ARTS Page 19
FORUM Criticize sentencing leniency 11
ALUNAGEORGE
SPORTS Men's tennis debuts at invitational 16 The Independent Student Newspaper
the
of
B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9
Justice
Volume LXIX, Number 4
www.thejustice.org
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
FALL CONCERT
Administration
Third CDO finalist meets with students ■ The third CDO finalist
stressed community engagement during her visit to campus on Thursday. By Max Moran JUSTICE editor
MORGAN BRILL/the Justice
Aluna, half of electronic-pop duo AlunaGeorge, radiated energy on the stage on Saturday at the 2016 Brandeis Fall Concert, which was sponsored by Student Events.
STUDENT LIFE
Coalition moves to change the name of Columbus Day
■ Students have made a
petition for the University to rename "Columbus Day" to "Indigenous Peoples Day." By Max Moran JUSTICE editor
A new student coalition is calling for the University to change “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples Day” on the University’s academic calendar, ahead of the holiday on Oct. 10. Their Change.org petition had over 280 signatures by Monday night of faculty, alumni and students. The activists and Student Union representatives spearheading the campaign hope to recognize Native Americans within the University community. They also hope their campaign will “acknowledge the reality that Columbus is not a figure to be celebrated, but one who enacted genocide on Indigenous Peoples/Native Americans,” according to the petition. Changing the holiday’s name is the only policy initiative thus far announced by this collective. Changing the holiday’s name will require a vote by the University Advisory Council, a board within the Office of the Provost composed of faculty
and administrators who advise the provost and deans on academic policies, among other topics. In an email to the Justice, Provost Lisa Lynch wrote that changing the holiday’s name was added to her agenda for this Thursday’s UAC meeting only yesterday, after she was forwarded a resolution on Indigenous People’s Day from Student Union Senator at Large Lorenzo Finamore ’18. Lynch wrote to the Justice, “Changes to the academic calendar are approved by the UAC but, depending on the nature of the proposed changes, the UAC might also ask for input from the faculty at large. I would anticipate that the faculty at large would like to weigh in on this issue,” Lynch wrote. In the Student Union resolution, provided by Finamore to the Justice, the Union “strongly recommends” that the administration change the name of the holiday, explaining that “the legacy of Christopher Columbus is one of imperialism, genocide, torture, enslavement, and long-term systematic injustices which conflict with Brandeis University’s core principles of social justice.” Finamore and the Union became active in the issue last Spring after Finamore was approached by Sophia Warren ’18. Warren told the Justice in
a phone interview that she’d wanted to see the University change the name of Columbus Day from her first year at Brandeis. After the Ford Hall 2015 protest last year, among other student activism, Warren felt empowered to advocate for change. “This feels so much like something so intrinsically in line with Brandeis University and what I think about when I think about Brandeis University,” Warren said. “I honestly haven’t really met a student that’s not in support of this proposition.” Finamore wrote to the Justice in an email, “When Sophie came to us the resolution had to be presented to the Senate, which discussed the merits of the change and ultimately ratified it. I believe the Executive board also made an effort to speak with the administrators they had access to in order to see how they could help. All in all pretty much everyone in the Union at that time put at least some attention into the resolution. You could definitely say it was a collective effort, which has always been an important component to the process of creating this change.” Several UAC members reached by email yesterday confessed to being unaware of the movement and
See COLUMBUS, 7 ☛
The third finalist for the new Chief Diversity Officer position spoke in an open forum with students on Thursday about how she sees her role and her experience as a current CDO at a university of around 7,000 undergraduates. The University is gathering student feedback on the four finalists — two of whom spoke on campus last week — through these open forums, with the final forum scheduled for next week. Community members can access video footage of the previous panels
at the Office of the Provost’s website, but the footage is protected behind a Unet log-in to ensure that only Brandeis community members can see the identities of the candidates. To protect the third candidate’s current employment and respect the integrity of the search process, the Justice is not publishing the candidate’s name or identifying information. The candidate said that she grew up in Puerto Rico in a “very multicultural space” in a diverse neighborhood, which inspired her professional and personal interest in “ethnic studies.” In her current job, she oversees a department focused on cultural engagement with minority groups and works closely with international students in particular. She also engages frequently with student clubs and organizations, in-
See CDO, 7 ☛
Board of trustees
Liebowitz promotes Board transparency ■ In an email to students
and staff on Friday, Liebowitz announced a new series of meetings and updates. By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE EDITOR
The University has launched a new series of meetings and updates to promote transparency regarding the Board of Trustees and the University finances, University President Ron Liebowitz announced in a Friday email to students, faculty and staff. In his email, Liebowitz wrote that he will be sharing with the community a summary of topics discussed and resolutions passed following each meeting of the Board of Trustees. He added that he will also periodically propose open meetings with students
and staff to share specific information and engage in dialogue on issues related to Board actions. In their most recent meetings last Tuesday and Wednesday, the Board’s Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees as a whole examined the University’s financial health and structure. According to Liebowitz’s email, economist and former Vice President for Financial Strategy at the University of Chicago Kermit Daniel has been collecting and compiling financial data on campus since April. Liebowitz wrote that Daniel used the data — collected from over 40 staff members and administrators — to explain the historical and ongoing challenges the University faces as both a research university and a liberal arts college. Daniel’s report highlighted the Uni-
See BoT, 7 ☛
Indian Newsroom
No “I” in Team
New Genes
On Tuesday, Naresh Fernandes, the editor of Scroll.in, discussed how computers changed the Indian newsroom.
The women's soccer team defended their win streak and won two consecutive games over the weekend.
Dr. Ruha Benjamin discussed the complicated relationship between genetics and race on Tuesday.
FEATURES 8
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Waltham, Mass.
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INDEX
SPORTS 16
ARTS SPORTS
17 13
EDITORIAL FEATURES
10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG
10 2
News 5
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