the
Justice www.thejustice.org
The Independent Student Newspaper Volume LXXV, Number 8
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
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
WALTHAM NEWS
police with allegations, but it is unclear if the attacks were committed by the same person. By ISABEL ROSETH JUSTICE EDITOR
Content warning: This article discusses instances of sexual assault. Two sexual assaults recently took place along the Waltham Riverwalk. The Riverwalk, located alongside the Charles River and spanning roughly two miles, is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts State Police, but the Waltham Police Department “has been assisting and will continue to assist with these investigations,” according to a statement in NBC Boston. Extra patrols have been added to the area. A teenage girl, whose age remains undisclosed, was assaulted the night of Sept. 14. After walking with friends near the Riverwalk’s entrance on Elm Street, once alone, she was grabbed from behind by an un-
Waltham, Mass.
ROOFIE RUMORS
Sexual assault cases under investigation on Waltham’s Riverwalk ■ Two women came to the
Waltham, Mass.
known assailant, according to police. The suspect pushed her up against a tree and assaulted her but left when he thought he heard someone approaching. The girl did not see her assailant, but heard what sounded like the suspect riding away on a bicycle. The evening of Thursday, Oct. 20, a woman who was running along the Riverwalk’s bike path was assaulted by an unknown suspect, according to state police. The 37-year-old woman reported on the evening, Oct. 20, that a man approached her from behind and touched her inappropriately twice. “He followed me down the riverwalk to the east and then assaulted me closer to Moody Street, so he could bike off into traffic and not be seen,” the woman told CBS News Boston. She ran off, but he approached on a bicycle and grabbed her from behind a second time. “He did it twice in a 30-minute span, so if he didn't do it to me again, he would’ve just done it to someone else.” The woman reported that the assailant wore an orange sweatshirt. He is described as either white or
See WALTHAM, 5 ☛ Image courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
SAFETY: Brandeis frats have implemented new regulations, like disposing of any unattended cups immediately.
MATCHMAKING
Marriage Pact returns to Brandeis ■ After a highly publicized
run in March 2022, the matchmaking service has returned to campus for a second round of romance facilitation. By LEA ZAHARONI
JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Last semester, when @brandeismarriagepact launched on Instagram with a stylish dating questionnaire in its bio, campus was abuzz with speculation and excitement. The service, first established at Stanford in 2017, pairs students whose values — ethical, political, and social — match up. Questions range in intensity, from “Are you an only child?” to “Would you be comfortable with your child being gay?” Survey results are first released as just the initials of your match, followed by full names and compatibility scores a few days later. Both ends of the match are notified, leaving it up to them to pursue any kind of connection. In 2022, Brandeis became one of 78 participating schools. Within a day of the 50-question-survey’s launch, over 300 Brandeis students had filled it out in hopes of finding a potential mate. Over the next week, through word of mouth and Instagram promotion, that number swelled to 1,098 — over a third of the undergraduate population. The service made its way to Brandeis largely through the efforts of the Brandeis Entrepreneurship and Tech Association, a
relatively new club at the time. In a March 8 interview with the Justice, BETA founder Eyal Cohen ’24 said, “BETA is all about finding creative solutions to problems that arise. After transferring to Brandeis from Kenyon College, I noticed there was a lack of cohesion among students here. We wanted to be able to connect people to one another, across campus, as much as possible.” While Cohen’s observation about the Brandeis social environment might be true, Marriage Pact seemed to lose steam almost immediately after matches were released, despite the hype around its initial launch. Molly Brown ’25 remembers getting paired with someone in a relationship, which was an experience shared by many. “A lot of people who did it were in relationships and only participated because they thought it was funny. The matches came out, and then it was dead silent — I thought it was fun but no one I know has gotten anything out of it,” Brown said. This issue with relationship status was one of the more highly contested aspects of Marriage Pact’s rollout. One of the survey’s questions asked about the person’s current relationship status and if they were interested in polyamory. Ostensibly, this would lead to people with matching statuses being paired, but it didn’t pan out for most people. Other students described their experiences as “scary” and “mid.” Across all campuses, Marriage Pact’s website touts only a 3-4% success rate at pairing longterm couples. No such poll has been
See MARRIAGE PACT, 5 ☛
Students allegedly drugged at frat parties ■ The Justice spoke to various fraternities at Brandeis to hear more about the operational reforms they’ve initiated since the incidents. By RIVER SIMARD
JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Content warning: this article discusses instances of violence and sexual assault. On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Brandeis chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi held a Monster Energy Drinkthemed party. The frat brothers and guests dressed in black and green clothes to match the colors of the drink can. At the bar, they mixed vodka with Monster Energy. The party had an open-door policy, so almost anyone who paid $5 at the door was able to enter regardless of whether or not they were a Brandeis student. There was no list of names specifying which guests were allowed in, and no one was put on a list after they paid. The following morning, an anonymous user posted a question to Sidechat, an app where students can post anonymously to only their peers: “How is no one talking about people getting roofied at AEPi?” The post received mixed reactions. One user commented, “That shit is just not true.” Another commented, “Some douche was touching up girls but no one was roofied.” Both comments were heavily “downvoted,” meaning “disliked” by other users. Other users commented that
Massachusetts midterms
‘Banshees of Insherin’
Why are we friends with our friends? What is the meaning of life? These questions are unlocked in the film review of “Banshees of Inisherin.”
The Justice breaks down last week’s election results and what they mean for the state. By NOAH RISLEY
Charlie Baker/FLICKR
their friends were drugged at the party; one user commented, “that night was scary I had multiple friends going to the ER bc [sic] of it.” One week later, on Saturday, Oct. 29, Alpha Delta Phi hosted a Halloween party. Like the weekend prior, party guests simply paid an entrance fee. There was no prior list of who was allowed in, and there was no list kept of guests who had paid. Once again, posts and comments on Sidechat began to surface. For the second weekend in a row, Brandeis students were allegedly exposed to drugging at a Greek life event. The Justice spoke to multiple members of the Brandeis community who stated that either themselves or close friends were drugged on the nights of Oct. 22 and Oct. 29, but the exact number of people who were drugged is unknown. Brandeis is not the first scene in the Boston area to experience a wave of drugging. In May of this year, following an increase in social media posts that people in the Boston area were being drugged, the Boston Police Department issued a statement warning Bostonians to be aware of tasteless, scentless, odorless drugs such as royhphonol, GHB, and ketamine being used in drink-spiking. They issued a similar report on Sept. 8, this time directed at students. Later that month, two students at Boston University reported being drugged at an off-campus event. As these reports in Boston began to increase, Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps began to increase training regarding situations that
By ETHAN GERSTMAN
FEATURES 7
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involved intoxication caused by these substances, according to Executive Director of BEMCo Lorrin Stone ’23. BEMCo is unable to diagnose the cause behind intoxication — which is typically done through urinalysis — whether it be alcohol or drugs, or otherwise test a patient for substances. There are five fraternities that have chapters at Brandeis, all of which have their houses off campus, some as far as a mile. This means that while BEMCo is able to treat students who come back to campus from an off-campus party, they are unable to treat them directly at the frat houses. Anyone who is suffering symptoms that require medical attention and who is unable to return to campus will receive assistance from Waltham paramedics, like other Waltham residents. The increased training initiatives undertaken by BEMCo allow them to better treat a patient who is showing symptoms of intoxication caused by the various drugs used in drink spiking. “We’re working to just make sure we are more aware of how these [patients] can present. And while we can’t necessarily file reports, we can at least try to be aware of what might be a more dangerous situation for a patient and ensure that they get the proper treatment that is indicated,” Stone said. In the weeks following the druggings, the Brandeis fraternities have begun implementing new safety measures. In a meeting held by the Greek Awareness Council,
Panel on Israeli elections By AMANDA CHEN
See FRATS, 5 ☛
NEWS 3
The Board addresses housing instabillity on campus
FORUM 8 Women’s basketball splits the weekend By JACKSON WU SPORTS 10 By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
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