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SOFTBALL TEAM CLAIMS ECAC CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE The Independent Student Newspaper
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Justice
Volume LXVII, Number 28
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
ADMINISTRATION
64TH COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES
Epstein to take over as interim provost next year ■ Epstein will hold the
position while current provost Lisa Lynch is the interim University president next year. By Abby Patkin JUSTICE editor
Beginning July 1, Prof. Irving Epstein (CHEM) will become the interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, according to an email Provost Lisa Lynch sent to the community on May 7. Epstein previously served as provost from 1994 to 2001 under former University President Jehuda Reinharz. He was recently a senior advisor to former Provost Steve Goldstein
MIHIR KHANNA/the Justice
FORGING A PATH: Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering addressed the class of 2015 at Sunday's commencement excersises.
Pickering addresses need for public service ■ The University awarded
956 bachelor's degrees at its 64th commencement ceremony on Sunday. By MAx MORAN JUSTICE EDITOR
The University held its 64th annual commencement ceremony on Sunday, in which 956 students were awarded bachelor’s degrees, 756 students were awarded master's degrees and 100 students were awarded doctoral degrees, according to an email to the Justice from University Registrar Mark Hewitt. Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipient Ambassador Thomas Pickering spoke on the importance and appeal of public service, while University President Frederick Lawrence reflected on his time at the University and with the class of 2015. Vice Provost, Chief Information Officer and University Librarian
John Unsworth opened the exercises and served as master of ceremonies. Profs. emeritus Raymond Knight (PSYC) and Barry Friedman (Heller) entered first as the grand marshals of the ceremony. Following them were the president’s councillors and fellows, the degree candidates for the graduate school of arts and sciences and the degree candidates for the International Business School— who chanted “IBS! IBS!” as they entered. The candidates for the Heller School followed, then the candidates for the Rabb School of Continuing Studies, the Brandeis faculty, the class of 2015 bachelor’s degree candidates, the Board of Trustees and the honorary degree candidates and the presidential party. Protestant Reverend Matthew Carriker delivered an invocation where he urged the graduating class to “seek to live with justice, compassion, humility and love” and noted that “knowledge without love is bankrupt.” Leila May Pascual ’15 then sang the national anthem to thunderous applause.
See COMMENCEMENT, 8
and was the interim Vice Provost for Research under Lynch. Epstein will fill the position as Lynch, the current provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, will become the interim University president next year due to the resignation of current University President Frederick Lawrence. “Irv is a widely respected researcher, an innovative educator and an experienced administrator, making him ideally suited for this position,” Lynch wrote in the email. “I am delighted that he has agreed to take on such an important role for the next academic year.” Epstein is the Henry F. Fischbach
See EPSTEIN, 5 ☛
STAFF
Labor referendum passes student vote ■ The Brandeis Labor
Coalition will use the referendum results as proof that the student body approves their new policy.
After Unsworth announced several faculty awards, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Perry Traquina ’78 welcomed the attendees to the ceremony, telling the graduating class that commencement is “a day of celebration and transitions, … one of the most significant transitions you will ever make.” Traquina noted Lawrence’s transition out of the presidency and particularly noted the Light of Reason art installation outside of the Rose Art Museum as an achievement of Lawrence’s tenure. Traquina said that the Light of Reason “symbolizes what Brandeis holds dear: the guiding light of knowledge, being bold and our dedication to making the world a better place.” Traquina then asked the attendees to thank Lawrence and his wife Kathy “for all they have done for Brandeis,” which led to an almost 40-secondlong standing ovation. Lawrence then addressed the graduating class. “Presidents are not supposed to have favorite classes,” he started, “but that
By Max Moran JUSTICE EDITOR
On May 3, the student body elected to pass the Brandeis Labor Coalition’s Just Employment Policy in a referendum vote, according to an email from former Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco ’15. The referendum passed with 83 percent of the 608 respondents voting “yes,” 58 voting “no” and 46 voting “abstain” in response to the question “I vote in favor of the Just Employment Policy Referendum.” The referendum does not make the Just Employment Policy an official University policy but will be used by BLC as evidence that the student body supports the Just Employment Policy’s practices. In an interview with the Justice, former BLC member Andrew Nguyen ’15 said that the referendum came from Provost Lisa Lynch advising
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BLC to adopt the policy through the Student Union, as “we need[ed] to show that students supported this idea.” “I think we demonstrated that,” Nguyen said. “And so now we want to go back to Lisa Lynch and tell her, ‘Hey, what’s next?’” The referendum was first sent to the student body on May 1 in an email from Franco, but a second referendum had to be sent out by former Student Union President Sneha Walia '15 after it was discovered that the first referendum did not require a Unet ID to vote, allowing students to vote multiple times. A third referendum was sent out a few hours later by Walia after it was found that the second ballot allowed voters to again vote multiple times when using a private browser, such as Google Chrome’s “incognito mode,” according to Nguyen. According to Nguyen, the Just Employment Policy includes both practices that are not currently University policies as well as policies the University had already
See BLC, 5 ☛
A sit-down with Fred
‘Avengers’ sequel
New library norms
justFeatures interviewed President Lawrence about his time as president and the future of the University.
The much-anticipated sequel ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ took the superhero genre to a more personal level.
A student demonstration has led Goldfarb Library to begin establishing new rules about its spaces.
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11
FEATURES 6
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INDEX
ARTS 23
ARTS SPORTS
17 16
EDITORIAL FEATURES
OPINION POLICE LOG
10 2
READER COMMENTARY
News 3
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