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This fall marks Professor Wendy Cadge’s first academic year as the University’s dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her service as dean formally began on June 1.
Brandeis University is keeping the community informed about its COVID-19 statistics through an online dashboard. This dashboard contains information about how many tests were collected, how many individuals were tested, how many individuals tested positive, how many students are in quarantine, how many students are in isolation and the seven-day average for positive tests on campus. The dashboard also includes various statistics about areas in Massachusetts. The Justice will produce infographics each week, visually displaying the information that the University releases online.
Brandeis University is keeping the community informed about its COVID-19 statistics through an online dashboard. This dashboard contains information about how many tests were collected, how many individuals were tested, how many individuals tested positive, how many students are in quarantine, how many students are in isolation, the seven-day average for positive tests on campus and the vaccination rates. The dashboard also includes various statistics about areas in Massachusetts. The Justice will produce infographics each week, visually displaying the information that the University releases online.
University President Ron Liebowitz welcomed the Class of 2025 at the Convocation ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 29. He opened by thanking the Department of Community Living and the Orientation Core Committee for orchestrating new student move-in and orientation, especially in the midst of both the pandemic and a hurricane.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
Brandeis is continuing the search for a new Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion after Mark Brimhall-Vargas stepped down in July 2021. Until the new diversity officer is appointed, David Fryson has been chosen to fill the role.
As the University welcomes new and returning students to campus for the fall semester, the school’s COVID-19 policies have changed.
Keynote speaker Bryan Stevenson, a human rights lawyer and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke to the graduating Class of 2021 about overcoming racial injustice and inequality.
Ellen Gordon '65
At its final meeting of the academic year on May 2, the Union Senate voted in favor of chartering –– and by extension, securing –– Branda as a club. This step was made possible because of a constitutional amendment, passed last week, which would add Branda to the list of nine secured clubs.
The Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center hosted a panel discussion last Friday about transformative justice, its implementation in higher education and the ways it can benefit the Brandeis community. PARC invited Brown University alumnus Camilla Pelsinger, Brown senior Izzy Acevado and social justice organizer Dara Bayer to speak about their experiences implementing the first formal transformative justice program in a U.S. institution of higher education.
This year, a committee of Student Union members gathered for the constitutional review process, which the Union holds every three years. The committee proposed a total of 33 amendments, which students voted for on April 29. President-elect Krupa Sourirajan ’23 said at the last Union Senate meeting of the academic year that the results of the voting would be released soon, though she did not specify a date.
The Psychology department released the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and General Climate survey survey on Monday, May 3 for members of the department. The survey is confidential and open to everyone within the department, including all faculty, staff and students.
Mark Brimhall-Vargas, the current Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will be leaving the University for a new position at Fenway Health this summer, University President Ron Liebowitz wrote in a campus-wide email on Monday, May 3.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
On Tuesday, April 27, India reported 320,000 new COVID-19 cases and 2,771 deaths, as a second COVID-19 wave ravaged the country's healthcare system. The Indian government has responded to the crisis by restricting its own exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has had drastic repercussions on impoverished nations. Last week, President Biden defended the current ban on exports of raw materials used in vaccines in response to urgent requests to lift it, citing obligations to prioritize vaccinating the American population first. In a recent turn of events, the Biden Administration proposed a plan to export up to 60 million AstraZeneca doses to India when available, and countries such as the UK have sent ventilators and additional medical equipment to assist in navigating the catastrophe. In light of the situation, some physicians have alluded to ‘vaccine nationalism’ — when nations procure doses on behalf of national interests at the expense of other countries. How does vaccine nationalism or pandemic profiteering factor into the current nature of global and domestic vaccine distributions, if at all? Many of our own community also have loved ones in the impacted area. At a local level, how can the Brandeis administration and faculty support South Asian students at this time?
*Trigger warning: Death of Black people at the hands of police violence and white supremacy* Email note: We understand and take very seriously the heaviness of this topic, especially for our Black community members. While we believe it extremely important to continue shedding light on the atrocities of racism and state-sanctioned violence in the United States, we also recognize the need for space to heal away from constant news of this violence. We deeply appreciate any thoughts our community has the space and energy to offer at this time. Last week, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter for murdering George Floyd after violently detaining him on May 25, 2020. Given the ongoing police brutality against Black people in the United States, what do the results of this trial mean for the fight to achieve racial justice? What kind of cultural, legal and policy changes are necessary to achieve racial justice in the United States?
The African Diaspora Cluster hosted the second annual M. Jacqui Alexander Lecture in African Diaspora Studies on Tuesday, April 6. Benjamin Talton, an associate professor of History at Temple University, gave a talk titled “Black Power, Human Rights and Humanitarianism in Africa and the US.” His lecture was drawn from his recently published book, “In This Land of Plenty: Mickey Leland and Africa in American Politics.”
Every year, Brandeis survivors and allies gather to raise awareness and strengthen solidarity among individuals impacted by sexual violence — to “Take Back the Night.” This year, the event took place virtually on Thursday, April 15, rather than in its traditional form of being an in-person community march.