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The Student Union Senate unanimously passed all five of the bylaw amendments that Senator Joseph Coles ’22 and Union Director of Residential Living Nancy Zhai ’22 proposed at the previous week’s meeting.
The state of Massachusetts opened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 years of age or older on April 19. Assistant Provost for Strategic Initiatives Morgen Bergman sent an email to all Brandeis students on April 16 announcing an on-campus COVID-19 vaccine clinic. The clinic was organized with the University’s pharmaceutical partner, PelMeds Community Pharmacy, located in Waltham. The clinic took place in the Zinner Forum, located within the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, on April 22 and 23, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to an email sent to the Brandeis community by Provost Carol Fierke and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Stew Uretsky.
Though there were no club recognitions, charters or decharters, the April 11 Senate meeting was still full of activity, being just one of the few meetings from this semester to run the full two hours. The meeting was broken down into four blocks, during which University administrators were invited to answer questions submitted by senators — a deviation from the standard meeting procedure.
Brandeis Hillel, a Jewish club on campus, organized an in-person event in celebration of the 73rd Israel Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzmaut, on April 15 in Fellows Garden.
Executive Senator Joseph Coles ’22 and Director of Residential Life Nancy Zhai ’22 proposed a combined total of five bylaw amendments at the April 18 Union Senate meeting. The amendments were proposed in conjunction with the review of the Union Constitution, which Coles said is “going well.”
Five senator positions and three representative positions, with a total of 10 seats, were open in the second round of Student Union elections this semester. Students voted on April 21, and Secretary Alex Park ’22 held a debate between the candidates on April 18. Park announced the results on April 22.
The University is in the process of replacing its student information system, Sage, with Workday Student. As with Sage, faculty, students and staff will use Workday Student to access and manage student information regarding class enrollment, grades and more. Workday Student is launching in phases: the Workday platforms of Human Resources, Finance and Payroll launched in summer 2019; the basic structure for Workday Student launched in fall 2020; class registration and advising will be made available in April and May; financial information will be available this summer and all remaining features will go live in fall 2021. As of April 20, Workday Student is available for students to use to manage their personal information. Student information will remain in Sage up to the 2021 summer semester, so students will access Sage to look up spring 2021 course grades and access Workday Student to apply for fall 2021 classes. By fall 2021, the University will have fully transitioned to Workday Student, and Sage will no longer be necessary.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
On April 21, the Brandeis Democrats hosted “The Supreme Court: Legitimacy and the Future,” a panel discussion featuring Prof. Daniel Breen (LGLS) and Prof. Jeffrey Lenowitz (POL). The panel brought the two professors together to discuss “all things Supreme Court,” according to the Brandeis Democrats’ weekly email.
On April 23, the Center for Spiritual Life hosted a memorial service for the lives lost within the Brandeis community over the last year.
This year’s annual Deis Impact festival of social justice showcased a wide variety of programs. Highlights from the event, which ran from April 7 to April 12, include: a workshop on the Migration of Caste, a keynote speech from Jose Antonio Vargas, a 7-Day Neurodiversity Challenge and a faculty panel that discussed immigration policy and social justice under the Biden Administration. This year’s Deis Impact theme was “Reflections on Im/Migration,” focusing on immigration, migration, asylum-seeking, refugee experiences, xenophobia, citizenship and nationality, according to the event website. Members of the Justice attended several of these events.
The Every Voice Coalition — a student- and survivor-led organization working to pass survivor-centered legislation to prevent campus sexual violence — spearheaded efforts to pass a recent Massachusetts bill. After five long years of grassroots advocacy and organizing in which Massachusetts college students played a key role, the bipartisan bill S.2979, commonly known as the Every Voice Bill, was signed into law on Jan. 12, 2021, according to a March 25 email from Bella Fong, Every Voice Coalition National Development Fellow and National Communications Director for Outreach, to the Justice.
The Brandeis Board of Trustees agreed to extend President Ron Liebowitz’s contract for five years, according to an April 9 email from Liebowitz to the Brandeis community.
As climate change becomes an increasingly urgent issue, climate-friendly lifestyle choices are gaining popularity. On April 6, the Center for German and European Studies hosted “Could Veganism Cool the Planet? A Conversation with Vegan Activist ‘Earthling Ed,’ Ed Winters.” Ed Winters is the co-founder and co-director of Surge, an animal rights non-profit organization. Following his introduction, Winters discussed the role of veganism in the climate movement with the founder of 350PDX, Adriana Voss-Andreae, Surge Project Manager Tatiana von Rheinbaben and 18-year-old climate and animal rights advocate Juliana Voss-Andreae. The event was moderated by Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL).
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
A Forbes Magazine article reported staggering data about the price of university and college tuition in the United States — the average cost of a four-year college rose by 497% between 1985 and 2018, which is more than twice the rate of inflation. While this increase alone continues to cause a financial burden on tuition-payers, the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened this burden. Most universities that switched to remote learning in spring 2020 continued to charge the same tuition that was charged prior to the pandemic, according to the article.
Jewish communities and individuals around the world observed Holocaust Remembrance Day, also known as Yom HaShoah in Hebrew, on April 8. The day is an internationally acknowledged commemoration of the atrocities of the Holocaust in which six million Jews perished. In Israel, a siren sounds and everything stops — including traffic and pedestrians — and for two minutes everyone stands in silence to commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Other communities around the world commemorate with services, educational programs, survivor stories, Holacaust themed films and more.
On Tuesday, April 6, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that all adults will become eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations beginning on April 19. The move marks a shift from original official projections of vaccine availability back in January, and a change in Biden’s foreshadowing that everyone would be eligible by May 1, a prediction he offered in March. Since their initiation, states' registration processes to sign up for vaccine appointments have been a source of frustration for many people across the country. How has the vaccine rollout program worked for — or neglected — particular communities? What challenges might this new rollout plan, which coincides with multiple states lowering restrictions on social distancing, pose for achieving herd immunity?