The Leonard Bernstein Scholarship, a merit-based scholarship that provides full tuition to incoming students based on musical merits, will no longer be awarded to incoming students and was not offered to students in the Class of 2013, according to Dean of Financial Services Peter Giumette. Giumette also said that there are no current plans to reinstate the scholarship.Giumette explained that the University wanted to restructure the financial aid for the Class of 2013 to ensure that more students with demonstrated need received scholarships. He said, "We did, . for the Class of 2013, refocus merit scholarships to some degree so that people who received merit had some degree of need as well." However, the 12 students who received the scholarship in years past will continue to do so until they graduate.

According to Brandeis' Web site, the scholarship, which was first offered in fall 2003, grants full-tuition awards to musicians entering Brandeis and gives them the opportunity to participate in a chamber ensemble and receive training from the Lydian String Quartet.

According to Giumette, the scholarship was cut due to not just financial issues, but because interest in the program was not enough to justify its continuation.

"We have, frankly, in the past struggled to come up with the number of recipients that we had earmarked for each year. . I don't think the quality of the applicant was what they were looking for," Giumette said.

Gordon, however, said that a large number of students continued to apply for the scholarship while it was being offered and emphasized the unique experience that playing in a chamber group provides to music students. He added that the Music department will continue to offer chamber classes in the years to come.

"What I particularly like about working with the scholarship groups is the chance to meet with them every week in a small, seminar-like kind of situation, . It really gives us time to work in a lot of detail, and as a teacher that's something that I really look forward to," Gordon said.

When asked whether he thought that Brandeis would have a harder time recruiting musicians due to the scholarship's suspension, Prof. Joshua Gordon (MUS), a member of the Lydian String Quartet, said, "I'm sure we're always going to get people interested in music coming to Brandeis, because that's been the case ever since the school started."

"I don't think we view the scholarship as just a way to develop professional musicians; I think that we view it as a way to develop students in general," Gordon said. He noted that many students who receive the scholarship are not Music majors and that they learn skills through their participation in chamber ensembles that translate to many fields besides music.

Gordon expressed his hope that the scholarship will be offered again at some point in the future, saying, "I'm hoping that when conditions improve . that it will be possible to restore the scholarship, because I think that it's a win-win for the school."

According to an e-mail from Giumette to the Justice, "To my understanding, there are no plans to reinstate [the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship] for the coming year. . Our immediate emphasis has to be on need-based grant and scholarship given both the state of the economy and our overall commitment to current students and their families."

None of the other Brandeis-sponsored merit scholarships, such as the Justice Louis D. Brandeis Scholarship, the Presidential Award and the Dean's Award, were suspended.

"We offered the same array of scholarships, just not as many as we had in the past," said Giumette.

"I think there should be a place for that kind of merit-based scholarship just as there is for athletics," Gordon said of the scholarship geared toward talented musicians. He continued, "I've been hearing that there have been other merit scholarships being affected by the downturn. . It's clearly a tough time, and I know the arts are not immune to tough times. Given the history of support for the arts at Brandeis, I hope that things will turn around."

Kristina Yepez '12, a recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship, acknowledged that she would not have attended Brandeis had she not been offered the award. She said that while some musicians will continue to be interested in Brandeis, it will be harder for the University to attract as many musicians without the scholarship.

"It's obviously a lot of money, but . this is really kind of cutting back on the arts at Brandeis, and I feel like it's not giving people the chance to explore music majors," said Nicole Kilroy '12, another recipient of the scholarship.

She explained that without the scholarship, "people who want to progress further in music aren't going to come here. They're going to go to the conservatories.