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On Sunday, May 18 the Brandeis undergraduate class of 2025 received their diplomas as now retired Brandeis professor Jonathan Sarna ’75 GSAS MA’75 provided the keynote commencement address. As students filled their seats in a great procession, alumni of the class of 1975 followed them into the auditorium marking their 50th graduation anniversary.
On May 1, Brandeis Hillel held Israel Fest among the Fellows Garden Blue Booths at noon to “celebrate Israeli resilience.” The outdoor festival featured an art installation and candles to light in honor of those impacted by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent Israel-Hamas War.
On Feb. 1, the Trump Administration imposed a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on goods from China. Since then, President Donald Trump has continued to increase tariffs, having recently imposed a 145% tax on all Chinese imports. In retaliation to the administration's actions, China, the European Union and Canada have enacted their own tariffs: China began taxing American goods by 84% on April 10, Canada has matched the 25% tax on automobiles and the EU continues to develop plans on retaliation levies on $23 billion worth of U.S. goods.
On April 17 Stewart Uretsky, executive vice president for finance and administration, Carol Fierke, executive vice president and provost and Andrea Dine, vice president of student affairs sent an email reminding students of the Campus Use of Space Policy. The message explicitly aligned itself with Interim President Levine’s remarks on April 7 which stated disapproval of the Brandeis Jewish Bund’s April 4 demonstration. The email reinforces that all demonstrations, protests and rallies, affiliated or not with the University, must be registered with the Dean of Students Office including a meeting “with the Dean of Students Office [DOSO] and Public Safety prior to the event taking place.” Additionally, “Brandeis Community Members are not permitted to invite third parties” and disciplinary actions can be taken against those that do. Another reminder highlights that if a University official requests a Brandeis community member’s identification at a demonstration, protest, or rally the member must provide it. Lastly, no full-face coverings, besides those for medical or religious purposes, may be worn under the assumption that they are meant to conceal one’s identity. However if being worn for medical or religious purposes members are required to provide identification. The email concluded by expressing that each update and reminder of the Campus Use of Space Policy will be enforced alongside other applicable policies and disciplinary actions.
Over the past 75 years, Brandeis students have exercised their right to freedom of speech by conducting protests and rallies on campus. In 1969, on January 8, a group of African-American students staged a takeover of Ford Hall, demanding a change for better minority representation on campus. This sparked waves across the University, as other students went on hunger strikes and conducted sit-ins as a way of expressing solidarity. This protest lasted eleven days, and while not all demands were met, student protestors were granted amnesty. A year later, the University administration signed an agreement with the Afro-American Organization to bring 80 additional minority students to Brandeis. This is just one example of protest demonstrations on campus. Since 1969 there have been other instances of students, faculty and facilities fighting for social change: the Pearlman Hall take-over (1970), Apartheid Protest and Divestment movements (1970), the Ford Hall protest (2015), Brandeis Employee rallies (2024), Brandeis staff, students and facilities protest against merit delays (2024). Protesting is at the core of a University that since its founding has prided itself on valuing inclusion and justice. As best demonstrated in Brandeis’ mission statement, this institution “Honors freedom of expression and civility of discourse as fundamental educational cornerstones.”
On the evening of May 31, Senator Cory Booker (D) of New Jersey began a 25-hour marathon speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He stated, “I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.” He held the floor in protest of the Trump administration’s actions and Elon Musk’s interference in various critical government functions, such as social safety nets, via the Department of Government Efficiency.
The Brandeis Student Union meeting was called to order on April 6, at 7:05 p.m. by Vice President Ría Escamilla-Gil ’27
On April 3, Prof. Yuval Evri (NEJS) hosted guest speakers Shirly Bahar, a political resistance educator at Columbia University and Yali Hashash, a queer feminist activist, to discuss Mizrahi identity, feminism and the political challenges of our time. This discussion was the third session of the Sephardi Modernities Seminar Series 2025: “Partners, Outsiders, and Others: Sephardi Jews and the Global Left.”
On Friday, April 4 at 4:00 p.m., the Brandeis Jewish Bund gathered on the Great Lawn for a demonstration and marched along Loop Road in support of Palestine. The gathering aimed to condemn the University’s “complicity in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians,” the Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests/disappearances and the forces of U.S. imperialism, as explained in an April 2 post on the Bund’s Instagram page. Over the course of the demonstration, around 100 individuals gathered outside the University’s entrance, and onlookers ranged from administrative staff and faculty to eventual counter-protesters.
The City of Waltham, like many others, is facing growing traffic congestion and safety issues, according to Waltham Ward Seven Councilor Paul S. Katz. During a March 24 Waltham City Council meeting, Katz proposed a resolution aimed at improving traffic safety through technology. The proposal suggests implementing a system designed to deter illegal parking behaviors.
The Brandeis Archon Yearbook club is working to be reinstated to once again release yearbooks. The club will be taking a new approach to ensure the troubles that caused Student Union to relinquish their status as a secured club in 2023 do not arise again. Student Union President Rani Balakrishna ’25 started the initiative and has since passed the project on to an eight person executive board.
Mandel G03 is lit up by the projector screen as students pile in. It’s 7:30 p.m. Participants greet each other as they haphazardly cut chocolate babka from Bakey, and the president of J Street U, Ayla Wrubel ’25, does a sound check on Zoom. Once everyone has adjusted in their seats, quiet descends on the room. The two women on the screen, Leonore, an Israeli Jew, and Randa, a Palestinian, smile graciously. They are the founding members of Zeitouna, an all women’s peace group in Ann Arbor, Michigan that meets bimonthly to engage in dialogue on the Israel-Hamas conflict. The group is where Leonore and Randa have fostered a friendship that has lasted over 20 years, since they met in the summer of 2002. After some technological kinks are smoothed out, the students watch a Columbia Broadcasting System clip from April 2024 of a Zeitouna meeting with six Palestinian and six Jewish members, one of whom is a Holocaust survivor. The women eat together before sitting with reporter Lisa Lang, to whom they express how the group has supported them but also challenged them.
The Brandeis Division of the Creative Arts is stepping up and launching a fundraising campaign in an attempt to save the beloved Lydian String Quartet. Founded in 1980, the Lydian has been a staple of the Brandeis arts community for the past 45 years. In addition to performing all over the world, the musicians serve as Brandeis professors, imparting their knowledge onto the next generation of creatives at the University.
The Brandeis Student Union has announced the start of its next election cycle. The Student Union is managed by students and advocates for a safe, equitable and engaging environment. Getting involved, meaning running for a position or casting a vote, is one way that students have meaningfully shaped Brandeis student life and ensured students' voices are heard. In a March 17 email to the Brandeis student body, Student Union Secretary Rachel Gao ’25 announced that there are 28 seats up for grabs during this spring cycle.