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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 LXXIV, Number 13
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
GIVING DEISDAY
Waltham, Mass.
SHABBAT
Students participate in Shabbat Across Brandeis ■ The Chabad Club hosted
the celebratory biyearly event for the seventh time on Nov. 19. By DALYA KOLLER
JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
On Friday night, Nov. 19, over 250 people simultaneously sat down to 24 different Shabbat dinners across campus, participating in an event called "Shabbat Across Brandeis." "Shabbat Across Brandeis" is an initiative run by the Chabad Club, which was started by students in 2016. The event consists of students signing up to either host a Shabbat dinner or be hosted, with the end result being dozens of intimate Shabbat dinners run completely by students for other students. Anyone can sign up, no matter what their
personal experience with Judaism is, resulting in participants ranging from “students who observe Shabbat every week to students who have never heard of a Shabbat dinner,” as Chabad Club board member and "Shabbat Across Brandeis" coordinator Kyra Fischer '22 stated in an interview with the Justice. What is unique about this initiative is that hosts don’t need to do anything but host –– everything is planned and prepared by Chabad and the Chabad Club. Each host receives a personalized box of paper goods, candles, challah covers, silverware, tablecloths, flowers and of course, enough food for an elaborate three-course dinner. In an interview with the Justice, Chanie Chein and Rabbi Peretz Chein, the Chabad couple at Brandeis, said that the event was initiated by students who “re-imag-
See CHABAD, 5 ☛
BRIEF President Liebowitz announces anti-racism plans
Photo Courtesy of THE BRANDEIS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
FUNDRAISING: Students fundraised on Tuesday, Nov. 30 by giving out gifts and food in a booth in Fellows Garden.
University collects over $1 million in donations ■ The University collected
donations as a part of its annual "Giving DEISday" on Tuesday, Nov. 30. By LEAH BREAKSTONE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
"Giving DEISday" has been an annual Brandeis fundraising tradition since the day’s founding six years ago. The day lines up with “Giving Tuesday” — described on their website as “A movement that unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world” — which occurs Tuesday following Thanksgiving. This year, Brandeis raised $1 million and counting, according to Lindsay Roth, Director of Direct
Marketing and Participation in the Institutional Advancement office. While around one-third of these donations usually come from alumni, this year, “Current students also stepped up –– over 200 undergrads made a gift to Brandeis in honor of Giving DEISday, too!” Roth wrote in a Dec. 4 email to the Justice. Donors have the ability to choose where their money goes, including but not limited to locations such as The Brandeis Fund, which allows the University to put donations wherever it is most needed, athletics, scholarships, different schools and departments within Brandeis, clubs and more. Roth explained in her email that “the momentum and popularity of this event is catching on.” For example, the Intercultural Center “engaged donors for the first time and met their goal of 30
[donations] for their 30th anniversary,” Roth said. Additionally, she outlined that Waltham Group collected donations from their alumni network for the first time and the Athletics Department collected $150,000 — three times the amount they made two years ago. Lucas Malo, Director of Community Service, works closely with the Waltham Group and told the Justice that this year’s donors were able to send their donations directly to the Waltham Group. “By supporting our students, we are ultimately raising funds that provide programs, a diversely talented pool of student volunteers and awareness about our mission which has more benefits than we know,” he said in an email to the Justice on Dec. 1. The organization decides how to
In a Dec. 2 email to the Brandeis community, President Ron Leibowitz announced the release of a revised version of the University’s anti-racism plans. The website for this revision compiles the individual plans for each academic and administrative department along with a general overview of the University’s process in creating the plans and what the University hopes to accomplish. Liebowitz explained that this revision to the ani-racism plan was prompted by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Citing a November 2020 report, he explained that 130 universities are currently undergoing a review of best approaches for addressing institutionalized racism in academia. Along with Liebowitz, former Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Mark Brimhall-Vargas led the process for understanding and confronting institutionalized racism. According to the email, all departments “were asked to engage in critical self-reflection and collaborate with colleagues to consider how the policies, practices, and attitudes relating to their work have a disproportionate and adverse impact on members of the Brandeis community.” From these internal reviews, the departments drafted plans that sought to address the areas in which they fell short in addressing institutionalized racism. These plans were released for review by students, faculty and staff in November 2020 and then again earlier this semester. This newest release is the final draft of the plans.
Liebowitz stressed the importance of student input in creating these plans. The anti-racism initiatives used the Black Action Plan, a student-run program led by Sonali Anderson ’22 and DeBorah Ault ’22, for reference. The email notes that the BAP “recognizes and directs what necessary change at Brandeis might look like so that the University can better meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff alike.” Liebowitz referenced the history of student protest at Brandeis in 1969, 2015 and 2019 for a more inclusive environment. Although noting that each department used different approaches to their plans, Liebowitz identified common priorities and institution-wide themes. Liebowitz promised that Brandeis would focus on diversifying the University’s community through admission and hiring practices, providing training on diversity, equity and inclusion, increasing financial support for opportunities that benefit diverse students, faculty and staff and creating teaching materials and office resources to inform inclusivity. Liebowitz acknowledged that the anti-racism plans are imperfect and are considered a first step in confronting the racism “inherent in virtually all America’s institutions.” Looking forward, he said that each department would submit a yearly review documenting “progress and obstacles encountered.”
See DONATIONS, 5 ☛
—Ella Russell
See WOMEN, 5 ☛
Equity in STEM
Top 10 songs of 2021
New initiatives focus on fighting racism in science and healthcare.
A list of the top ten songs released in 2021. By JASON FRANK
The Justice interviews retiring Professor McNamara
NEWS 3
By JULIANA GIACONE
Self-care during the month of December
FORUM 8
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
By JULIANA GIACONE
Mens Basketball beat Babson and Tufts Photo Courtesy of MARIUXI DIAZ-RODRIGUEZ '22
FEATURES 6
Image Courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
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ARTS AND CULTURE 15
Make your voice heard! Submit letters to the editor to letters@thejustice.org
By AKI YAMUGUCHI AND MEGAN GELLER
COPYRIGHT 2021 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 12