfortunately no different. The NBA is suspended, March Madness is canceled, the MLB delayed and the NFL is in no man's land. But that doesn’t mean we’re wholly bereft of sports content.
Professional sports in the United States — tennis, basketball, football, hockey and baseball — are all being suspended, postponed, or canceled altogether, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread through Europe, soccer leagues all over the continent have paused their seasons indefinitely. The first major league to suspend matches was the Italian Serie A, which did so after playing a handful of matches behind closed doors. France’s Ligue 1, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga also announced plans to postpone matches over the course of last week.
The coronavirus has taken over professional sports and everyone is asking questions: Do we cancel the season? Do we play without fans? How will the players know to shoot the ball if I don’t yell it at them? As of right now the NHL, NBA, MLB, MLS and NCAA have suspended their seasons — including March Madness — due to the outbreak.
CANCELED: With the recent coronavirus outbreak, many sports seasons have been canceled or postponed.