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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 LXXV, Number 3
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Waltham, Mass.
ENVIRONMENTALISM
DINING WORKER FIRED
Brandeis kicks off the Year of Climate Action ■ Brandeis devoted this
year to deepening the community’s understanding of climate change as a social justice issue. By HEDY YANG
JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Caterpillars, puppets, and decarbonization: Brandeis’ 2022-2023 Year of Climate Action is now in full swing, with several events that took place last week and many more events planned for the future. According to the Office of Sustainability website, the Year of Climate Action is a year devoted to deepening the Brandeis community’s “understanding of climate change as a social justice issue” through a variety of curricular and co-curricular activities, as well as institutional projects designed to reduce Brandeis’ carbon footprint. Led by current Associate Director of Sustainability Programs Mary Fischer, the President’s Task Force on Campus Sustainability
ELLIOT BACHRACH/the Justice
PROTEST: Students and dining hall workers gathered together to voice concerns over the treatment of dining staff.
Dining staff and students rally over abrupt firing of worker ■ The firing of a beloved caterer
sparked outrage and uproar, and prompted a petition. BY ELLIOT BACHRACH
JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Catering Lead Kevin Merisier showed up to work early on Wednesday, Aug. 31 in a good mood. Though there had been struggles with the transition to Brandeis’ new dining vendor, Harvest Table, Merisier still loved his job. He had worked as a caterer at Brandeis, including two and a half years working for Brandeis through a temp agency, since February 2014. In the eight years Merisier has worked here, he has never been disciplined, according to Michaela McCormack '23. But by the next week, Merisier no longer held his position on the catering team.
At approximately 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 31, an alleged altercation between Merisier and Director of Catering Julie Verrier occurred. According to Merisier, the conversation between Verrier and himself related to what time Merisier and the other catering leads, Seda Ghazaryan and Hugo Mansilla, could come into work the following morning. Harvest Table officially fired Merisier on Sept. 7, exactly one week after the alleged incident. Gabriel Bayard, the Internal Organizer for UNITE HERE Local 26, a workers' union that represents hospitality workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, also represents dining workers at over 11 universities in the Boston area, including Brandeis. Bayard, along with the two Brandeis Union Stewards elected by the dining worker body, submitted a grievance to Harvest Table on Sept. 8, one day after Merisier’s official termination.
“As somebody who has examined all of the documents provided by [Harvest Table], as I have a right to under the union contract, I haven’t seen anything that rises to the level of immediate termination,” Bayard said. “That’s why the Union grieved this termination and that’s why we think it’s unfair.” The main thing that UNITE HERE Local 26 workers demand is for any security camera footage relevant to the Aug. 31 incident to be released to the Union. At the time of publication, Harvest Table has not relinquished the footage to the Union. Their reasoning has not been expressed to workers or the worker’s Union. Merisier was heavily involved in a March 11, 2022 demonstration on Brandeis’ campus that was organized by both dining employees and students in the Brandeis Leftist Union. The main purpose of the
See DINING, 7 ☛
■ The Justice asked
students what they think of the transition to Harvest Table. Here are some of the responses. By ARIELLA WEISS, ANNA MARTIN, AND NATALIE SALTZMAN
JUSTICE EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
In April 2022, the Response for Feedback Committee unanimously selected Harvest Table as the new dining vendor on campus after 10 years with Sodexo. Students were asked for feedback during this process, and many were anticipating drastic changes to dining prior to the fall 2022 semester. However, the massive undertaking of transitioning to campus, coupled with the largest first-year class in Brandeis history, has created complications for Harvest Table. The vendor, however, has been working to address these concerns, through “Napkin Talk” in the dining halls, a feedback form titled “Your Feedback Matters,” and the “Contact Us” page on the Hospitality website. *** From vegetarian to Kosher to gluten-free, students with dietary restrictions have struggled to find
consistent and healthy options. At the time that many of these interviews were conducted, which occured both in-person and over Instagram, there were concerns about signage regarding allergens throughout the dining hall, although the issue has recently been changed. Here is a non-exhaustive sampling of those comments. Megan Stander ’25: “Overall I've enjoyed it. I think I usually find something to eat. I wish there were more vegetarian options. There was more variety with Sodexo, I miss the pho station and the vegetarian station in Usdan. I've had one night where the only thing that was offered was pizza, but I usually like the pasta dishes and grilled chicken.” Ligia Helena ’25: “[There are fewer] vegetarian protein options.” Meli Jackson ’25: “Absolute worst. No allergen options. Forced veganism? Bad.” Eitan Marks ’24: “Kosher dining has been a mess. The management is willing to learn, but they simply don't understand. It will take time. The chefs in the kitchen are still doing great, but they are limited with what ingredients and information they are given by management.” Natanya Greenfield ’26: “I have two documented disabilities … Part of my highly formulated and
See HARVEST TABLE, 5 ☛
Student Union releases election results
‘The White Lotus’
A community of Waltham
HBO’s “The White Lotus” shines at the 2022 Emmys, but what’s next for Rachel? By JULIANA GIACONE
By CAYENNE LANDAU NATALIE KAHN/the Justice
See CLIMATE, 7 ☛
Deis-secting dining, part 1: ‘The jury is out’
Skaters Speak Out skaters spend their days at a local skatepark, and want a say in the City's plans to redo it.
first proposed the Year of Climate Action in Aug. 2020. In an address to President Ron Liebowitz and their comprehensive report “Vision 2030," the Task Force drew the administration’s attention to climate change as the “greatest threat to public health and social justice in the history of our planet.” The initiative had its roots in part due to the COVID-19 crisis: The authors cited “the failure of our health systems, justice systems and public policies” as impetus to listen to science and to fulfill Brandeis’ “social justice mission more holistically than ever before.” One of the initiatives proposed, among many listed on the Office of Sustainability’s website, was to “improve climate change and sustainability education,” under which the authors suggested Brandeis make the 2021-2022 academic year a “Year of Climate Change.” The name has since been changed to the Year of Climate Action. In an email interview on Sept. 15, Fischer explained that
By DALYA KOLLER
NEWS 3
The Editorial Board addresses unsafe, ineffecient housing By EDITORIAL BOARD
FORUM 10
Suns owner suspended over racist comments
FEATURES 8
Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS
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ARTS AND CULTURE 18
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By PRATEEK KANMADIKAR
COPYRIGHT 2022 FREE AT BRANDEIS.
SPORTS 16