The Justice, March 10, 2015

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SPORTS | Page 16

WBBALL CAPTURES FIRST ECAC CROWN IN 10 YEARS The Independent Student Newspaper

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of

B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9

Justice

Volume LXVII, Number 21

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

STUDENT ACTIVISM

ADVOCATING CHANGE

Students push for dialogue ■ Students scheduled a

meeting to discuss the potential renewal of the AlQuds University partnership. By RACHEL SHARER JUSTICE EDITOR

Last Friday, 15 students and alumni gathered outside University President Frederick Lawrence’s office to demand a meeting to discuss the renewal of the Brandeis University Al-Quds University partnership. The event was organized by Eli Philip ’15 and Catie Stewart ’16, who co-founded the Al-Quds University Student Dialogue Initiative in November 2013, shortly after the suspension was announced. According

JEREMY PERLMAN/the Justice

CELEBRATION: Rape Crisis Center Coordinator Victoria Jonas ’15 (center) speaks at the opening of the center, alongside Ava Blustein ’15 (left), sexual assault services and prevention specialist Sheila McMahon and Samantha Daniels ’16 (far right).

Rape Crisis Center opens on campus ■ The official opening

welcomed new Title IX Investigator Rebecca Tillar and celebrated the new space. By RACHEL SHARER JUSTICE EDITOR

On Tuesday, the University’s new Rape Crisis Center officially opened on campus after months of preparations. Students and faculty gathered in the new center to celebrate the space and hear remarks from Sheila McMahon, the sexual assault services and prevention specialist who has returned to campus this semester after being on academic leave. McMahon will be one of the primary people in charge of the center, along with Kristin Huang of the Psychological Counseling Center. “Our ultimate goal is to put ourselves out of business,” McMahon said at the opening. “It is a powerful moment to be able to come together … for the work that’s been done by so many in our community to make this possible.” The Rape Crisis Center is an initiative started by the University’s Office of Prevention Services that was first proposed by members of Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence in a petition last spring, according to an Apr. 8 Justice article. Many community members were

concerned about a lack of resources on campus for sexual assault survivors and established the RCC as a result of this. The RCC will provide support to members of the community impacted by sexual violence with counseling, education and advocacy, as well as “steadily bring about a campus climate in which sexual violence is unacceptable,” according to the description on the new Facebook page. The event also welcomed the University’s new Title IX Investigator Rebecca Tillar. Last fall, the University was listed as one of over 75 total colleges and universities that were under investigation for potentially violating Title IX rights. The University hired Tillar to help oversee the Title IX investigations as well as assist with education and outreach. Tillar will also conduct informal investigations when complainants do not wish to enter a completely formal process, according to a March 3 Justice article. Also present at the event were the three student coordinators of the RCC, Samantha Daniels ’16, Victoria Jonas ’15 and Ava Blustein ’15, who will serve at the RCC as the volunteer coordinator, the marketing and outreach coordinator and the office coordinator, respectively. They are also available for advocacy and counseling during their office hours in the RCC. “We are so excited to have officially opened the Brandeis Rape Crisis Center,” Jonas told the Jus-

to Stewart, she, Philip and several other students had been requesting to meet with Lawrence for several months to discuss their initiative and the renewal of the formal partnership, but their emails were ignored. According to Stewart, after over 200 students sent emails to the President urging him to renew the partnership, they were granted a response in November. However, Stewart said that they went through months of meeting cancellations and rescheduling before finally deciding to sit outside the President’s office until they were granted an audience. “Going to [President Lawrence’s] office was a last resort,” Stewart said in an interview with the Justice. “It was pretty clear to us that we

See PARTNERSHIP, 7 ☛

Candidates discuss election platforms

tice. “The official opening celebration was a way to invite the greater Brandeis community to meet the dedicated staff who will be working there, as well as get acquainted with our space.” As the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the RCC, Jonas has also recently created a Brandeis University RCC Facebook page, which obtained over 300 ‘likes’ within a few days. “The [Facebook page] will be a place to learn about the Center’s services, hours and staff, as well as a resource for generating awareness not only about the Center’s existence but general issues of sexual violence in the media and community,” Jonas said. The center is still in the process of hiring student peer advocates, who will also provide help, information and emotional support to survivors of sexual assault. A unique component of the advocates' role is medical advocacy, or accompanying survivors to the hosital for a rape kit, according to the article. According to a Feb. 2 Justice article, the inaugural group of six to 10 peer advocates will serve as “additional members of the [center’s] team.” The peer advocates must also go through an extensive training process. The RCC is located in Usdan Student Center in room G-108 and will be open and accessible to students 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

■ Several positions will be

open for the first round of Student Union elections, to be held this Thursday. By RACHEL HUGHES JUSTICE EDITOR

This Thursday, the Student Union will be holding its annual presidential election, as well as a first round of elections for several other positions on its executive board. Voting will be open for 24 hours starting on Thursday. The positions to be filled are president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, junior representative to the Board of Trustees, Allocations Board member and Racial Minority Allocations Board member. The current executive board met last Wednesday with those students interested in candidacy for the various positions. Nyah Macklin ’16 is running unopposed for student union president. Also running unopposed are Shuying Liu ’16 for secretary, Nicole Lenchner ’16 for treasurer and Emily Conrad ’17 for junior representative to the Board of Trustees.

Liu, Lenchner and Conrad did not respond to requests for comment by press time. Macklin is currently serving as a Class of 2016 senator and has organized transportation initiatives on campus, as well as the Class of 2016-sponsored ski trip, over the past year. If elected as president, she said in an interview with the Justice, “I want to push administration, all the way up to the Board of Trustees, to reflect all of the voices in the Brandeis community... especially those who have been marginalized and silenced.” “If [people] don't know me already, I am very approachable,” Macklin said. “I am able to communicate through all walks of life. I'm able to... be a friend, be a student and be incredibly personal. But I'm also able to represent [students] and talk intelligently to the higher-ups.” The vice presidential position will be a race between David Herbstritt ’17, Dennis Hermida-Gonzales ’17, Daniel Koas ’16, Mary Michalos ’16 and Ze (Vera) Wang ’18. Herbstritt was elected to the Senate at the beginning of this year and has served as executive senator since February. His

See ELECTIONS, 7 ☛

Teach with Technology

Propaganda Exhibit

IBS hires Sabovik

 Brandeis club Deis3D and the MakerLab hosted the University's very first 3D printing competition with participants from all over.

 Robert D. Farber Special Collections hosts exhibit displaying World War I propaganda from its collection.

The University hired Micha Sabovik as the Executive Director of Enrollment and Student Success for IBS.

FEATURES 9

For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

Waltham, Mass.

Let your voice be heard! Submit letters to the editor online at www.thejustice.org

INDEX

ARTS 19

ARTS SPORTS

17 16

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 8

OPINION POLICE LOG

10 2

News 3 COPYRIGHT 2015 FREE AT BRANDEIS.


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