The Justice, October 11, 2016

Page 1

ARTS Page 19

FORUM Urge shift to renewable energy 12

KRASINSKI TALK

SPORTS Men's tennis flies by competition 16 The Independent Student Newspaper

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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 6

www.thejustice.org

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Administration

SHOCK AND AWE

Diversity climbs in first-year applicant pool ■ Admissions data presented at Friday's faculty meeting shows moderate growth in ethnic diversity for applicants. By CARMI ROTHBERG and ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE editors

While ethnic and geographic diversity in incoming first-year classes has steadily risen in the past few years, distribution among the University’s majors has swayed largely toward social sciences, Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel announced during Friday’s faculty meeting. Flagel noted that these statistics will remain unofficial for another week and a half, in accordance with the federal standard, but that these preliminary numbers offer a good indication of the University’s current

state of enrollment. Overall, Flagel said, enrollment has been “robust,” trending slightly toward growth while remaining within the University’s capacity for resources and space. The University is slowly becoming more ethnically diverse, with 8 percent of the University now African American and 7 percent now Latino. The number of prospective students of color has also gone up, with the University reaching out to 49,704 prospects in 2016, up from 34,064 prospects in 2014. In return, 8,545 prospective students of color made admission inquiries into the University in 2016, compared to only 4,604 inquiries in 2014, and 1,996 applied, compared to only 1,509 in 2014. Of those, 624 were admitted and 137 enrolled, compared to the 454 students of color admitted in 2014 and the 105 who enrolled the same year.

See ADMISSIONS, 7 ☛

CAMPUS SPEAKER

Dukakis emphasizes lessons from history ■ Former Massachusetts

Governor Michael Dukakis reflected on the lessons he has learned over his career in an event on Wednesday. By ABBY PATKIN JUSTICE editor

“Pathima mathima,” former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis told students last Wednesday. “Things happen and you’re supposed to learn from them,” he added, explaining the Greek adage. In his remarks during a discussion on campus, Dukakis reflected on his lengthy political career — he served as governor from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991, and also ran for president in 1988. While

America is a drastically different place than it was when he first became politically active, there are still many lessons to be learned from the nation’s past mistakes, Dukakis asserted. Dukakis told the audience that he finds fault with 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. “When was that?” he asked, questioning Trump’s ideal of a “great” America of days past. Drawing upon his childhood and youth, Dukakis painted a picture of a more close-minded, less progressive nation. Dukakis was inspired to go into politics because of the racism and corruption he saw around him as he grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. “Boston was racist. It was an-

See GOV, 7 ☛

ANNA SHERMAN/the Justice

Students watched the second presidential debate between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday night.

FACULTY

Faculty looks at Board restructuring in meeting

■ At the monthly meeting,

faculty and administrators discussed potential changes to the Board of Trustees By abby patkin JUSTICE editor

The faculty convened last Friday to discuss changes in the University Board of Trustees’ organization and governance and voted to rename Columbus Day to “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” Faculty representative to the Board Prof. Daniel Bergstresser (IBS) gave the faculty a rundown of the major topics discussed in the Board’s Sept. 13 and 14 meetings. Notably, the Board has begun to discuss and implement changes to governance, committee structure and composition, Bergstresser explained. The overall message is that “the Board is thinking hard about how they can be a more effective board for this University,” he said. The Board is trying to be thoughtful about what their role on campus

is and better get a sense of their relationship with faculty and administrators, Bergstresser asserted, though he noted that he was speaking for himself. Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL) asked Bergstresser whether the Board had considered downsizing and increasing its diversity. The Board of Trustees is “creating what’s known as a matrix of various characteristics,” University President Ron Liebowitz responded. “It’s at least now discussing what are the characteristics of the Board. … That’s important in terms of diversity, of course, but also in terms of expertise: how can the Board really be of value to the institution?” The Board has also been working with educational marketing professional Mark Neustadt, who has advised the University on the best way to market itself as an educational institution. Neustadt has advised the University to emphasize its nonsectarian founding, according to Bergstresser. Bergstresser also took the oppor-

tunity to touch on the University’s financial situation, which has been discussed in depth over the last few weeks through a series of open meetings. Financial analyst Kermit Daniel gave a presentation to the Board and to the campus community, asserting that the University’s spending habits are unsustainable. Essentially, the University has been taking more out of its endowment than is sustainable, and its tuition is higher than average for similarly sized institutions, Liebowitz explained to the faculty. While the administration will be scaling up its fundraising efforts, Liebowitz noted that fundraising income will not be able to fully sustain the University’s current spending habits. “The bottom line is that we have great aspirations, and all that we do exceeds the amount of resources that we have,” he said. “The problem is size. We really don’t have enough students or size to spread the total costs to make this a going venture forever in terms of what we can do.”

See FAC, 7 ☛

50th Anniversary

All Tied Up

Wake Up

 The Waltham Group had a celebratory gala Saturday night to recognize the 50th anniversary of its founding.

 The pressure is mounting for the Judges as the team ties for the third time this regular season.

Israeli journalist Ari Shavit discussed his outlook on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last Tuesday.

FEATURES 9

For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org

Waltham, Mass.

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

INDEX

SPORTS 16 ARTS SPORTS

17 13

EDITORIAL FEATURES

10 OPINION 8 POLICE LOG

10 2

News 3

COPYRIGHT 2016 FREE AT BRANDEIS.


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