Volume 9 Number 18
www.thebrandeishoot.com
Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper • Waltham, Mass.
September 14, 2012
New policy released on student-staff relationships By Jon Ostrowsky Editor
President Fred Lawrence approved a new university policy prohibiting consensual sexual and romantic relationships between students and faculty or staff that create the possibility of unfair power dynamics or conflicts of interest. Three situations last spring involving inappropriate interactions, but not relationships, between instructors and undergraduate students probably inspired the new policy, a university official who asked not to be identified told The Hoot. Lawrence notified the community of the new policy in an email on Wednesday, distinguishing between instructor-student and staff-student relationships. “Romantic and sexual relationships between members of the staff and students—even if consensual— undermine the possibility of such a community by introducing the specter of favoritism, abuse of power, and conflict of interest, all of which compromise the ability of faculty and staff to carry out their responsibilities to both students and the University as a whole,” the policy states. Lawrence approved the new policy
after the University Advisory Council subcommittee on Consensual Relations, chaired by Professor Marion Smiley (PHIL), reviewed policies of peer institutions including Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Tufts, Harvard, MIT and Northeastern. Human Resources also reviewed the policy, along with feedback from Arts and Sciences chairs, who then sent it to the University Policy Review Committee. The policy states that students may feel pressured by the unequal power hierarchy and thus be unable to provide consent to a relationship with instructors. “Power differentials between students and those in a position to instruct, advise, supervise, evaluate, mentor or coach them bring into question the student’s ability to give consent meaningfully to such relationships,” according to the new policy. “Even when the Instructor and student act with integrity, others may perceive partiality and bias.” The policy also outlined that relationships are acceptable as long as they do not create a conflict of interest, with one member having authority over the other. “The pedagogical relationships See POLICY, page 2
remembering 9/11 Fom left to right, Hameedi, his brother Jamal, and Salman at Jamal and Salman’s
Alum with perished loved one remembers 9/11 attacks By Victoria Aronson Editor
As Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on Manhattan’s World Trade Center and the destruction of the twin towers, commemoration services honor the lives of those who were lost, serving as an eternal
Crown Center hosts Middle East forum By Debby Brodsky Editor
The Crown Center for Middle East Studies hosted its opening event Thursday afternoon, celebrating the generous support of the Crown and Goodman families, the inauguration of the Charles (Corky) Goodman Chair in Middle Eastern History, and a panel discussion with highly
published faculty about current hot topics concerning the Middle East. Following Lawrence’s introduction, Dr. Steve Goldstein ’78, Brandeis Provost, invited the event’s main speaker, Naghmeh Sohrabi to accept her place as the first incumbent of the Corky Goodman Chair in Middle East History. Sohrabi did so tearfully, and then proceeded to speak of her youth in Iran and how she came to study Middle Eastern
history. Sohrabi described how as a 10-year-old, she decided that she wanted to win the Nobel Prize in the sciences, and as a back up plan, she thought she might win a Nobel Prize in the humanities. By 13, Sohrabi decided she had to go to MIT, however, as a child living in Iran this plan did not seem possible. By chance, three See CROWN CENTER, page 20
photo by nate rosenbloom/the hoot
Inside this issue:
News: Camp for transgender children Features: Interim Protestant chaplain arrives Sports: Men’s soccer advances to top 20 Impressions: Every move you make Arts, Etc.: Commemorating 9/11 in art
Page 4 Page 6 Page 8 Page 14 Page 17
photo courtesy usman hameedi ‘12
graduation.
reminder of the tragic event. Usman Yasin Hameedi ’12, a recent Brandeis graduate who lost a close friend in the attack, asserts that the anniversary “should be a day for us as a nation to come together in unity.” At the mere age of 10, Hameedi suffered the loss of a close friend, Mohammad Salman Hamdani, who perished selflessly, sacrificing his life
to help others while serving as a first responder to the scene. Hameedi expresses the depth of his loss, revealing “Sal and I didn’t need to be kindred through blood for us to be brothers. Sal is my brother. I remember very vividly in my childhood, I would go to his parents’ store See 9/11, page 4
After tragedy, campus continues to look for answers By Connor Novy Editor
Nearly two weeks after Akshay Venkatesh took his own life on campus, just days after classes began, his professors, friends and family said they are still questioning what went wrong with such a passionate and intelligent student, returning to school for his junior year. “I don’t know who reached out to him and who didn’t, but I never considered the possibility that he was pre-suicidal,” Professor Don Katz (PSYC) said. Katz’s sentiments were echoed by others on campus. Katz was disappointed that despite his expertise, he failed to diagnose Venkatesh at the time. He was not purposefully removed from society, Katz said. “He took it on himself to try to get to know me,” he said in an interview with The Hoot. Katz did not consider himself a mentor, but because his class was one of the first that Venkatesh took in the neuroscience and biology fields, Katz believes Venkatesh was committed to doing well, having decided early in life that
he was going to pursue a career in the fields. Venkatesh pushed himself to be active in class, and sought out Katz during office hours in the semester he was his student. They kept in contact briefly after the class ended, but the communication fell through during the summer. Venkatesh was already set on a major in science, despite having only begun his courses in biology when he took Katz’s course. “Like many Brandeis students,” Katz said, “he made the decision to do science before he could find out what he was good at.” According to friends, Venkatesh was both driven and gifted in his chosen field. “I’ve met very few people as passionate as he was about what he was studying,” Isaac Rabbani ’13 said, who lived on Venkatesh’s floor in previous years, “and with the intellect to match.” Katz said he is still searching for answers. “I keep using the present tense,” he said. The final few posts on Venkatesh’s Facebook page include a status that says how excited he was to return to Brandeis.
Awareness falls flat
Under the sea
Impressions: Page 13
Arts, Etc.: Page 16
Zoë Kronovet compares awareness events and the process of actually spreading awareness.
See VENKATESH, page 3
In just 24 hours, students put together a Brandeis version of “The Little Mermaid.”