The faculty looked anxious, sitting in Olin-Sang Auditorium at last October's faculty meeting. All eyes in the room were fixed on University President Jehuda Reinharz. He took the podium, exuding a confidence echoed in the words that followed. Five months ago, Reinharz had decided to remove a student's exhibit of drawings by Palestinian children that troubled some on this campus; among the works was one depicting a Star of David in the form of a snake coil. The decision to remove the exhibit after only four days of its planned two-week stay in the Goldfarb Library was met by a rally several days later of students, faculty and others. The protesters accused the University of censoring art, inhibiting academic freedom and promoting a right-wing Israeli agenda. The controversy was heavily played out in the media and on blogs, and the University consequently received some very critical press. Moments before taking the podium, Reinharz listened intently to professors speaking candidly about their disapproval of the decision. They also discussed the suggestions made by a faculty committee for how to amend the process by which a student puts up an exhibit. Standing at the podium, Reinharz spoke clearly and concisely. "I do think we need to move on," he said. Tired and restless with the debate that had ensnared the campus since the removal last May, Reinharz took responsibility for the decision, and thanked the faculty for expressing their opinions and suggestions for how to handle similar situations in the future.

The "move on" response, among others by Reinharz this year, troubled and puzzled students and faculty, who say the campus is in need of more open, balanced discourse on Israel.

Prof. Gordie Fellman (SOC), a well-known liberal activist on campus, said at the faculty October meeting, "I think the real issue that was triggered is the way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is addressed at Brandeis." He criticized Reinharz for removing the exhibit and recommended the faculty support more students with a wide range of opinions get involved in the discussion.

Israel has been a hot topic on this campus for years, but in 2006, the discourse transcended its subject, and focused instead on how to have the discussion. The controversies brought to light the strong perception among outsiders, who look at Brandeis and see a Jewish university, that the administration maintains a tight hold on the Israel debate. Prof. Harry Mairson (COSI), the chair of the faculty senate, spoke at the faculty meeting in October on the exhibit's removal. He said the uproar over the exhibit was due to the fact that the artwork painted Israelis, and by extension Jews, in a negative light. "That's why this crisis, at Brandeis, attracted such public notoriety. Free speech issues at universities don't make news like this," Mairson said.

Naomi Safran-Hon '07, an Israeli student, suggested that debates on Israel are one-sided, leaning to the right. "I don't think people here are ready to see these images," she said of the exhibit.

The latest controversy broke in The Boston Globe, which reported last month that Reinharz would only allow former President Jimmy Carter to speak on campus about his book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, if he agreed to debate Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor and outspoken critic of Carter's book. Kevin Montgomery '07, who helps lead a faculty and student committee that is bringing Carter to campus this semester, told The Globe that most speakers brought to Brandeis to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict favor Israel. "I think there's a basic lack of debate here about Israel and Palestine . and I think it feeds a lack of understanding of the other side," he said.

The Palestinian art removal was one of several controversies on campus that exploded in the media. Certainly Brandeis is no stranger to the press. Professors are used to discussing their research and awards with journalists; exhibits at the Rose Art Museum frequently meet glowing reviews. But 2006 saw a bombardment of media attention on the administration's handling of discourse related to the Middle East. The administration's commitment to objective discussion was questioned by students, faculty and other supporters.

At times, lost in the sea of controversy were Brandeis' achievements. The University celebrated its best fundraising year ever, raising over $81.3 million in 2006. Brandeis also kicked off construction on a new, $154 million science quad in the fall. A student group campaigned for and won HIV testing in the Health Center. The campus honored the 150th birthday of its namesake with an array of academic and social events. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman '75 returned to his alma mater to co-teach an economics course this past semester. Two more community members, Yehudi Wyner, a music professor who retired in 2005, and David Oshinsky '71, garnered Pulitzer Prizes-Wyner for a composition and Oshnsky for a landmark study of the polio virus in America. Profs. David Cunningham (SOC) and Karen Hansen (SOC) both received Guggenheim fellowships. In May, Brandeis students joined thousands for a rally in the nation's capital calling for an end to the genocide in Sudan.

But these achievements didn't capture anyone's attention nearly as much as Reinharz's decisions to forge a partnership with Al-Quds University, a Palestinian institution in Jerusalem; to remove the exhibit of artwork by Palestinian children; to bestow the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, who is routinely accused of being anti-Israel, with an honorary degree; and to defend Khalil Shikaki, a senior fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies rumored to be connected to a terrorist group.

"I think some of the media was very unfortunate and not terribly accurate," said Lorna Miles, the senior vice president of communications, who serves as a frequent spokesperson to the media.

The articles about controversies at Brandeis, she said, just make her office work harder to get more positive stories out there. "We need to cut through some of the clutter," she said.

While the perception that Reinharz keeps a tight grasp on the debate is strewn across the Internet, particularly on anti-Zionist blogs, at the same time, the perception that Reinharz is not doing enough to protect the debate is also expressed, particularly in the Jewish press.

Morton Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, was particularly vocal in his criticism of most of Reinharz's moves last year. Klein said on several occasions that Reinharz was allowing dangerous points of view on Israel to circulate the campus. He also said that under Reinharz's leadership, the University had abandoned the values and ideals of Louis Brandeis, the University's namesake, whom he argued was a great Zionist. "We are certain that Justice Louis Brandeis would be turning over in his grave if he know this honor was being given to Tony Kushner in the Zionist Justice's name," Klein said.

Reinharz disregarded the attacks by the ZOA and others. He defended Al-Quds, Shikaki and Kushner. And he vigorously denied that censorship had anything to do with removing the Palestinian art exhibit, explaining that the exhibit had been displayed in a confusing form and "lacked sufficient explanation."

A lot of questions about how to create dynamic debate on such charged topics were posed this year. In 2007, the search continues.