University Admin consults PR firm about media woes

University President Reinharz clarified what he called “misperceptions picked up by the press” at a student press conference yesterday, saying that the university’s Board of Trustees never voted to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its collection.

Reinharz said that while the trustees authorized the administration to close the Rose in order to transition it into an art teaching and exhibition center, “the Board of Trustees resolution did not speak about the closing of the rose. The resolution said that we ought to find a way to integrate the roes more closely into the education mission of the university.”

“The board resolution never talked about selling the collection,” he continued…

Nonprofits push to change state endowment law

The university’s counsel is evaluating the possibility of changing the Massachusetts state laws governing endowment spending, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French said at a student press conference yesterday. Questions about the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) arose at last week’s student forum with university President Jehuda Reinharz. “Our […]

In the midst of anger, understanding

The Board of Trustee’s authorization for the university to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its collection has been met with disbelief, outrage and protest from both within the Brandeis community and beyond. The reactions of people who cannot comprehend the decision the Board made have been the topic of tens of national headlines in the past two weeks.

Less well heard, however, are the voices of community members who dislike the decision, but understand the difficulties…

Undergrad applications for class of ‘13 drop 14 percent

Undergraduate applications are down 14 percent this year despite plans for the first-year class of 2013 to include 75 more students than previous first-year classes, Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva said. Villanueva, who said that Brandeis is not the only university experiencing a drop in applications, attributed the drop to the national recession. “Early analysis […]

The Reader author speaks on collective guilt

Image Gallery: “Collective Guilt?” Award-winning “The Reader” author Bernhard Schlink discussed his new book “Guilt About the Past” and the intergenerational nature of collective guilt on Tuesday. Schlink, who is German, lectured on the reasons why a person or a group of people can become intertwined with a criminal’s guilt, at an event sponsored by […]

Mobile polling temporarily banned from elections

Students running in this week’s Student Union elections were not allowed to use mobile polling as a campaign strategy after Student Union Secretary Tia Chatterjee ’09 banned the tactic. Chatterjee wrote in an e-mail to The Hoot that she decided to ban mobile polling stations when she learned that Executive Senator Andrew Brooks ’09 had […]

BRANDEIS BRIEF: Reslife allows gender neutral housing

The Department of Residence Life announced in an e-mail to the student body last week that a new gender neutral housing policy will be put into effect for room selection in March. Students living in rooms, suits and apartments on mixed-gender floors in sophomore, junior and senior areas will be able to choose whomever they […]

Committee reviewing merit aid portability decision

Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe announced in an e-mail Friday that the decision to rescind merit aid portability for study abroad is being reviewed by a committee comprised of students, faculty and administration. The review comes after students were outraged by a Jan. 16 e-mail that said that students would “not receive any form […]

Student Union Clubs in Service Initiative underway

The Clubs in Service Initiative, a joint project of the Student Union and the Waltham group in which clubs participate in community service projects, held their first informational meeting on Monday. Following Student Union President Jason Gray’s (’10) call to action in his state of the Union address at the end of the Fall ’08 […]

Editorial: Backpedaling doesn’t get you anywhere

In an e-mail to the entire campus community, university President Jehuda Reinharz expressed regret over not finding a more “inclusive and open way to engage the Brandeis community in the deliberations that led to the Board [of Trustees’] decision” regarding the Rose Art Museum. And for this message, Reinharz should be commended. However, in the […]