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T h e I n d e p e n d e n t S t u d e n t N e w s p a p e r o f B r a n d e is U n i v e r sit y S i n c e 1 9 4 9 Volume LXXVI, Number 1
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Waltham, Mass.
RACE AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION
BUDGET CUTS
Former Brandeis employee wins discrimination lawsuit ■ The jury awarded the
plaintiff $2.46 million in a lawsuit against Brandeis. By RIVER SIMARD
JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
CECI XILEI CHEN/the Justice
RESILIENCE: Last year's Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts shared a message of defending the voices of artists.
Brandeis cuts musicology and composition Ph.D. programs ■ The decision has been met
with backlash from many members of the Brandeis community.
By SOPHIA DE LISI AND ANIKA JAIN JUSTICE EDITORS
On Aug. 25, Brandeis University released a statement informing their faculty that per the results of a Ph.D. review, the musicology and music composition doctorate programs will no longer be accepting new students. The Justice obtained a follow-up statement sent to faculty Sept. 6, detailing the University’s decision to begin phasing out the program. The statement is signed by Provost Carol Fierke, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Wendy Cadge, and Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Jeffery Shoulson. The statement explained that the review was a “systematic examination of information about all nineteen of the university’s Ph.D. programs” that occurred between March 2022 and August 2023. The investigation included discussions between division heads, the Graduate Council, the Committee on Academ-
ic Standards and Policy, Directors of Graduate Study, Provost Fierke, and Dean Shoulson. While the musicology program was initially supposed to go on hiatus due to concerns regarding insufficient student support, this review led the University to recommend officially closing the Musicology and Music Composition programs instead. “The Music Department does not have enough faculty to easily and consistently fill dissertation committees, especially in Musicology, where all three tenured and tenuretrack faculty are essentially required to serve on the dissertation committee for every musicology Ph.D. student,” the statement explained. Fierke, Cadge, and Shoulson also expressed concern regarding the consistency of student graduation. During the review period, they found that over 40% of graduate students in these programs were within their sixth year or above. “This is a long progression to [a] degree and longer than the national average for comparable programs,” they wrote. “The University is not in a position — especially given undergraduate enrollment demands in other departments and disciplines — to invest in the programs as is needed
to sustain and grow them,” the administration's announcement said. “This self-reflection is not only best practice — it is the right thing to do for our students, our faculty, our alumni, and our future.” In response to the University’s decision, many faculty members, alumni, and community members expressed disapproval. A petition compiled by alumni has amassed over 100 pages of signatures, including the support from students, faculty, and chairs of music composition and music theory from Cornell University, Columbia University, Berklee College of Music, the New England Conservatory, Boston College, the University of California — Los Angeles, DePaul University, Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School, Michigan State University, Harvard University, University of Michigan, and many more institutions. The alumni called into question what the decision symbolizes: “What message does it send when an R1 [tier one] institution, founded on a liberal arts ethos, implies that the arts can be sacrificed on the altar of the hard sciences, instead of understanding the symbiotic role between the arts and sciences as part of a ho-
A Middlesex Superior Court jury awarded former Vice President of Human Resources Robin NelsonBailey $2.46 million in her lawsuit against the University for racial and gender-based discrimination. The jury reached the verdict on Aug. 30 following a 7-day trial. “There were three major claims in the case — race discrimination, gender discrimination, and retaliation. They were all part of the case, and they all played a vital role in the trial,” Nelson-Bailey’s attorney, Matthew Fogelman, wrote in a Sept. 8 email to the Justice. The case stems from NelsonBailey’s demotion in 2018 to the position of vice president of special projects in human resources. The demotion, which led to a decreased salary, was the result of a third-
party investigation conducted by attorney Walter Prince and Associate Justice R. Malcolm Graham into the Brandeis Department of Athletics. Nelson-Bailey was demoted due to her involvement in the University’s 2017 HR investigation of former Brandeis basketball coach Brian Meehan. Meehan had been accused of racist behavior towards Black members of the basketball team since he began working for the school in 2003. For many years the team was successful under Meehan, but he was known to be aggressive: screaming at players, treating them poorly, and making generally offensive remarks. Former Title IX Coordinator and Director of Employee and Labor Relations Linda Shinomoto conducted the initial investigation on behalf of the school in 2017 after six student-athletes, five of whom were Black, came forward with complaints of Meehan’s behavior. There was little guidance in Brandeis’ policy on whether or
See LAWSUIT, 7 ☛
BRIEF Vanessa Mark's family files lawsuit against Joseph's Transportation The parents of Vanessa Mark, the Brandeis student who tragically died in a bus crash last November, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Joseph’s Transportation of Medford and Jean Michael Fenelon, the bus driver, in Suffolk Superior Court on Aug. 18. According to the lawsuit, Fenelon was traveling 54 mph at the time of the crash — in a 30 mph zone. The bus jumped the curb, went airborne, and struck several trees. The lawsuit also alleges that Fenelon was overworked and violated the rule against working more than 70 hours in a week at the time of the crash. Furthermore, Joseph’s Transportation allegedly failed to obtain a signed duty statement from Fenelon that provides the total time on duty in the preceding seven days, which is required by law. The suit also files a complaint against Joseph’s for neglecting to evaluate Fenlon’s qualifications, including competency, accident history, drug screening, medical certification, training, and prior experience.
"Joseph’s Transportation either didn’t know or didn’t care that its driver violated hours of service laws, disregarded safety rules, and drove recklessly,” the family’s attorney Clay Robbins III said in a statement. “If they had performed simple due diligence, the driver never would have been allowed behind the wheel, and Vanessa Mark would still be alive today.” In addition to Mark, 26 other passengers were injured, including the driver himself. Mark’s parents filed the lawsuit, calling the crash “entirely preventable.”
— Anika Jain
See BUDGET CUTS, 7 ☛
BranVan firings
Jujustu Kaisen review
Shuttle crash report
40 student workers were fired
By SOPHIA STEWART
By ISABEL ROSETH AND CAYENN
This review is a look at faith and disillusionment in the series second season.
LANDAU
By SAMUEL DIAZ
from their BranVan positions.
NEWS 3
Campus club crisis By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
FORUM 10
Spanish soccer scandal ELIZA BIER/the Justice
FEATURES 8
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
For tips or info email editor@thejustice.org
ARTS AND CULTURE 14
Make your voice heard! Submit letters to the editor to forum@thejustice.org
By Jacqueline Floro
COPYRIGHT 2023 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 16