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justBRIEFS February 5, 2019

BranVan accessible transport hours extended

Chang shares reasons behind surprise resignation

At the Feb. 3 Senate meeting, Class of 2022 Senator Alex Chang resigned. This is the unabridged text of Chang’s remarks, which he has since sent out to members of the MyDeis2022 Facebook page. Justice editors fact-checked the speech and added clarifications and context in italics and brackets throughout.

Univ. responds to national changes to Title IX policies

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has prepared Title IX policies aimed at expanding the rights of students accused of assault, harassment or rape. According to an Aug. 29 New York Times article, these policies would “bolster the rights of students accused of assault, harassment or rape, reduce liability for institutions of higher education and encourage schools to provide more support for victims.” In a Jan. 24 email to the Brandeis community, University President Ron Liebowitz announced that Brandeis has joined 54 other Massachusetts colleges and universities to publicly comment on the Department of Education’s proposals.

Lack of funding forces 'wind down' of Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism

After struggling to find the necessary funding, the University made the decision to officially close the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism on Dec. 31, 2018, Provost Lisa M. Lynch announced in a Dec. 20 email to the Brandeis community. The Schuster Institute, the nation’s first investigative reporting center based at a university and made possible by a generous donation from Elaine and Gerald Schuster, opened 14 years ago at Brandeis. Since its founding in Sept. 2004, the Institute’s team of editors, reporters, fellows and student research assistants worked to preserve investigative journalism as media outlets cut back on that type of reporting.

Writer and actress Anna Deavere Smith receives 2019 Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life

In a celebration of her public service, Anna Deavere Smith, the Ann O’Day Maples Professor of the Arts at Stanford University, is the recipient of the 2019 Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life, according to a Jan. 15 BrandeisNOW article.

Activists misunderstand the groups they’re fighting for

Student-developed Branda app debuts to rave reviews

Branda, a mobile application created by Brandeis students for the University community, launched on Thursday. According to the Branda website, it is a “two-sided platform” connecting Brandeis students with essential campus services. 

Hold Thy Peace ushers in the holidays

William Shakespeare wrote “Twelfth Night” for the Christmas season. So, even though Hold Thy Peace normally produces a show in October, it only made sense to put on a performance in early December to entertain students before they drown in papers and finals. In HTP’s abridged “Twelfth Night,” twins Viola and Sebastian are separated during a shipwreck. Believing that her brother has perished, Viola arrives in the foreign town of Illyria takes on the identity of a pageboy named Cesario to work for the duke Orsino, who is in love with a countess Olivia. However, Olivia does not return these feelings and finds herself attracted to Cesario. The majority of the play is about the love triangle between Viola/Cesario, Olivia and Orsino.

Facing the music

Avi Hirshbein ’19 could have pursued his passion for music the old-fashioned way. Upon arriving at Brandeis, he might have honed his musical abilities by taking lessons in the three instruments he taught himself to play: the piano, the guitar and the ukulele. If that had gone well, he could have joined the Brandeis orchestra or a student ensemble. Instead, realizing the odds of fame and success as a musician were remote, he decided to create his own record label called Basement Records.

Interview with Claudia Davis ’19 and Perry Letourneau ’20

This week, justArts spoke with Claudia Davis ’19 and Perry Letourneau ’20, co-Presidents of sketch comedy troupe, Boris’ Kitchen.  

Documentary Sings to Your Soul

Earlier this month, the Introduction to Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation class  hosted a screening at the Wasserman Cinematheque in place of a lecture. The Nov. 6 class screened “Because of the War,” a documentary about four female singers who immigrated to the United States to escape the civil war occuring in their homeland, Liberia. The war caused a mass migration of refugees toward the neighboring countries of Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. The four women, Tokay, Zaye, Marie and Fatu, all found themselves in Pittsburgh’s Liberian community. Anthropologist Toni Shapiro-Phim, who attended the screening, documented their individual stories as director of the feature.

Scholar examines legacy of University’s first female biology professor

Speaking to the Brandeis community at the Women’s Studies Research Center, scholar Pnina Abir-Am described the legacy of former Prof. Carolyn Cohen (BIOL). Abir-Am is widely published on the history of women and gender in science, the history of molecular biology and the history of public memory, according to the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center website. Cohen was the University’s first female biology professor and served as a spokeswoman and mentor for women in science. 

University implementing new human resources, finance software

Brandeis’ Information and Technology Services is in the middle of a multiyear transitional project that will change the University’s administrative software from PeopleSoft to Workday. Currently, ITS is in the process of implementing Workday for the University’s human resources, payroll and finance operations. This first phase, named Phase One, of the implementation is scheduled to launch on April 1, 2019. In preparation, ITS is actively working with representatives from different departments to ensure the software will suit the University’s needs. The lessons that ITS learns during Phase One will be applied to Phase Two, which deals with student programs like SAGE and which is currently in the early planning stages.

Kniznick Gallery set in motion

Artists Anne Lilly and Karin Rosenthal unveiled their new collaborative exhibit, comprised of Rosenthal’s stunning photographs and Lilly’s impactful sculptures, at Brandeis’ Women’s Studies Research Center on Thursday. The photographs focused on the naked human body — often in extreme close-ups — incorporating water to obscure certain body parts. Two of the four stainless steel sculptures also dealt with the human body and obscuring vision, interacting with the viewer and their body.

Team dives headfirst into an exciting season

The Brandeis University swimming and diving team has had a great season so far. For the past month and a half, they have been travelling and competing against teams from across the country and have shined as a team. Here is how their season has gone so far. 

Interview with Rachel Moore ’19 and Akshiti Todi ’19

This week, justArts spoke with Rachel Moore ’19 and Akshiti Todi ’19, co-presidents of the Adagio Dance Company.

After dividing Union, piano resolution passes Senate by one-vote margin

After more than two months of discussion, the Senate approved a resolution by a one-vote majority on Sunday that would purchase public pianos. The pianos will be housed in each of the two first-year residence quads, Massell and North.

A Night for Africa 11.10.18 YS 0122.jpg

The Afro Diamonds from Africano Waltham faced off on stage, each pulling out more elaborate moves in turn before coming together and dancing as a whole. They were joined by young members of the Waltham community, passing on their energetic choreography and traditions to a younger generation.

Former Catholic chaplain was removed after alcohol-related ‘incident’ with University student

Father Walter Cuenin, the University’s Catholic chaplain from 2006 to 2015, was removed from ministry and his position at Brandeis due to alcohol addiction and a “related incident” involving an adult male student, the Archdiocese of Boston’s Secretary for Communications and Public Affairs Terrence Donilon confirmed in an Oct. 3 email to the Justice. The University had originally attributed Cuenin’s departure to unspecified “health reasons”in a Jan. 13, 2015 email from Dean of Students Jamele Adams.

J Street U petitions to add Palestinian voices to Birthright

The Brandeis chapter of J Street U is circulating a petition calling on Brandeis Hillel to include Palestinian speakers in future Hillel-led Birthright Israel trips. Written by board member Sivan Ben-Hayun ’19, the petition explains, “Our community values complexity, nuance, and the inclusion of multiple experiences and narratives,” and asks that Birthright participants “learn about the Israeli occupation from Palestinians who are living under it.”