The Program in Social Justice and Social Policy, a program in coordination with the Heller School for Social Policy and?Management that serves to foster critical and creative thinking about social problems, will be awarding two Brenda Meehan Social Justice-in-Action Grants, each with a $1,500 stipend, to students who submit event proposals that promote social justice issues, according to Prof. David Cunningham (SOC), the SJSP chair.Cunningham said the funding for the awards will come from the endowment for the SJSP program, which is in the name of Brenda Meehan. This fund was donated by Brenda Meehan's daughter, Diana, and her husband, Gary David Goldberg '66, a spokesperson for the Office of Development and Alumni Relations said.

Cunningham, along with Prof. Melissa Stimell (LGLS), started this initiative in a collaborative effort to reform the SJSP minor. "We are trying to broaden the ways the [SJSP] program can relate to the broader issues of social justice on campus," Cunningham said. "We see the program as a bridge between academic work and activist work, and the events, which bridge that gap, are designed to fulfill that objective," he added. Students will organize these events, Cunningham said.

A committee will be formed to review the grant applications, which must be submitted by Feb. 6, Cunningham said. Cunningham and Stimell are currently the only definite members of the committee, but Cunningham said he intends to have one student on it.

The committee will "favor" proposals that "incorporate both academic and activist social justice perspectives in meaningful ways, include significant participation by Brandeis students, faculty, and/or staff as well as by one or more invited off-campus guests, value collaboration between student organizations and/or between undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff and inform and/or link to ongoing initiatives that enable the proposed event to contribute to an enduring social justice impact on campus or in broader communities," according to an e-mail announcement about the grant opportunity.

Cunningham noted, "We would like to see an event that incorporates broad participation from Brandeis faculty, students, and staff, and that the event has the potential to have a broader impact relating to the specific issue. For example, if it leads to the emergence of a partnership," he said.

"We want to get more students involved and be a better resource for the students in terms of helping them achieve social justice," Stimell said.

"We are not trying to dictate the agenda of the students, as we are interested in the issue of social justice at large," said Cunningham.

Stimell added, "We wanted something that was completely student-driven and [that] enabled students to conceive their own projects from start to finish but that related to the issue of social justice at large."

Cunningham said he hopes to announce the recipients of the grants as quickly as possible as soon as the committee makes its decisions.

"Hopefully, the grants will be announced before students leave for the February break," Cunningham said.

"I think it is such a wonderful opportunity, especially in this time of economic crisis, that we can give students an opportunity to create a program of their choice," Stimell said.