Library union rallies, calls for contract that recognizes seniority
■ After months of contract negotiation, the Brandeis Library Workers Union rallied in front of Goldfarb Library to demand change.
By ZOE ZACHARY AND LIN LIN HUTCHINSON JUSTICE EDITORS
On Jan. 23, the Brandeis Library Workers Union, braving the winter cold, held a demonstration outside of Goldfarb Library at 3 p.m. Attendants of the rally included librarians, other staff members, concerned students and members of other unions on campus. Demonstrators held signs with messages such as “We can’t cut our way to excellence,” “Respect our work / retain staff” and “fair pay = staff.” The rally comes after seven months of negotiations with the administration, with limited success.
Members of other campus and Boston area unions attended the rally showing support to the Brandeis library workers. One math PhD student, who’s a union member of SEIU Local 509, expresses that they’re “very happy to be a member of one of the unions on campus,” as it provides them “power in a way that [they] do not have otherwise.”
Lennie Donohoe, a SEIU 32BJ member for over 20 years and plumber at Brandeis, expressed the facilities union’s commitment to supporting the library workers, calling out the prolonged contract negotiations. Donohoe said, “Facilities are here to support the librarians. It's been too long for you guys to not get your contract,” thus emphasizing that the old contracts, which expired June 31, 2024, have been expanded since July. From Boston, a leader of Mas-
sachusetts College of Art and Design Local 26, which represents food service workers at MassArt, said “We here today to demonstrate you guys that we are with you and that will support you in this fight. Until we win, we will be here.”
In the audience was Thomas McKeever, president of SEIU Local 888, who recognized the library workers’ “pioneering effort in bringing organizing rights to Brandeis University.” He emphasized the union’s efforts to produce universal contract language and “will give [the union] every resource of the Local.”
Last to speak was Alexis Cooper, a two time Brandeis graduate and current staff member.
Cooper pointed out that the Union was entering their seventh month of contract negotiations with the University. According to her, when the Library Workers Union brings up pertinent issues, they are often sidelined and delayed by the administration.
“Year after year, library workers have asked and proposed different ways to build a structure that rewards employees for years of experience and that keeps experienced employees in their job,” Cooper said. She continued, adding “Year after year, we've been told by the university that ‘now isn't a good time.’ ‘We're facing hard times.’ ‘The university is already working towards a solution.’ Frankly, if we wait for a good time, we'll be waiting forever.”
As a bargaining member, Cooper and her fellow union members ask the University to work with them. “Stop Ignoring our attempts to find a solution for a problem that you create,” Cooper said. During her call for collaboration, she requested that Interim President Arthur Levine ’70 and the Board of Trustees “commit now to addressing this deferred maintenance
See UNION, 5 ☛
Brandeis alumna analyzes perceptions across political parties
■ University of Michigan Prof. Yanna Krupnikov ’02 explored how political involvement can drive affective polarization and inaccurate views of people across the political spectrum.
By AMANDA CHEN JUSTICE EDITOR
Political commentator Walter Lippmann described politics in his 1922 book “Public Opinion” as “pictures in people’s heads,” perceptions born out of information people receive and interactions with others. Those pictures influence how people view each other, as well as members of other political parties.
On Thursday, Jan. 23, Yanna Krupnikov ’02, a professor of Communication and Media at the University of Michigan, presented a talk titled, “How We See Each Other: Perceptions Across the Political Divide” in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.
Prof. Greenlee (POL) introduced Krupnikov, who studied politics and graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis in
2002. A distinguished scholar specializing in topics of political news consumption and polarization, she has co-authored five books, including “Partisan Hostility and American Democracy,” “The Other Divide” and “Independent Politics.” The event was organized by the Politics department with the support of the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Jeffrey Shoulson. The Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation was also an event co-sponsor.
Krupnikov worked with James Druckman, Samara Klar, Matthew Levendusky and John Barry Ryan on a 2022 study examining people’s misperceptions of others’ level of political discussion and ideological intensity. They asked select participants how often they talk about politics and to characterize their ideology and had others estimate how often someone from another political party talks about politics and their ideological intensity. Krupnikov and her colleagues measured the level of political discussion on a three-point scale: rarely, occasionally and frequently. Of the group asked to self-evaluate how much they talked about politics, 50 percent of respondents
See PARTISAN, 5 ☛
■ Alexan Waltham is currently accepting applications for an affordable
lottery.
Citizens of Waltham have a new opportunity as 53 new affordable housing units are opening to the public. Alexan Waltham is a new housing development next to the Wayside Walk and Bike Trail and half a mile from the Waltham Commuter Rail Station. The development is home to amenities such as “a large clubhouse with a resort-style pool and sun deck, a modern fitness/wellness center, bike storage, dog park and pet walking stations. This project will offer residents either surface or covered parking,” according to the SEB Housing website.
The development has 210 units in total, meaning that 25% of the development is a part of the affordable housing initiative, a reflection of The Affordable Homes Act. This act was signed into law on Aug. 6 by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy. A lottery for the lease of these units will take place via Zoom on March 4. Applications to be entered into the lottery are currently available and will be open until Feb. 17 at 2 p.m.
Eligibility for these units is calculated based on the area median income of Waltham and how the salaries of individuals compare. There are two different types of units available through this lottery, the first of which is 60% AMI units. The maximum household income limits for these units are
By ANI POGHOSYAN
$68,520 for one person, $78,360 for two people, $88,140 for three people, $97,920 for four people, $105,780 for five people and $113,640 for six people. There are three different types of apartments available under the 60% AMI category, and the rent for these is $1,741 for a one bedroom, $2,080 for a two bedroom and $2,395 for a three bedroom. Of the 53 affordable units, 14 of them fall under the 60% AMI category.
The second category of available apartments through this lottery is 80% AMI units, with the other 39. The maximum household income limits for these apartments are $91,200 for one person, $104,200 for two people, $117,250 for three people, $130,250 for four people, $140,700 for five people and $151,100 for six people. There are four different types of 80% AMI units, and the rent price for those is a studio for $2,200, a one bedroom for $2,347, a two bedroom for $2,808 and a three bedroom for $3,235. In addition to rent, tenants of these apartments are required to pay for their own electricity. However, the costs of water and sewer are included in the cost of rent. Pets are allowed subject to restrictions in these apartments and each unit comes with a parking space. Second parking spaces for the two and three bedroom units may also be available.
These apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy in March of 2025. When the leases for these units are up for renewal in 2026, there is the possibility of changes in rent. According to the information packet provided to interested parties, “Rents may increase if Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Area
Ani Poghosyan analyizes the directorial techniques displayed in "The Color of Pomegranates".
POLICE LOG
Medical Emergency
Dec. 1—BEMCo treated a sick party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 2—There was a medical emergency for an unconscious party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 3—There was a medical emergency for a party who was not feeling well. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Dec. 3—There was a medical emergency for possible food poisoning. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 3—There was a medical call for a party with a cut elbow. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Dec. 4—Waltham Fire Department and Armstrong Ambulance had been dispatched to treat a vomiting party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 6—There was a medical emergency for a party who cut their hand. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Dec. 6—There was a medical emergency for a student complaining of chest pains. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Dec. 7—There was a medical emergency for a party who was not feeling well in Sherman Dining Hall. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment.
Dec. 8—There was a medical emergency for a party with a head injury. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Dec. 9—A party stated that they had flu-like symptoms. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further medical treatment.
Dec. 9—There was a medical call for a party who was not feeling well.
Dec. 13—A party reported having an allergic reaction to something that they drank.
Dec. 14—There was a medical call for a party not feeling well. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further care.
Dec. 14—There was a medical call for a party having abdominal pain. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 16—There was a medical emergency for a student with a racing heartbeat. The patient was transported to Golding Health Center.
Dec. 16—There was a voluntary Section 12 transport.
Dec. 17—There was a medical emergency for a party who had passed out. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 18—There was a medical emergency for a party who had passed out. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 11—There was a medical emergency for a party who had broken their ankle at the Usdan Student Center loa -
ding dock. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 14—There was a medical emergency for a party with a dislocated knee. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 14—There was a medical emergency for a broken collarbone. The patient refused further medical treatment.
Jan. 16—There was a medical emergency for a student who had fainted and hit their head. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 16—There was a medical call for a party with a rolled ankle. BEMCo treated the patient, who signed a refusal for further care.
Jan. 16—A party called for assistance because their motorized wheelchair was out of service.
Jan. 17—A party requested BEMCo. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 19—There was a medical emergency for a party experiencing severe menstrual cramps. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 20—There was a medical emergency for a party having a seizure. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 20—There was a medical emergency for a party possibly having a seizure. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 20—There was a medical emergency for a party with a high fever. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 22—There was a medical emergency for a party who had been feeling faint. Patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Jan. 22—There was a medical emergency for a party who had been feeling numb throughout their body. Patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Jan. 22—A party had fainted and regained consciousness. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Jan. 22—A party on the baseball team was having difficulty breathing. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 23—There was a medical emergency for a party who was vomiting and fainting. Patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further medical care.
Jan. 23—There was a medical emergency for a party with rapid heartbeat and dizziness. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 23—There was a medical emergency for a party with severe stomach pain. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further treatment.
Weather
Dec. 3—There was a medical emergen -
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
■ A news article incorrectly spealled “Haitian” as “Hatian.” It was corrected to “Haitian.” (Oct. 22, p. 5)
The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice. org.
cy for a party who had fallen. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Dec. 4—There was a medical emergency for a party who had slipped and fallen.
Dec. 9—There was a medical emergency for a party who had fallen. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further medical treatment.
Dec. 10—There was a report of icy walkways. Facilities was notified.
Jan. 11—Campus roadways were becoming slippery. Grounds was notified.
Jan. 11—Officer in Charge requested that Grounds be notified to salt the campus roadways.
Jan. 22—There was a medical emergency for a party who had slipped and fallen on ice. The patient was gone on arrival.
Intoxication
Dec. 7—A highly intoxicated party called in on an emergency call box. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment.
Dec. 18—There was a medical emergency for an intoxicated party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 12—A party showed signs of alcohol poisoning. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 14—There was a medical emergency for an intoxicated party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 18—There was a medical emergency for an intoxicated party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 18—There was a medical emergency for an intoxicated party who was in and out of consciousness. The patient was treated by BEMCo and signed a refusal for further care.
Jan. 18—There was a medical emergency for an intoxicated party who was confused. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Jan. 19—There was a medical emergency for an intoxicated party. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further care.
Noise Complaint
Dec. 3—There was a noise complaint from a Waltham Resident from East Quadrangle. The noise was reported to be from Eversource/National Grid work on South Street.
Dec. 7—A reporting party stated that a dorm in Charles Rivers Apartments was very loud. The Area Coordinator on call was notified.
Dec. 8—A party reported hearing people yelling and screaming near Massell Pond. The noise was coming from students enjoying the first snowfall.
Dec. 17—A loud party was reported in Foster Mods. The Area Coordinator on call was notified.
Jan. 10—A party reported hearing a “chainsaw-like” noise outside for the previous half hour.
Jan. 18—There was a complaint of loud noise coming from Foster Mods.
Jan. 19—The Area Coordinator on call requested units to be on standby while dispersing students who had been loud and throwing snowballs in Massell Quad.
Miscellaneous
Nov. 29—There was a tag on the observatory that read “all hope lost.” Investigation to follow.
Nov. 29—The Waltham Police Department requested an officer to transport a Brandeis student back to campus.
Dec. 5—There was an investigation for reported fraud.
Dec. 8—A party called to report a suspicious person. The party in question was gone on arrival.
Dec. 9—A party reported that they were scammed out of money. Investigation to follow.
Dec. 9—There was a damaged card reader. The card reader was reattached and is now functional.
Dec. 10—There was a report of a flag having been stolen from the Usdan Student Center. Investigation to follow.
Dec. 10—There was a report of a verbal argument with a mention of a knife. Officers responded and spoke with the involved parties.
Dec. 12—A party was reported in the Usdan Student Center for smelling like gasoline. The party stated that they had accidentally spilled fuel on themself that morning, and appeared to be a construction worker. The Usdan Student Center is under construction.
Dec. 12—A party reported a possible fight in the East Quadrangle. One party was reported to be in custody. Investigation to follow.
Dec. 23—There was a suspicious letter. Dec. 22—There was an unoccupied shuttle bus found with the door open at the Angleside Lot.
Jan. 10—A verbal trespass warning was issued. Jan. 10—A previously trespassed individual re-entered 164 Charles River Road. Investigation to follow.
Jan. 14—A party reported that their vacuum cleaner had been stolen. Investigation to follow.
Jan. 14—A party reported finding a knife in their kitchen drawer that neither they nor their roommate recognized. Investigation to follow. Jan. 17—A vehicle ran over a sign. There was no damage to the vehicle or to the sign.
Jan. 21—A party reported that someone had damaged their electric scooter. Jan. 23—A party reports someone having ripped a sign off their door.
— Compiled by Zoe Zachary
Winter : Statue of Louis Brandeis stands tall infront of the Shapiro Student Center after a snow fall.
BRYAN WOLFE/The Justice
Another fire at the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center
■ The blaze at Chipman Hall intensifies the growing pressure on the city to preserve and reckon with the site’s complex and controversial history.
By LIN LIN HUTCHINSON JUSTICE EDITOR
The historic Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center on 200 Trapelo Road in Waltham, MA, has faced a series of challenges over the years, including previous fires, vandalism and neglect by the city, causing buildings on the property to crumble. A recent fire has exacerbated its deteriorating condition, marking another setback in the ongoing struggle to preserve this Waltham landmark.
On Jan. 18, at approximately 9:53 a.m., the Waltham Fire Department was notified of smoke on the property. Upon arrival, firefighters found “heavy fire showing from a two-anda-half-story brick building,” warranting a second fire alarm, according to Waltham Fire Lt. Mike Murphy during a Jan. 18 press conference. A third alarm was soon called, summoning all 10 Waltham fire companies and receiving assistance from neighboring cities including Arlington, Watertown, Belmont and Cambridge.
The fire took place in Chipman Hall, an original building of the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center. The campus spans over 180 acres and has a complex and troubled history. Established in 1848 by Samuel Gridley Howe as the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded, the federally funded institution was the oldest institution in the Western Hemisphere that served people with developmental disabilities. Its mission included classroom training, manual training like shoe repair and sewing, music therapy and physical activities like dancing and athletics, according to a written history.
However, the center later became infamous for its neglect, abuse and involvement in eugenics practices, especially under the leadership of its third superintendent, Walter E. Fernald. As eugenics gained traction in the 20th century, the horrors of eugenics-related practices in concentration camps during the Holocaust influenced the segregation of individuals with disabilities in the United States. Widespread intelligence quotient testing became a key tool for this segregation, leading to the separation of children deemed intellectually “insufficient” from their families. These children were institutionalized and kept from reintegrating into society, all in the name of preserving a “clean” genetic pool.
Despite the center’s troubling history, efforts to close it began in the early 2000s and the last resident left in 2014. The city of Waltham then acquired the property for $3.7 million, with plans for preservation and redevelopment, but many local residents and advocacy groups continue to express concerns about how the city manages the site’s legacy.
Originally known as the Girl’s Dormitory, Chipman Hall, a Queen Anne-style structure, was built in 1892. It was designed by Boston architect William Preston, who was also the architect for the footbridge in the Boston Public Garden and Boston’s Natural History Museum. The dormitory played a central role at Fernald. It served as the prototype for the patient residence on campus and across other state institutions, even inspiring military barrack layouts. Alongside the Boy’s Dorm, the Schoolhouse and Waverly Hall, Chipman Hall is part of the “Core 4” structures built during a period of rapid growth. The school’s increasing population necessitated relocation from South Boston to Waltham. These developments were pivotal in shaping both the evolution of special education in the U.S. and the field of institutional architecture, marking an era of bold experimentation.
“The fire in Chipman Hall is a tragedy that could erase an overlooked but crucial history,” Bryan Parcival wrote in a Jan. 24 email to The Justice. Parcival is a filmmaker and
BRIEF
Waltham Public Schools email regarding potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents at Waltham schools
On Jan. 24, the Waltham Public Schools Community received an email from the Acting Superintendent of Schools Kate Peretz with regards to the potential presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents at Waltham schools.
In response to a “great deal of information in the news that has been troubling and has created concerns for many of our students and families and for the people who serve them in our schools,” Peretz writes that “ICE agents will not be allowed access to our schools without proper judicial warrants and will not be allowed to disrupt our educational program in any way.”
Peretz notes that she has the support of Waltham Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy, Waltham Police Department and Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa, who is currently on medical leave.
Included in the email, Peretz notes information that WPS families, staff and students should know:
“The Waltham Public School District is committed to serving all children who reside in the District and to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for all students. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, state law, and federal law require state educational agencies and local school districts to provide all elementary and secondary students with equal access to public education - irrespective of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or immigration status. This has not changed this week, and this will not change in the future. All of our school and city agencies are dedicated to supporting this commitment, and we are here for all of our students at all times.
• The Waltham Police Department does not enforce civil warrants. Our building leaders will not admit any ICE agents into schools without a judicial warrant. The principals of our schools have been directed to call me, as the acting superintendent, immediately if ICE agents arrive at a school building.
• Our school administrators have been and will continue to be trained in the appropriate response to this possible event, as well as other challenges that face our schools.”
Peretz expressed that she is “well supported by both school and city officials, who are available for consultation, and are ready to assist, as needed.” The Acting Superintendent says she will be working in collaboration with School Resource Officers to “support our schools in maintaining a safe and nurturing educational environment.”
— Lin Lin Hutchinson
photographer who was part of a team hired by the city when it purchased the property to perform a recording of the site. Parcival now considers himself as a preservation advocate for the “Core 4” and expressed concerns of the management of the property.
“I truly cannot wrap my head around it, particularly the extent and the level of the vandalism, which is unconscionable,” Parcival said in a Jan. 23 phone interview with The Justice, speaking to the rise of damage and defacement to the buildings during the Covid-19 Pandemic. It is not only the loss of history that he is concerned about, but also the missed potential of the property. He continued: “Waltham inherited a campus that you could have had at least a dozen buildings turned over fairly quickly for housing. They had inherited a fully functional hospital that had literally just closed its doors at the time of the purchase, then, they’ve let everything just crumble, to ruin and vandalism.”
During a Jan. 13 Waltham City Council meeting, the council approved a $1,031,710 loan for the exterior preservation and restoration of the Howe and Administration Buildings on the Fernald property. The Howe building has been allocated $494,165, while the Administration building received $537,545. The exterior preservation and restoration efforts are the first of multiple phases. Both buildings will receive similar treatments like restoring brick facades to the original appearance, removing existing windows and replacing them with windows that match the appearance while being energy efficient, and replacing the roof.
The city has hired Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype for the restoration efforts. In a Dec. 12, 2024 letter to the city, BH+A writes, “The intent of this exterior restoration scope will be to provide sound, watertight exteriors that will not require major repairs for 50 years.”
The fire is another warning to the City of Waltham that the site requires care, but there is still hope that it will grow into a new legacy of serving its community.
BRIEF
“Plans for the Future” a message from the Interim President
On Jan. 23, Brandeis community members opened their inboxes to find a message from Interim President Arthur Levine ’70 titled “Plans for the Future.” This email begins by explaining that he presented “some ideas about Brandeis’ future” at the faculty meeting on Jan. 17. Levine explains that he “spoke to several hundred students and attended many student events since coming to Brandeis in November,” specifically thanking the individuals who he has shared meals with in the two University dining halls.
The next section of the email summarized some of the main takeaways that Levine noticed in his conversations with students, including wanting “Brandeis to remain a world class research and liberal arts university.” The students also expressed wanting Brandeis to remain a non-sectarian university while still following the values of its founders. Levine highlighted students’ want for “Brandeis to excel at preparing students to thrive in today and tomorrow’s world.” Lastly, this section concluded with the statement “You wanted a refurbishment of the physical plant, a richer student life, and a greater focus on careers.”
Levine continued by highlighting a future Brandeis capital campaign “focusing on facilities, student life, faculty, academic programs, and graduate and undergraduate student support.” He explained that Brandeis alumnus Jordan Tannenbaum ’72 has come back to the University to lead Institutional Advancement as they prepare for the campaign. Tannenbaum’s work includes serving as Chief Development officer for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from 2004 to 2024. During his time at the museum, Tannenbaum oversaw all of the fundraising activities, including a one billion dollar comprehensive campaign.
Levine acknowledged that “the world is changing profoundly and rapidly as we move from a national, analog, industrial economy to a global, digital, knowledge economy-the world you will live in.” He followed up this statement by explaining that as a result, proposed “to the faculty that Brandeis leads higher education into this new era and create the programs all students will need to live successfully in the global, digital, knowledge economy.”
This proposal was broken into three different initiatives, the first “[expanding] Brandeis’ focus on career, life planning, and preparation for the future.” This initiative has many different aspects, including internships and work experiences. Additionally, Levine highlights a focus on “a suite of liberal arts and work-related competencies (skills and knowledge) in areas such as communication, data analytics, critical thinking, A.I. literacy and many more.” This programming will result in “students [being] awarded certifications or micro-credentials for mastering them.” In addition to receiving these certifications, students will receive a second transcript for both graduate schools and employers where they are reflected.
The second initiative Levine mentioned was rethinking the Brandeis Core in order to focus more on the skills that students need in the ever-changing world. The final initiative shown in the email is to reorganize the structure of the Brandeis schools, “creating four new units, reporting to the provost - 1) Arts, Humanities and Culture, 2) Science, Engineering and Technology, 3) Economics and Business and 4) Social Sciences and Social Policy.”
Levine believes that these initiatives “will differentiate Brandeis from every other university in the country. Brandeis will indeed be the university that reinvented liberal arts education.” He will be discussing these with students at a town hall in February that has yet to be scheduled.
Photo Courtesy of BRYAN PARCIVAL
BEFORE : Roof of Chipman Hall before a fire.
Photo Courtesy of MICKEY HARRIS
— Anna Martin
AFTER : Roof of Chipman Hall charred after a fire.
UNION: Library Union workers present petition calling for a fairer contract
and for the University to come to the bargaining table, ready to work on building a salary structure that keeps experienced employees in their job and reward them fairly overtime.”
One of The Union’s main objectives, in addition to fair pay for library staff, is to fundamentally change how staff are paid such that seniority is rewarded and turnovers are minimized. In a post-rally interview with The Justice on Jan 23, SEIU Local 888 member Thomas Valicenti commented that the salary of a staff member who has been at Brandeis for nearly 30 years had fallen below the minimum range set by the University. In Valicenti’s words, “[a current library employee] has 27 years of experience serving this university and if she left and they hired someone off the street tomorrow, they would be making the same amount of money.”
One of the Union’s goals is to change the
HOUSING:
fundamental framework of the payment structure such that situations like these do not occur. “Good workers who have been here for a long time who have lots of institutional knowledge and experience and skills that they bring to the table … we’re fighting to get [the University] to recognize the value in that,” Valicenti commented. He, along with the rest of the Union, hopes to implement seniority increases every five years that correspond to the cost of living in the surrounding area.
Valicenti also pointed out that the costs involved in excess turnover are hurting the University. “Hiring, training, all that costs the University money,” he commented. “We feel really strongly that it’s better for the university, it’s better for the staff, it’s better for everyone to have a new kind of system that will have benchmarks to reward people’s longevity and their skills and experience.”
After the final speech had concluded, the members of the rally marched from Gold -
farb to the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center to hand-deliver a petition packet detailing their needs to Interim President Arthur Levine ’70. While marching, they utilized several call and response chants, such as “We are not interchangeable / we are indispensable,” “show me what community looks like / this is what community looks like” and “union / power.”
At 3:20 p.m., seven union members went inside the Bernstein-Marcus Administration center to hand-deliver a petition packet to Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration Stewart Uretsky, who would deliver the packet to the Interim President, according to the deliveries. The petition packet, which had over 300 signatures, detailed their needs as a department.
“We’re trying to get something different in place … we’re coming to the University and asking them to partner with us to make structure … instead of doing the same old dance every three years,” Valicenti stated.
The Union’s current contract extension goes through the month of February. According to Valicenti, the Library Union is set to meet with the administration for another bargaining session at the end of January. He hopes that they will have taken their needs from the petition into consideration and work with the Union to develop a new framework that is better tailored to the financial needs of the librarians. So far, as he explains, the University has fulfilled many of the nonfinancial concerns the Union has expressed, but none relating to pay. He emphasizes an understanding that Brandeis is in a tight position financially and communicates that the Union might be willing to put off pay increases in consideration for this situation, as long as their structure is adopted.
Waltham is accepting applications for new affordable housing units
Median Income increases or the costs of utilities in Waltham decreases. Likewise, if the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Area Median Income decreases and the costs of utilities increase, rents may decrease.” Additionally, there is the possibility for changes in rent if tenants increase their salaries by lease renewal. If tenants no longer fall within the AMI percentage that they originally qualified for, their rent will return to the market price. Individuals with no income are not qualified for these units unless they have a Section Eight housing voucher or a mrvp voucher. This affordable housing falls under the 40B statute, “a program created by the State of Massachusetts which allows developers to override local zoning bylaws in order to increase the number of affordable homes in municipalities where less than 10% of the housing is defined as affordable.” In cor -
PARTISAN: Brandeis
said they occasionally talked about politics and 27 percent of them said they frequently discussed politics. On the other hand, the respondents who were asked how much others discussed politics thought that 30 percent of people selected “occasionally” and 64 percent chose “frequently.” Similarly, respondents overestimated how ideologically extreme people were. Even though 38 percent of respondents described their political positions as extreme, participants guessed that 69 percent of respondents would fall under the extreme category. In reality, the majority of participants described themselves as moderate.
According to Krupnikov, how people think about opposing political parties correlates with their level of animosity towards those other parties and affective polarization. As opposed to stemming from differing stances on policy issues, affective polarization means people dislike each other based on their political party. The relationship between affective polarization and perceptions is that negative feelings toward others with different partisan identities are based on how each side views the other; thus, how people perceive the other person influences how they feel about that person.
Turning towards the most recent presidential election, Krupnikov discussed data she collected with Carlos Galina, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, and John Barry Ryan, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, before and after the 2024 election. The general goal was to observe people’s perceptions of other partisans’ beliefs and compare their answers to public opinion data to evaluate the accuracy of their perceptions.
Respondents’ answers will be compared with data from the American National Election Studies, which shows what the public actually thinks. They planned their studies to occur at the same time that the ANES conducted their 2024 survey and informed participants of their methodology. Ultimately, the participants’ task is to estimate the ANES’ findings.
While Krupnikov’s studies covered a variety of topics, such as trust in the govern -
respondence with The Justice on Jan. 22, SEB Housing Senior Project Manager David Cashman explained “40B provides a pathway for the development of apartments or homeownership units that are affordable to households making up to 80% of Area Median Income. This results in thousands of households across the Commonwealth, who may otherwise be priced out of their communities, to stay within these communities, often in brand new buildings with state of the art amenities. We believe that this program helps to foster economic diversity within Massachusetts communities.”
Alexan Waltham isn’t the first development in the area with affordable units. The Currents on the Charles development fall under 40B as well, having units available for those who fall into the 80% AMI category. In addition to these affordable housing developments, Waltham has other resources for those in need of housing assistance. For example,
The Waltham Housing Authority “provides low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities the opportunity to live in safe, decent, affordable and accessible housing. The WHA works in partnership with the City of Waltham, the Massachusetts Department of Housing & Community Development, HUD and local community organizations to support and promote the health, welfare and economic independence of WHA residents and to sustain a diverse and productive population in the Waltham Community.”
A Zoom information session regarding the Alexan Waltham lottery took place on Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. Attendance at this session was not required for entry, and a recording was posted on the SEB Housing YouTube channel. The lottery will take place on March 4, at 6 p.m. on Zoom. Those involved in the lottery are not required to attend the Zoom meeting and will be notified after if selected.
Following the selection, the individuals
chosen will have five days to schedule an appointment with the leasing office and complete their leasing application. This will lead to a leasing eligibility screening which consists of things such as a criminal background check, rental history and credit check. In the information session it was stated that “the number of households screened by the leasing office may exceed the number of available units.” Following the eligibility screening, the top household on the waiting list will be allowed to pick the affordable unit of their choice. Then, tenants will have to submit their “supporting income, asset and tax documentation to SEB Housing for program eligibility screening.” Following this screening, SEB will notify both the household members and the leasing office of program eligibility. Once a resident has found themselves both program and lease eligible, they are free to sign a lease and inform their current landlord.
alumna explores how we percieve other political parties
ment, immigration and current events, she showed results for only one question. Respondents had to estimate what percentage of Americans, Democrats or Republicans (they were randomly assigned to one of these three groups) would offer each response option for the following question from the ANES survey: “How much do you feel it is justified for people to use violence to pursue their political goals in this country?” The options are “not at all,” “a little,” “a moderate amount,” “a lot” and “a great deal.”
The ANES’ 2024 data was not available for comparison, so Krupnikov displayed ANES data from 2016 and 2020. She chose to discuss the question on justification of violence because the public’s responses for it in 2016 and 2020 remained very similar. For instance, in 2016, 81.97 percent of respondents stated that it is not at all justified to use violence to achieve political goals. Similarly in 2020, 82.9 percent said the same thing. Even though Krupnikov could not compare her results to the ANES’ findings from 2024 yet, the consistency of this question’s answers in past data makes it ideal to use for initial comparisons.
All respondents, regardless of their political party identification, overestimated Americans’ acceptance of using violence for political goals, compared to Americans’ actual responses in 2016 and 2020. According to Krupnikov’s research, people are slightly less likely to overestimate when talking about their own party (i.e. Democratic respondents guessing how Democrats would answer). Respondents estimating the other party’s responses (i.e. Democratic respondents estimating Republicans’ responses) tended to perceive that the other party was more accepting of political violence than their own party. Republican respondents’ estimate for Republicans was the one closest to what the ANES’ surveys actually found.
After explaining their findings, Krupnikov explored possible causes behind why people were overestimating the other party’s openness to violence for obtaining political ends. Polarization was a possible explanation, but in general, they calculated that people’s chance of overestimating did not increase as polarization increased.
Krupnikov found more promising results
when looking at political involvement as a source. She defined political involvement based on time spent on politics, how important politics is to the person and whether they feel frustration with others who don’t engage in politics the same way they do. The current media environment enables deep involvement in politics because it has the capacity to quickly and constantly provide news for consumption. Moreover, advancements in communications technology and online communities provide more forums for people to express their political opinions and connect with others.
Examining political involvement is pertinent to perceptions in numerous ways. Firstly, higher involvement means that these people pay more attention to politics. More knowledge could mean more accurate perceptions. However, the type of information politically engaged people consume matters: if the news is partisan or emphasizes extreme cases, then people’s perceptions can become warped. Higher involved people also have a higher certainty that they know what’s best in politics. For example, Krupnikov’s research showed that when given a set of COVID-19 policies and asked how confident they were that their solution to a COVID-19 problem would be a good one, respondents who were deeply involved were more confident that their policy idea was effective. On the other hand, Krupnikov did not find this pattern with education; people who were more educated were actually less confident in addressing problems related to COVID-19.
Krupnikov said that high levels of political involvement are strongly correlated with negative feelings towards the other side. Deep involvement signals that politics is important to a person and thus they are likely to feel frustrated when others do it wrong in their eyes. Additionally, highly involved people view more things as political. In another study, Krupnikov asked people to read a list of comments and determine which ones are political in nature. Some comments were political and others were drawn from a Reddit forum that banned political discussion. As a person’s political involvement increased, they were more likely to say a comment was
about politics. Level of political involvement also influences what networks people are involved with and people they interact with, so those relationships can impact perceptions. As someone’s political involvement becomes more important to them, they start to think that people in the other party, as well as their own party, say that it is justifiable to engage in violence. People who were not at all involved in politics were the closest to predicting the ANES baseline. Krupnikov explained that misperceptions’ co-occurrence with involvement could be because deeply involved people are very certain they’re right, they have negative feelings towards the other side and they are impacted by their networks developed from political engagement.
Krupnikov acknowledged that it would be impossible to causally test whether political involvement shaped perceptions. She would need to be able to change participants’ levels of political involvement in a lab setting, which is not feasible. Instead, Krupnikov, Galina and Ryan use the term co-occurrence. However, they theorize that in a causal chain, involvement comes first, then animosity and then misperceptions. Moreover, there are thorny questions regarding perceptions, especially in establishing causality. A study could assume that someone dislikes the other side because they misperceive them, but it could go the opposite way. People can misperceive others because they dislike them.
There has been research on whether fixing misperceptions can reduce polarization. However, Krupnikov questions whether perceptions should be fixed in the first place. She proposed that future research delve more into what perceptions actually represent. Could misperceptions represent honest mistakes from people who don’t understand statistics? Or do they represent people’s beliefs about what is emblematic of the other party’s behavior? Who has misperceptions can affect how easy it is to correct the misperception. For instance, people who don’t understand statistics and those who misperceive based on something that they care deeply about would require different approaches for changing their misperceptions.
features
VERBATIM | JONATHAN RICHMAN
I’m in love with Massachusetts!
ON THIS DAY…
Fabian von Bellinghausen discovered Antarctica in 1820.
FUN FACT
The longest sentence ever written was 823 words in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.
Turning a new page: A look at local bookstore JustBook-Ish
The new cafe bookstore combo is drawing large crowds into the Field’s corner neighborhood of Dorchester for good reads and pastries.
Porsha Olayiwola grew up spending her weekends at her downtown Chicago Library. Every day after school she and her friends would go to Barnes & Noble and read. Her love of literature ignited an interest in writing, so it is no surprise that she became a poet and educator. The current Boston Poet laureate has been navigating the literary world as a consumer, creative and writer for years. Now, she is writing a new chapter as the co-owner of a new bookstore.
JustBook-Ish is slowly making a name for itself in the historic city of Boston, which is known for its exuberance within the arts and rich history of writers. Only six miles outside of the city JustBook-Ish has officially launched in Dorchester. And it all began with a simple idea.
In the late spring of 2024, Olayiwola noticed there was a lack of community literary spaces in her hometown. In a Nov. interview with The Justice, she said,“As a person who likes to write in my free time. I found that there wasn’t a space I could just walk to from my house that was open in the evening, or after work hours I could go to.” She explained that the only nearby bookstore is located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Boston, which feels removed from the local community.
After reflecting on this with longtime colleague Bing Broderick, they had the idea to start a bookstore. Olayiwola first met Broderick in 2014 through the non-profit organization Haley House, where he was the former executive director. The Haley House is an organization focused on uplifting and meeting the needs of the Roxbury community. When Olayiowla was rising in prominence as a poet, she and friend Janae Johnson suggested poetry slams as a community event. The Haley House did in fact become a space for poetry through House Slam and eventually sent a team of five poets, including Olayiwola, to the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California. Sharing a vision of creating community spaces, Olayiwola and Broderick became better acquainted. “We are practically neighbors,” Olayiwola commented. Once they had heard of building space availability, they knew it was the perfect time. Despite coming from different backgrounds, “the merging made a lot of sense,” Olayiwola said.
Of course, this decision was not made lightly. Olayiwola explained the endeavor was intimidating, and sometimes even terrifying. When reflecting on the initial process she explained that there was a community voting process on what the commercial space was to become. Olayiwola and Broderick made it as one of four finalists, but they were worried that their financial status would undermine votes. “We felt like an underdog in that particular avenue,” Olayiwola explained.
The co-owners both expressed that they felt a sudden dawn of reality after their idea won. In a Dec. 10 interview with The Justice, Broderick shared, “Once we were selected we had to get serious. We had to figure out how we would raise the money that we needed [and] get pro bono legal help to set up the legal entity.”
While digital media seems to dominate in the 21st century, surprisingly, bookstores have been booming across the nation. “I think right now there is a sort of documented renaissance of community bookstores,” Broderick said. Within this community, the two found a source of support. “We’ve spoken to all of the bookstores in the Boston area, and everyone has been helpful and cooperative,” Broderick explained. Broderick went on to express the beautiful and inclu -
By MIRABELL ROWLAND JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
sive community that has been built, “No one sees us as a threat. One bookstore gave us our cash register.”
The idea had been in the making for so long, and there wasn’t any problem getting folks engaged. “Everybody who walks through the door knows somebody who said something [about JustBook-Ish],” Broderick said, speaking to the growing sense of anticipation within the community. And for those who don’t know anything about the bookstore, curiosity invites them in.
The shop celebrated its official opening on Nov. 23 with a ribbon cutting. On the rainy Saturday morning, community members huddled together for warmth under a massive awning to watch the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“Good morning everyone!” Reverend Mariama WhiteHamond boomed in a joyous voice. She sported black slacks with a printed poncho and a salt-and-pepper afro. “Good morning!” the crowd yelled back in response. “I am so glad to be here this morning!” she continued. “We are going to start with prayer.” The crowd remained silent until she was done. She expressed gratitude for the space, for the people and for the perfect timing of the event before welcoming Olayiwola and Broderick. The
GOOD READS: JustBook-Ish opened in late 2024.
pair then took their spot at the podium discussing their work in creating and cultivating the literary space that is JustBook-ish. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined the celebration and expressed appreciation for the space among many community members.
After the speech, folks were then welcomed inside, taking a tiny tour of the store. Inside, there’s a small island, atop of which stands banned books such as “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “Little & Lion” and “New Kid: a Graphic Novel.” Another island holds nonfiction literature while children’s books adorn the bookshelves that frame the walls. Every window is accompanied with a nook for fashionable seating and book lined shelves. More than 150 children, parents, students and community members crowded the small store to listen to the mayor and congresswoman read aloud.
Sitting at the store’s beautiful wooden table that is embellished with a rich cobalt center, Olayiwola sips from her matching Bosmarlin tea mug. “ I think it’s necessary, especially as a writer, [to have] literary spaces that provide wall space for people who have been traditionally left out of literary spaces whether that be by way of book, whether that be by way of conversation,” she said.
“It’s important to have a space where people feel comfortable and feel seen,” said Boston local Naikey
Lenescat, a multimedia artist and creative. Lenescat stands in solidarity with Olayiwola’s endeavor. “And it doesn’t feel so big that your corner of the earth cannot be represented,” she said. From the wallpaper to the website, Lenescat’s design gives JustBook-Ish its nostalgic rustic feel, with a meld of textured photography, ripped scrapbooks and a hint of bold golds and blues. There is even a story behind the logo which is a blue bird holding a pencil in its beak with wings outstretched. Inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Lenescat considered what the bird would look like if set free.
Lenescat emphasized that other coffee chains have a commercial feel and often cater to folks of a certain financial caliber. “JustBook-Ish really kind of ties together the communities that have operated in silos in Boston.”
While libraries provide patrons with a wide range of genres and topics, JustBook-Ish “is really centered around changemakers, thought leaders, revolutionistspeople who really stood for something.”
Lenescat explained that there is a book for everyone.
“And it’s like, okay, here’s a book about being a black girl with braids, you know. Here’s a book about being a part of a community. Here’s a book about religion.”
While many bookstores have cafes, JustBook-Ish created their cafe with specific palettes in mind. In a Nov. interview with The Justice, Culinary Director Tamika Francis, explained they source their food from local shops and entrepreneurs. They have Colombian-style empanadas, cookies and croissants with a twist. “The croissants are really in the tradition of the African diaspora. The flavors are very unique to this area or to the region. There is sweet potato and ginger, colored cheddar classic butter and cinnamon swirl.”
JustBook-Ish has expanded their programming over the months, hosting community events from youth poetry readings to artists talks. Dominican-American educator, screenwriter and filmmaker, Paloma Valenzuala, screened her debut documentary “The Seltzer Factory” at the space in early November.
Valenzuela planned to screen her film in the summer of 2024 at places like the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts among other libraries and universities. JustBook-Ish was one of the options.
The smaller space is exactly what made JustBook-Ish perfect. In the interview with The Justice, she recalled the question and answer event, “The vibe was so lovely. Even though it was maybe 20 people, it filled the room.” She said the event stands out as one of her favorites.
Olayiwola witnessed the impact the screening had on the viewers, “I had one of my friends there and apparently she cried. You know there was, I guess, a song in the film that she hadn’t heard since her mother’s wedding. I just think moments like that are really incredible and necessary. It’s why we are trying to do the work we’re trying to do.”
While the work is far from done, Olayiwola and Broderick’s bookstore is already paving a way for the community. Everyone from families and community members, to aspiring creatives and authors can find a sense of belonging where their stories are heard and their ideas are welcomed. The store and community space is an invitation to all. Just as Olayiwola fell in love with reading in her Chicago library, the future looks bright as many young children can have that same opportunity at JustBook-ish.
Design: GRACE DOH and BRIANNA EARLE/The Justice. Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS.
On leading the way: Black women in politics
Three voices reflect on the future of black women in positions of political leadership and the work of the women who came before them.
By MIRABELL ROWLAND JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The year: 2024. The city: Boston. It is here that Ruthzee Louijeune made history when she was sworn in as Boston’s first Haitian-American woman city councilor and third Black woman in the role. Now it is no surprise as politics followed her from a young age. The then 14-yearold earned her first job as a tour guide for Boston neighborhoods. Just two years later she began interning for Marie St. Fleur, who was the first Haitian person elected in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. “That really empowered me to believe that people are the ones who change communities and who write history,” she said in a Dec. interview with The Justice.
As president of the City Council, she represents every neighborhood of Boston, “From Hyde Park to East Boston, from Mission Hill to Beacon Hill, from Mattapan to Charlestown,” and inclusivity is at the heart of her mission. Louijeune said she wants to make sure “that everyone feels like this is their city, that they belong, and that they can thrive.”
The issues that are most important to her include but are not limited to housing justice, reducing the number of foreclosures and evictions, racial equity, closing the racial wealth gap and education, increasing resources at schools to help students and increasing funding for public education.
A daughter of immigrants, she was more than excited to be able to work with Representative Marie St. Fleur. “I had an abundance of Black women of different sorts of classes, of different education levels, who served as my foundation and inspiration,” Louijeune shared. From the women in her family like her mom and grandmother to mentors and colleagues like Karilyn Crockett and Liz Miranda, Louijeune has gained tremendous knowledge and confidence.
Louijeune expressed that Black women are long overdue for their voices to be heard, “We can’t be ignored. We shouldn’t be sidelined. We need to be centered in politics because we have a lot to say.” She continued, “Our vision and our perspectives tend to be more holistic and less about I and more about we.”
While Black women make up 7.8% of the U.S. population and 15.4% of the U.S. population of women, these numbers are far from equal in political leaderships.
The Center for American Women in Politics exposes that “5.4% of voting members of Congress identify themselves as Black women.” Although there has been an increase of Black women within politics over the years, the statistics still reflect their relative lack of representation in the political sphere. As of 2024 there has not been a single Black woman governor in any American city. Former Vice President Kamala Harris remains the one and only Black and South Asian woman to hold that office.
More than 50 years after Shirley Chisholm broke barriers becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress, America has seen only a small shift in leadership. When looking at Massachusetts in particular there has been some progress. Back in 2017, Kim Janey became the first woman and person of color to hold office as Mayor of Boston. And just last year, Andrea Campbell became the first Black woman Attorney General.
Prof. Faith Smith, Department chair of
politics. “[There has been so much] energy that Black women in this election and across the electoral landscape for generations have put into the electoral process,” she said in a Dec. interview with The Justice.
She reflected on her disappointment in the election, “If you think about the 1950’s and galvanizing the vote and the ways in which communities were penalized, sometimes fatally for voting, that makes it particularly painful when a Black woman is the target of loss.”
For Prof. Smith, as a woman of Jamaican descent she was especially proud to see women like Louijeune become the Boston City Councilor. Women like Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, whom she voted for, inspire her. “I celebrate that every day that these are the people swirling around me. From day to day they make tough decisions. I may agree with them, I may not agree with them, but I have a lot of pride in the composition of our city council.”
the African and African-American Studies Department explained how much work Black women have poured into
Louijeune echoed Smith’s assertion about the historical role Black women have played, “Even when we weren’t included in the Constitution, we were the ones who were building the foundation of capitalism.”
Louijeune is aware of the importance of making politics feel closely connected to the people and especially for other Black women. “For too long we suffered from racial and gender inequality. So I think it’s incumbent upon us, especially as Black women. Me, as a Black woman in leadership now, to make sure when I go through a door I’m not the last to walk in that door,” she shared. She emphasized the need to make space for the next generations of leaders.
One of those leaders is Jolecia Saunderson ’24. The 22-year-old Harvard University graduate student is currently interning for Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and she also was inspired by the women in politics that came before her. Saunderson had grown up interested
in learning more about the paths in politics that were forged by women of the past and the present. With this interest during her first year in undergrad at Brandeis University she signed up and enrolled in Dr. Amber Spry’s “AfricanAmerican Political Thought” (now Black Political Thought) class with the African and African-American Studies Department at Brandeis and it was life-changing, “I remember, reading and engaging with the works of people like Ida B. Wells, Amy Jacques Garvey, Shirley Chisholm, and Angela Davis, and researching the things that they were fighting for, and [realizing that] I have some of the opportunities that I do today due to their sacrifices.”
In her junior year Saunderson had eyed the Office of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley internship but the stars only aligned recently. She expressed immense appreciation for being selected as an intern for the campaign which she began this fall. After doing her research on Pressley, Saunderson realized that her policies on treating abortion care as a basic right, reducing student debt and expanding efforts for healthcare and education aligned with her own convictions.
Similarly to Smith, in spite of disappointing election results, Saunderson remains hopeful about the future. She understands the potential there is for Black women and views it as a necessity to take the opportunities granted her way.
“If I’m truly honoring those that came before me [and] have given their lives for me to have space today, I think I have to remain optimistic,” said Saunderson.
Louijeune has many personal motivations for her work, explaining, “Knowing that my grandmother, who couldn’t read or write, saw so much worse motivates me.”
The idea that this is the work that she was meant to do is what keeps her going. She said “to figure out what [my] and our role is in making this country and making this world a better place. I think that’s what gives me hope.”
Black women have been fighting for centuries, for their voice to be heard and for a seat at the table, and Louijeune says, “We’re going to continue to resist. It’s just in our DNA. It’s who we are.”
JUNETEENTH: Ruthzee Louijeune, Elizabeth Warren, and Kim Janey (left to right) celebrate Juneteenth in 2022.
LEADERS: Jolecia Saunderson ’24 is interning for Congresswoman Pressley.
SCHOLAR & EDUCATOR: Prof. Faith Smith is the chair of the African and AfricanAmerican Studies Department and Professor of English at Brandeis University.
Photo courtesy of BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
Photo courtesy of JOLECIA SAUNDERSON
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EDITORIAL
Spring-ing into the next semester: Staying warm and staying well
Welcome back to campus, and to all new midyear students, welcome to the Brandeis community! Whether you are a returning student or this is your first semester on campus, Brandeis has so much to offer. The spring semester provides a chance to join new organizations and embrace new opportunities. Beyond that, the new semester is a time of renewal. Take the time to focus on yourself before the semester picks up. Establishing good habits and routines will help you have a great semester.
To guide your semester, consider setting both academic and personal goals. Whether it’s aiming for a certain grade, improving your health or building social connections, having clear objectives can help keep you motivated. Take advantage of resources like the Hiatt Career Center and mental health services to support your journey. Remember, success isn’t just academics — it’s about fostering a balance that allows you to grow in all aspects of your life. Start small, stay consistent and celebrate your progress.
With freezing temperatures comes peak flu season, so protect yourself by getting the flu and COVID-19 vaccines. The science is clear ––vaccines decrease people’s risk of contracting disease and spreading it to others. Becoming sick and falling behind in schoolwork could mean extra pressure on your immune system. Being vaccinated both helps your body fight illness and provides herd immunity for the whole community, vulnerable populations and others who cannot get vaccinated, such as immuno-compromised people. The Brandeis Health Center and CVS Pharmacies both offer flu and COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals may feel side effects from them so budget enough
LETTER
To the editor,
As the United States Department of Agriculture mandates testing of milk for bird flu, our political leaders should support increased public funding for cultivated-meat research. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. Widespread adoption of the new protein would greatly reduce the risk of zoonotic pandemics, since animals are removed from the process. Thought cultivated meat has already gained regulatory approval in this coun-
time to recover. Additionally, masking is another precaution people should take to decrease the chance of getting sick.
Norovirus is also a concern and highly communicable in shared spaces such as dining halls, residence halls and classrooms. The Health and Wellness department recommends washing your hands thoroughly with soap, not sharing food and drinks, cleaning surfaces regularly and staying home if you’re sick. We also urge professors to offer remote options so sick students don’t have to choose between missing class or spreading illnesses to others.
Finally, The Justice editorial board would like to give a huge thank you to the Brandeis facility workers who work to shovel and salt our paths to class. This Editorial Board implores you to invest in an insulated winter coat (no it’s not lame to be warm), and whatever additional accessories help to keep the cold temperatures at bay. Whether it be gloves, scarves, mittens or hats, it’s important to prioritize your health and well-being this season. Try to ensure you’re wearing shoes with some traction to keep you from slipping. Salt only goes so far and the only thing worse than having to climb the Rabb steps is falling down the Rabb steps on your way to class.
Overall, the start of the Spring semester brings a lot of anticipation and promise. With exciting events like SpringFest and graduation (for some) on the horizon, there’s plenty to look forward to. Until then, it’s important to do what you can to survive the winter. Drink tea, dress in layers, get a happy light for your seasonal depression and hang in there as the warmer months are soon to approach.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
I recently discovered through social media that my Brandeis email would be deactivated the following day. I was deeply concerned and frustrated that I was not properly informed of this change, especially given the critical role email plays in our lives today. Access to many essential web accounts, such as banking and healthcare, often requires codes sent to email. Without notice, I was at risk of being locked out of accounts tied to my Brandeis email address, as well as losing contact with friends and colleagues. This is particularly troubling, considering that alumni were promised lifetime email forwarding.
After emailing Alumni Relations, they acknowledged that I had not been notified and granted me a one-month extension to transfer data, update accounts tied to my Brandeis email, and inform others of my new address. I encouraged them to notify others in my situation.
In their response, I learned that emails regarding this change were sent last April to a mailing list composed of the email addresses Alumni Relations had for us when we graduated. However, these notifications were not sent to our Brandeis email addresses. In my case, I did not receive the email because I had unsubscribed from the alumni mailing list years ago.
Given the importance of this matter, I believe such notifications should have been sent to both our Brandeis email ad-
dresses and via regular postal mail to ensure everyone was properly informed. This would have allowed adequate time to complete the tedious and time consuming task of identifying all accounts tied to our Brandeis emails and updating them. For example, I’ve already had to contact customer service for several of my accounts to switch to a new email address—and I’ve only updated a fraction of my accounts. While I understand that Brandeis is facing financial challenges, email forwarding is a minimal cost. More importantly, the lack of adequate communication about such an essential change is unacceptable. An email address is akin to a home address—changing it without notice can lead to significant disruptions. As it stands, I have just two more weeks to update hundreds of accounts. When I started this process, my password manager said I had 791 different logins, though I assume some are duplicates or defunct. I was lucky to discover this issue on social media and to receive a one-month extension. However, in my experience with other organizations, even after unsubscribing from email lists, I still receive critical communications such as account deactivation notices or updates to terms of service and I’m disappointed that Brandeis did not handle this properly.
Sincerely, Jeremy Blacker
B.A. Computer Science, 2009
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Animal advocates should oppose RFK Jr.
By Jon Hochschartner
Anyone who cares about animals should oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services. Available evidence suggests he would block the development of cultivated meat. For those who don’t know, the revolutionary protein is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. Nothing has the potential to reduce more animal suffering and premature death.
The scale of human violence against our fellow creatures boggles the mind. We kill more than a trillion aquatic and land animals every year for food. To put that in a little perspective, only about 117 billion humans have ever lived, according to the Population Reference Bureau. When the nascent field of cellular agriculture is more fully developed, even low adoption rates of cultivated meat could save billions of creatures annually.
Unfortunately, the nominal opposition to the incoming fascist White House, the Democratic Party, is busy bowing and scraping, as they search for points of compromise with Trump. We see this lack of fighting spirit throughout the party’s ideological range. Even so called progressives, like California Representative Ro Khanna, are talking about how they might work with the made-up Department of Government Efficiency.
After all, livestock farming is a leading contributor to climate change and the spread of zoonotic viruses.
In October of 2021, Kennedy wrote on Facebook: “Lab grown meat offers private corporations the opportunity to place intellectual property rights on meat development and thus create a financial windfall, at the expense of human health.” Of course, there is no reason cellular agriculture needs to be the sole domain of private corporations. For instance, I’d love to see some type of public entity producing cultivated meat. The health concerns Kennedy raises are bogus, like so much else the conspiracy theorist says. The protein has received regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, if confirmed, Kennedy would oversee the former, which is why those who care about animal welfare and the development of this technology should be concerned about his nomination.
try, it remains too expensive to mass produce. More public money for cellularagriculture development will help bring these costs down, allowing the product to truly enter the market. Politicians who care about public health, specifically about preventing future virus outbreaks, should support this governmental investment.
Jon Hochschartner 41 Salmon Brook Street Granby, CT 06035 (703) 901-1011
What this moment calls for is unwavering opposition to Trump and his cronies. We’ve already seen one of the presidentelect’s nominees, former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who was initially chosen to serve as United States attorney general, forced to withdraw. They aren’t invulnerable. Kennedy, a bizarre, antivaccination conspiracy theorist, has a host of weaknesses Democrats should exploit to the fullest possible extent.
There are a great number of reasons to oppose his nomination. These include, as I’ve mentioned, the former Democrat’s hostility to cellular agriculture. In addition to the potential animal-welfare benefits of cultivated meat, the new protein could significantly reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions and pandemic risk.
In a recent article for Heatmap News, a climate publication launched by former executives of The Week, Michael Grunwald reported a source close to Kennedy said it was unlikely the protein would be banned outright. Rather the potential cabinet secretary would leave industry players in permanent regularity limbo. Cultivated-meat companies have put on a brave face about the incoming administration, but it’s not very convincing. Democratic leaders need to stop wallowing in their sense of fear and helplessness. It’s true; Trump will do tremendous damage to the country, which they won’t be able to prevent. However, there will be some very bad outcomes Democrats can stop, if they can get their act together. My hope is Kennedy’s nomination, which is controversial even amongst Republicans, will fall into this category, for the sake of animals and so much else.
Jon Hochschartner lives in Connecticut. He is the author of a number of books, including The Animals’ Freedom Fighter: A Biography of Ronnie Lee, Founder of the Animal Liberation Front. Visit his blog at SlaughterFreeAmerica.Substack. com.
Expectations v. reality
By GONNY NIR JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Admittedly, this is an instance of rage writing. It will come as a shock to no one under the age of 25 that the world of applications — whether they be to internships, jobs, fellowships or other similar opportunities — is among the most soul-sucking, grueling and all-around depressing realms of a young person’s experience. These opportunities are incredibly competitive. Not only can one expect to face competition in the hundreds or even thousands of other applicants, but among those one can expect to be competing against, are those individuals who have a socalled “story.”
These individuals tell a particular tale. They have faced adversity like no other. They speak of great adventures which have broadened their perspective. They impart their greatest lofty aspirations. And these features of their candidacies have led them, in a neat and methodical way, to this application. With their best foot forward, head held up high, they apply … and proceed to secure the positions we “normal” individuals, who’ve not been blessed with a seamless pathway toward our own professional aspirations, wish so badly to secure for ourselves.
From my experiences in the aforementioned hellhole that is the world of applications, I have become increasingly aware of a certain contradiction. A great deal many of the opportunities we apply for expect us to have had the same or analogous experience that they are designed to provide. The expectation is that you lead a life that makes this opportunity the organic “next step” through logical deduction. It’s a backward approach to examining one’s candidacy. To lay it out plainly, instead of providing the opportunity as a pathway that leads an individual into something new, the person reviewing applications expects the individual to already have had the experience that opportunity is meant to provide. That is what makes them qualified for it: not their merit, training or what their letters of recommendation attest to their capabilities.
What is wrong with this picture? Well, to start with, a non-negligible share of us have absolutely no idea what we want to do with our lives. The entire point of these opportunities is to aid us in understanding what we want to do for the foreseeable future — which will apparently never end in retirement because … well, have you seen the state of the economy we’re stepping into? I digress, but the point still stands: these opportunities expect that we know what it is that we want to do with our lives and have known that for all our lives such that our experiences reflect this desire. This is an absurd expectation.
It is unrealistic that we, mere undergraduates who’ve been alive on planet Earth for less than a quarter century — and conscious for even less time than that — are expected to have found our unwavering professional drive. I’ve just barely settled on what my favorite cuisine is (in a true acting out of the Hegelian dialectic by the way, I’ve ended up exactly where I started — at the food of the Mediterranean — having tasted much more in the interim). How can one reasonably expect that I come out of my mother’s womb with a pen and legal pad in hand, clutching Sein und Zeit and declaring, “I SHALL BE AN HISTORIAN OF THE CONTINENTAL POLITICAL TRADITION” (in German, of course)?
It’s not reasonable — it’s wholly nonsensical. Yet, that seems to be the expectation. The expectation is that you emerge into the world
perfectly well-connected, with a certain professional goal, and that your Curriculum Vitae reflects the methodical steps you’ve taken to actualize that goal. Such that, this opportunity, to which you are now applying, appears as the natural next step in your professional trajectory.
I hope you all find it in your hearts to pardon my shattering of delusions. Life is not The Game of Life. You do not either go to college or not, graduate or not, get married or not, have kids or not — et cetera, et cetera ad nauseam. Life is not that neat — for better and for worse. Many of us only come to recognize what it is that we want from life after a series of “missteps” or a myriad of other ways not dissimilar from this one. Very few of us have a perfectly laid-out plan of life that we embark on from birth. If we do, it is more often than not either a product of the sheer luck of having been exposed to one’s professional aspiration very early (and that aspiration having remained over the course of one’s maturation). Or, alternatively, the result of immense privilege — a product of having grown up in a family that is well connected and has the resources to ensure that their student comes of age in a contained manner that organically cultivates their professional trajectory.
The expectation that is now placed on students, that we have a Platonic image of our life in our heads that guides our every professional action is misplaced. It belongs in The Game of Life but not in real, actual life itself. Life itself, with all its twists and turns, makes us rethink what it is that we want out of it and why. That is precisely the way it should be. Yet the way these opportunities evaluate our candidacies is by frowning upon these exact methods of coming to realize what excites you about the world.
These opportunities reward those applicants whose “life story” has already put them on the path towards actualizing it and they punish those who take the very ordinary — albeit nonlinear — route of still charting that path.
We are told by our culture that we should use our time in college to figure ourselves out, but this is merely lip service to an outdated time in which this ideal was recognized as valid by the professional setting one graduated into after college. This setting no longer accepts that ideal. Instead, it expects that this ideal has been actualized through every step taken in one’s time in college. It’s a ridiculous and utterly detached value system that rewards the calculated, though drearily mundane life of those who were in the position to have always known what it is that they wished to accomplish.
I’m tired of pretending to have always known what I have wanted to do. It’s exhausting to fabricate this lie over and over again when I know full well that what I think I want to do now is something I couldn’t have imagined three years ago — let alone earlier. I’ve used college to come to this understanding; I’ve done exactly what we’re told to do with our time in college. And now, as I’m preparing to leave it, I’m being punished for it. I hate to cast myself in this light, as a victim of circumstance, but, in truth, I’ve yet to figure out how to spin this story in any other way — at least not in a way that empowers me as a creator of circumstance. Perhaps that story will become clear at a later time, a time in which I will have actualized what I wish to do.
Until then, I’m left wondering: Whatever happened to just being a normal person who wants to do and try extraordinary things?
ARIANA RICH/The Justice
SNOW: Brandeis recieved 8.6 inches of snow overnight last week.
ELIZA BIER/The Justice
WILDLIFE: A racoon balances atop a fence on campus.
Graphics courtesy of DINA NAIMARK GOLDBERG/The Justice. Photos courtesy of ELIZABETH LIU/The Justice
Brandeis Track and Field compete in their season opener
The Brandeis Track and Field Team competed at the Reggie Poyau Invitational on Saturday, January 13th. Men finished third out of nine teams, with women finishing second out of ten teams.
By REMI YOUNG EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The Justice Editor Lin Lin Hutchinson ’25 is a member of Brandeis Men's Track and Field and did not contribute to or edit this photostory.
JUDGES BY THE NUMBERS
Brandeis: Women, 142-94. Men, 149-93.
STANDOUTS
200-yard butterfly
Chloe Gonzalez '25 with a time of 2:15.70.
200-yard freestyle
Jenna Wild '26 with a time of 2:06.50.
2-4 today, 8-19 overall
Brandeis Women’s Basketball splits the first half of their UAA road trip
By REMI YOUNG JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
■ A win against Case Western and a tough loss against Carnegie Melon highlights the team's resilience and sets the stage for a strong finish to their road trip.
On Jan. 24, the Brandeis University women’s basketball team won 72-60 over Case Western Reserve University on the road, showcasing strong offensive execution and dominant defense.
The Judges turned the game around in the first quarter with a 9-0 run to close out the period, leading 18-10 at the break. Senior Caitlin Gresko 25’played an important role, contributing five points during that run. The Judges kept pushing forward, holding Case without a field goal for the final 7:30 of the game.
Lulu Ohm 25’, the University Athletic Association’s leading scorer, scored 23 points and was 7-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Junior Katherine Vaughan 26’also had an impactful outing, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
The Judges controlled the paint, outscoring the Spartans 34-20, and were relentless on defense, holding Case to just 32.8% shooting for the game. The Judges held the Spartans to 27% shooting in the first quarter and 13% shooting in the fourth.
In their next game, the Judges lost 74-67 to 24thranked Carnegie Mellon University (13-3, 3-2 UAA) in Pittsburgh. The Tartans shot an impressive 49% from the field, including 56% from three-point range, and took a 51-34 lead into the final quarter.
The Judges refused to go down without a fight, however. In the fourth quarter, Brandeis came alive, outscoring Carnegie 33-13. Junior Abby Kennedy 26’and Ohm combined for 26 of those 33 points, with Kennedy scoring 14 points in the fourth alone. Despite their late rally, the Judges couldn’t overcome the 27-point deficit. Brandeis showed grit and resilience despite the loss, cutting the deficit to eight points in the closing moments. While they couldn't pull away with the win, this momentum will serve them well as they close their road trip, starting next Friday evening at Washington University in St. Louis.
Lawrence 14, Brandeis 13
Penn State 15, Brandeis 12
Yale 20, Brandeis 7
St. John's 20, Brandeis 7 Brandeis 20, Drew 7 Cornell 14, Brandeis 13
Brandeis 20, Lawrence 7 Penn State 18, Brandeis 9 Yale 22, Brandeis 5
St. John's 15, Brandeis 12
Brandeis 22, Drew 5 Cornell 21, Brandeis 6
REUBEN GARTENBACH/The Justice
Basketball: Brandeis player shoots the ball as the opposing team attemts to block it
Brandeis Track and Field shines with record-breaking performances
■ A strong start to the season paves the way for team success and new records in the spring season ahead.
By REMI YOUNG JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
This weekend, the Brandeis University track and field team continued its strong early-season performance with five individual victories at the Wheaton College Lyon Invitational. For the second week in a row, the team has set new school records. Even though the event was a non-scoring meet, the Brandeis athletes showcased their talents, setting personal and program records.
Aiana Colas ’26 led the way, tying the Brandeis indoor high jump record with a height of 1.67 meters. Colas, who won the event for the second consecutive week, matched the school record set by Suzanne Bernier ’10 in 2010. Colas’ performance improved her national standing, moving her into a tie for sixth in the Division III rankings.
In the field events, Shaniece Nugent ’26 continued her dominance in the triple jump, capturing the win with a leap of 11.30 meters (37-1), her second victory of this season. Her performance currently ranks 18th in Division III.
In the pole vault, Alisha Anderson ’26 followed up her previous week's victory with another win, clearing 3.40 meters (11-1 ¾), further solidifying her place as one of the top Division III pole vaulters in the country.
On the track, Jasmin Berganza ’28 sprinted to a victory in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 26.32 seconds, pushing through her competitors by just fractions of a second. Hannah Bohbot-Dridi ’25 stood out in
the 400-meter, clocking a time of 59.51 seconds to win the event, the only runner in the meet to break the one-minute mark.
The Judges’ strong performances extended to the mile run, where Brandeis claimed four of the top five spots. Ella Warkentine ’26 finished with a 20.27, just two seconds behind the winner, while Sadie Harrow ’25 came in third with a 20.29. Lily McNulty ’28 and Kyra Au ’25 rounded out the top five, with Harrow and Au achieving personal best times.
On the men’s side, Alex Chan ’28 finished second in the pole vault with a mark of 3.70 meters (12-1 ½). The men’s 200-meter race also saw impressive performances, with Matthew Yue ’26 taking third in 23.73 seconds, followed closely by Jordon Colon ’25 in fourth place with the same time.
The Judges' men’s 4x200-meter relay team set a new school record of 1:35.8, breaking the previous record by 0.47 seconds. The team, consisting of Yue, Colon, Danny Krigman ’25, and Jon Klu ’27, placed sixth overall in the event.
On a team level, the Brandeis women finished second in the team standings, while the men placed fourth.
In recognition of her standout performances, Sarai Sealy ’28 was named University Athletic Association Women’s Field Athlete of the Week. Sealy won the triple jump with a distance of 11.97 meters (39 feet, 3 ¼ inches), marking the second-longest jump in Division III this season. She also anchored the Judges’ victorious 4x200-meter relay team, which posted an impressive time of 1:45.86, just 0.05 seconds off the school record.
Brandeis Track and Field looks to build on their early momentum next Saturday at the Wheaton Invitational.
A recap of the AFC and NFC championship
■ A chronicle of this past weekend’s action, as well as a brief preview for the highly anticipated upcoming matchup in Super Bowl LIX.
By EZEKIEL BLOOM JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
The National Football Conference and American Football Conference championship games this weekend were pivotal, enticing matchups that have set the stage for the National Football League’s peak event, the Super Bowl. The clashes between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, as well as the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, were riveting games with great importance, and there is now only a singular game that will determine the champion for the 2024 NFL season.
The NFC championship game, which took place first at the Eagles’ home stadium in Philadelphia, was a clash between two division rivals that unfortunately never materialized into a competitive game. The Eagles got out to a fantastic start and only trailed for a total of 18 seconds all afternoon en route to a 55-23 thrashing of their NFC East foe, the Commanders. The Eagles, powered by superstar running back Saquon Barkley, never felt that their lead was in danger as the Commanders’ defense was powerless against their attacks on the ground and through the air. However, it was specifically on the ground where the Eagles thrived, as Barkley produced yet another unbelievable chapter to his storybook, record-breaking season. Barkley rushed for 118 yards on a mere 15 carries, which resulted in him scoring an astonishing three touchdowns, including a 60-yard sprint to the end zone.
Despite their defeat, the Commanders can hold their heads high, achieving a 12-5 regular season record and winning two playoff games. In fact, their appearance in the NFC championship was their first time reaching such a stage since 1991. For an organization plagued by mismanagement, mediocrity and a discontented fanbase, dynamic rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was able to engineer one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in NFL history. Their performance in the game was atypical of their impressive play throughout the
season, and they were particularly foiled by their four turnovers. This was compounded by their defense being a sieve that the Eagles passed through without worry. Nevertheless, the Commanders can hold their heads high, as Daniels is only 24 years old and has an extremely bright future ahead of him.
Conversely, the Sunday night matchup between the Bills and Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO, was a riveting classic that came down to the contest’s final moments. Bills quarterback Josh Allen matched every single blow dealt to him by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but a late fourth quarter prayer of a throw was dropped by tight end Dalton Kincaid. From there, the Chiefs were able to convert on a couple of crucial fourth downs to triumph 32-29. Allen, who threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns, agonizingly still has not reached the Super Bowl in his seventh season, with many of his most valiant efforts stifled by Mahomes and the Chiefs. Mahomes had a stellar performance, but the Chiefs’ defense stepped up in major fashion to ensure their squad’s victory, while the Bills’ defense ran into trouble tackling and defending against the many deep threats the Chiefs can boast at receiver. And here we go. The end of the season is nearly upon us! After 284 combined regular season and playoff games, we only have one more contest remaining. That contest is the pinnacle of American team sports: the Super Bowl. Featuring the Eagles and Chiefs, it will be a battle of two of football’s greatest titans. In particular, the Chiefs are striving to make incredible history by being the first team to win a three-peat (win three consecutive Super Bowls). The Eagles, meanwhile, are aiming to win their second Super Bowl of all time, only a few years after the triumph of their 2018 victory. Both of these squads have been presumptive favorites in their conferences all year, so expectations will be sky-high, and hopefully fans will be treated to an otherworldly display of NFL football. Next week will feature a full-length Super Bowl preview, so stay tuned!
No games next week (Pro Bowl: 3 P.M. E.T. on Feb. 2, 2025 in Orlando, FL)
Game to watch: Super Bowl LIX – Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles at the Superdome in New Orleans, LA. 6:30 P.M. E.T. on Feb. 9, 2025.
ELLE YUNG/The Justice
Running: Brandeis Track and Field jumping hurdles and running to the finish line
Football: Eagles running back gets the ball and begins running down the field
just
Arts & Culture
Photos courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS and JAMES LI/The Justice. Design: JONAS KAPLIN/The Justice.
Waltham, Mass.
‘T he C olor of P omegrana T es ’:
T
he beau T y of weirdness in C raf T ing
im P a CT ful narra T ivies
By ANI POGHOSYAN JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sergei Parajanov’s film, “The Color of Pomegranates” is truly groundbreaking with its interesting filming techniques, storytelling choices and iconic overall aesthetics. Parajanov’s ability to mesh the story of Sayat Nova, a famous Armenian artist and poet, with historical aspects of his culture made the movie a staple in filmmaking and in the Armenian diaspora. His images and film style appealed to the many surrealist filmmakers at the time and yet his visions for the film didn’t align with the beliefs of the Soviet government, resulting in the ban of the film for over 50 years. Despite this, filmmakers all over the world today refer to the movie as one of the most influential of its time. No matter if you watch the first or second version of the restored films, Parajanov’s vision remains clear. The unconventional narrative techniques of Parajanov’s “The Color of Pomegranates” accentuate the weirdness and experimental nature of the film by adding depth and meaning that is only discernible by the audience themselves.
One of Parajanov’s most striking techniques within his films was the use of religious artifacts and iconography to convey specific narratives. “The Color of Pomegranates” was no exception. The use of Armenian artifacts, instruments and everyday items was extremely common in the film, with every scene featuring some collage of these pieces. Each scene in the film looks as though it is an image — a picture that is taken for the audience with no explanation. If you observe the scene about 21 minutes into the original film, there is a series of images set in front of a beige wall adorned with rectangular linens sewn together draped down in the center. A man wearing patterned clothing and a large horned hat appears in the center, banging on a drum between his legs as two statues on either side of the linens swing from side to side. The scene progresses and each of the ‘statues’ comes to life and take turns walking into the center of the scene and dancing with bowls and teapots in their hands. The film then cuts to the drummer again, only this time he is to the side of the scene and there is a boy jumping around with feathers in his hands. Even when observed in the broader context of the film, this scene is shrouded with mystery and intrigue. It makes the audience wonder what its relevance is in the grand scheme of Sayat Nova’s life and how they are supposed to interpret it. Some of the answers to the audience’s questions come from the analysis of the items that are hidden within the scene. The linens are recognizable Armenian patterns generally found in handmade carpets. The dancing individuals in the scene are wearing traditional Armenian wedding clothing. One interpretation is that this is Sayat Nova’s wedding to the girl he had been admiring earlier in the film. Despite these theories, the answer is never confirmed for the audience. They are left to wonder as they watch the rest of the film and search for other explanations for the many forms of surrealist imagery that are present. But the key to Parajanov’s experimentalist filmmaking is just that: the
surrealist imagery is meant to confuse the audience and leave them with this sense of wonder. There is no specific answer that will completely satisfy the narrative that the audience is searching for. Rather, the mystery of the images in the film is what creates the narrative, which is where the weirdness of the film can truly shine.
Another aspect of the film that is notable is the lack of speech and dialogue in any of the scenes. Despite the fact that the film is meant to tell a story, Parajanov ensures that there is no real “telling” at all. Instead of using words to express the images, he lets the pictures speak for themselves and leaves the audience to decide the meaning on their own. That being said, Parajanov offers some aid through the specific bits and pieces of Sayat Nova’s compositions, both music and spoken poetry, to accompany the images that he presents. One of the most iconic scenes in the film is at about 30 minutes and focuses on a woman in traditional Armenian clothing threading thin strings together to create a lace pattern while standing in front of a swinging picture frame. In the next clip, a man stands facing forward, turning an instrument in front of the swinging picture frame. As the scene cuts from the woman to the man, there is a single note being played on the violin repeatedly and some of the only words in the entire film are spoken in Armenian as the narrator, Sayat Nova, says, “You are fire. Your dress is fire.” This phrase is repeated multiple times until the film moves on to the next image. These words come directly from a poem by Sayat Nova in which he expresses his love for a woman that he has seen and desperately wants to be with. Parajanov’s interpretation of the poem, mixing the visual aspects of the scene with the narration and background, creates a distinct experience for the audience. This experience is what makes “The Color of Pomegranates” so unique when compared to other films: it makes the audience feel what Sayat Nova’s poems are saying. The experience of the film is a huge part of the narrative because it is what encourages the audience to come up with their own conclusions about the film and pushes them to learn more about the director and his muse, Sayat Nova. It is unique in both its methods and in its visual cues that are jarring and impactful for the audience’s viewing. The usage of sound in this film once again enforces the idea that the experimental aspects of the film come from its openness to audience interpretation.
In many ways, the oddest aspect of this film is the fact that Parajanov himself sees it as a normal narrative, or so to speak. In an interview with Ron Holloway, he explains that his directing is “fundamentally the truth as it’s transformed into images: sorrow, hope, love, beauty.” He explains that the stories he incorporates into his films are not made up as many people think they are and he responds to these individuals by saying, “No, it’s simply the truth as I perceive it.” In a sense, the surrealist take that Parajanov uses to create his film
“The Color of Pomegranates” is simply his
authentic interpretation of the true life of Sayat Nova. It is his life through the artistic lens of Sergei Parajanov. He doesn’t necessarily denounce realism either, as he sees it as a means to reach surrealist art. He says that there are “different ways to give the impression of ‘hyper-realism.’ If I needed a tiger, then I would make a tiger out of a toy and it would have more effect than a real tiger would have.” The forms in which Parajanov chooses to create the worlds in his films are surrealist and yet the ideas behind them seem to be so elementary. This, however, is what creates the experimentality of “The Color of Pomegranates.” It creates the idea that an artist can create the surreal from the real and weave their story’s imagery in such a way that each viewer interprets it differently, even in a time in which individualism was discouraged.
The impact of Parajanov’s “The Color of
Pomegranates” is still seen in many forms of media today. Its experimental narrative and form have allowed it to become a commonly referenced film for artists such as Lady Gaga, movies such as “Midsommar” and other filmmakers like Wes Anderson. At its core, the surrealist ideas and filmmaking techniques used in “The Color of Pomegranates” are representative of the impact of film on social movements today by allowing others to offer their own interpretations and ideas based on their own experiences. Parajanov’s bravery and determination to create films despite the attempts to keep him silenced is a perfect example of what it means to be experimental and to question the standards that are imposed on art and literature. The beauty of his film in conjunction with its weird narrative creates an unforgettable story and a timeless film that will foster further analysis for generations to come.
‘NOSFERATU:’ A BALLAD OF EERINESS
By IYLA LICHTENFELD JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
This past Christmas, director Robert Eggers, known for “The Lighthouse” and “The Witch,” released his eagerly awaited film “Nosferatu.” This modern reinvention of the 1922 film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” is being hailed for reviving the gothic horror genre and with a slate of underrated, though adored, actors the movie provides a uniquely contemporary interpretation with thematic shifts representative of current politics. Nonetheless, Eggers’ direction respects its inspiration with silent film cinematography practices and a return to the spirit of the period’s feminist depictions.
The original “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau spoke to Germany’s decline post World War I, comparing the devastation of war to the bubonic plague, and the threat of rising antisemitism in the nation. This film’s main protagonist, Thomas Hutter, travels to Transylvania to see the mysterious, and possibly vampiric, Count Orlok. The Count requests to buy a dilapidated mansion in Hutter’s town and begins tormenting the overtired man in the night. Eventually, Hutter flees and Count Orlok travels with his coffin to the new house. Once there, plague and death engulf the town as Hutter’s wife, Ellen, discovers Count Orlok can be killed by a pure of heart woman who lures the vampire into the dawn with her beauty. She willingly sacrifices herself and saves the town before falling into the arms of her husband with her last breath.
Eggers’ version is the same plot as the original, but takes liberties to direct focus toward sexual and mental abuse. Therefore, the film is less a reflection of geo-politics, as is its inspiration, but a deeply relevant look at body politics. Ellen is undoubtedly the protagonist of this film and great attention is given to her emotional attachment to Count Orlok as he has abused her in visions since youth. In many ways, her mental and physical reactions, which cause her to become erratically “possessed,” are an allegory for rape and sexual trauma. As happens to many survivors of abuse, her behavior is lauded as inappropriate by close friends and she is disbelieved until her husband, a male of authority, professes the abusers impact on himself. This narrative was far more pertinent during the film’s creation than that of post-war reconstruction or xenophobia. Eggers’ development began in 2015 and continued until filming in 2023. Thus, his creative process overlapped with major developments in mental health research and women’s rights movements such as #MeToo in 2017.
Importantly, the film is not lacking because of integral remodeling of themes compared to the original. In fact, many “reboots” of the modern era feel so useless because of an unwillingness to adapt messaging to be uniquely engaging for current audiences. However, “Nosferatu” does not take the wheel and try to build a car with it. Eggers respects the simplicity of “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” and does not attempt to embellish
EXHIBIT EXPLORATION
his story with cash grab actors and aesthetics. Instead Eggers enlists Lily Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin and Aaron Taylor Johnson as burgeoning or fading stars working to ignite their careers as high-level professionals. As such, their performances appear to value authenticity and immersion into the gothic setting.
Overall, Egger’s “Nosferatu” is a powerful reconstruction of Murnau’s original 1922 work. Its reimagined thematics and classic aesthetics remind me of “Pandora’s Box,” “Paranorman” and “The Crucible” as emotionally gothic tales of recognizing the societal stigmas on mental health and sexuality. The work is a testament to respecting an original form while breathing modern life into its narrative.
Count Orlok as originally seen in the 1922 film
‘Wrongs & rIgHTs’: A curATorIAl explorATIon of
THe HIsTorIcAl
bATTle for reproducTIve rIgHTs
By MAEVE COAKLEY JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
June 2025 will mark three years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that set reproductive rights in America back decades. The exhibit “Wrongs & RIGHTS,” curated by Laura Dvorkin and Maynard Monrow, is framed as an intergenerational discussion about the fight for reproductive rights. “Wrongs & RIGHTS” can be found on display in the Kniznick Gallery in the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis. On display in the exhibit are over 20 pieces of various media. Although the exhibit contains pieces that date as far back as 1968 the collection of works are meant to invoke a sense of urgency as a reaction to the 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Featuring 22 artists each piece in the exhibit touches on the topic of reproductive rights differently.
“Rights” and “America Unraveling” by Lisa Anne Auerbach in particular are responses to recent political events within America. “Rights” is a 15 second video of the unraveling of a red knitted cloth with RIGHTS stitched into it which went viral at the time it was released. The piece was made as a direct response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. The theme of unraveling carries over into “America Unraveling,” a white wool cloth with the silhouette of America stitched in black whose thread has slowly begun to fall apart. Auerbach has spent the majority of her career using knitting and sweaters to comment on politics. The exhibit also includes Auerbach’s “Did You Hear What Bush Said About Roe v. Wade” which is a wool sweater and skirt with the piece’s title stitched into the wool. This piece demonstrates the longevity of the battle for reproductive rights in America and the pivotal role Roe v. Wade has played.
Many of the pieces are extremely personal and autobiographical such as “No. 5” by Jo Shane which includes a frame that contains the instructions Shane received after she had an abortion as well as her blood, her archival pregnancy tests and a small vial of Chanel No. 5 perfume. Shane’s work is not the only piece that could be described as macabre. Rachel Lachowitz’s “Untitled (one month late)” is also very visceral. “Untitled (one month late)” is a display of wire hangers that have been contorted into various shapes and dipped in melted red lipstick. Lachowitz has been experimenting with hangers as a medium for decades but dipping the hangers in lipstick marks an experimental difference in her usual process. The addition of the lipstick to the hangers gives the work a raw and gruesome air.
The interactive piece by Andrea Bowers, “Political Ribbons,” was created specifically for the “Wrongs & RIGHTS” exhibit. Bowers herself has been involved in political movements since the ‘70s including reproductive rights, indigenous rights and climate change.
The piece is dozens of hanging satin ribbons with varying phases written on them such as “Love Has No Gender” and “Free Bodies On Free Ground.” Visitors are encouraged to take a ribbon with them when they leave the exhibit. The exhibit also features work by local artist Courtney Stock and a piece by Lesley Dill taken from the collection in the Rose Art Museum.
The pieces described in this article are only a small handful of the entire collection so be sure to visit before it closes on Jan. 30!
Design: NEMMA KALRA/The Justice.
STILLS:
“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.”
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
Top 10 Best Places to Study on Campus
By REMI YOUNG JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
1. Chapels Field (in the warmth)
2. Farber 1
3. Computer lab
4. Upper Usdan
5. In dorm room
6. Village common room
7. Shapiro Campus Center tables
8. Tables near SCC blue sheds
9. Shapiro Science Center
10. Upper Farber
EXHIBIT EXPLORATION
By DAHLIA RAMIREZ JUSTICE STAFF ARTIST
Searching for Solace in the Surreal:
an exploration of the roSe art MuSeuM’S neweSt exhibitS
By NEMMA KALRA JUSTICE EDITOR
How do we navigate a world that often feels beyond understanding? Where do we turn when uncertainty shapes our future and anxiety defines our present? One potential place is art — or more specifically, Surrealism. A movement which essentially grew during a period of strife and conflict between World Wars I and II, Surrealism offers a lens through which we can tap into realms and realities beyond what’s directly perceivable. Although art in its multitude of forms cannot be dated, October 2024 marked the centennial of Surrealism. To honor such a pivotal event in art history, the Rose Art Museum unveiled two new exhibitions that represent the Surrealist movement.
The Rose’s newest exhibitions, “Surrealism(s) - There & Now” and “Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver,” both pay homage to the Surrealist movement, as did the opening celebration of these exhibits. Starting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 22, the Rose was filled with Brandeis students, alumnus and art enthusiasts from the Greater Boston area. Guests arrived in quirky and artistic outfits, immersing themselves in the surreal while listening to warm, enchanting music and even taking a quick break to “explore their subconscious” with free tarot card readings. However the true magic of the evening lay in the exhibitions themselves.
When people first entered the Rose, they were met with the works of British-Mexican Surrealist artist Leonara Carrington. According to Chief Curator at the Rose and Brandeis professor Dr. Gannit Ankori (FA), the exhibit features works from throughout Carrington’s life, starting with her teenage years through her escape from Europe and eventual life in Mexico. Historically, Carrington’s work only existed in private collections, making “Dream Weaver” the first exhibit in which, according to Ankori, “viewers are able to trace [Carrington’s] artistic evolution while highlighting the recurring themes and techniques that define her work.” Among the works on display is Carrington’s drawing “Dream Weaver,” the piece from which the collection draws its name. Ankori wrote, “With the delicacy of her pencil line — reminiscent of the single thread held by the weaver — Carrington conjures dreams, creatures, and entire worlds. Her art invites us into these intricately constructed realms, where imagination and reality intertwine, encouraging us to see beyond the ordinary and into the extraordinary.”
Beyond just serving as a means to celebrate the centennial, “Leonora Carrington: Dream Weaver” is more relevant than ever in a reality defined by uncertainty. Ankori shared, “For students at Brandeis and beyond, navigating the complexities of modern life, Carrington’s creations offer a profound reminder: when reality feels fractured and incomprehensible, art provides the tools to imagine new possibilities and alternative
futures.”
This sentiment of art to transcend the present rings true in the second exhibition as well. “Surrealism(s) - There & Now” located in the Mildred S. Lee Gallery features a myriad of Surrealistic pieces from the Rose’s permanent collection. The gallery is filled with diverse paintings, drawings, collages, photographs and sculptures spanning generations of artists. Each piece, unique in its own right, ultimately connects to the essence of surrealism, honoring unbridled and bold imagination.
The two new collections at the Rose are a testament to artists’ ability to dream and envision experiences beyond our known realm. Be sure to check them out, as well as “Hugh Hayden: Home Work,” at the Rose Art Museum before they leave on June 1.
BRYAN WOLFE/The Justice
JAMES LI/The Justice