Students and faculty members have made claims that Prof. Shula Reinharz (SOC), wife of University President Jehuda Reinharz, requested that people remove their "Save the Rose" buttons at the opening of the Rose exhibit last Wednesday.Emily Leifer '11, the undergraduate departmental representative for the Fine Arts department, said in an interview with the Justice that she and the other UDRs, Beccah Ulm '11, Anne Carver '10, Amy Tsao '10 and Catherine McConnell '10, convened prior to the Rose opening. Ulm and Leifer handed out the buttons at the event.

Leifer said the UDRs initially wanted to have a petition table at the opening but decided to provide "Save the Rose" pins because the petition would likely incite controversy with the administration.

Leifer said she and Ulm were handing out buttons when Reinharz came to the front of the museum with someone else. According to Leifer, Reinharz tried to steer people away from her and Ulm and told them that they were being disruptive.

"[Reinharz] said the Rose is saved," Leifer recalled. She added that Reinharz didn't give an answer about whether the works are for sale but asked something like, "Do you want this University to fail?"

Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH) was also wearing a "Save the Rose" button and said that the wife of a trustee member asked him to remove it. He declined to provide any names but said she is good friends with Reinharz.

Ulm confirmed Leifer's account and said that Reinharz was "very confrontational with us."

"She came over, and I didn't know who she was at first, and [she] just kind of touched the box and touched my arm and said, 'Please don't hand those out. They're misleading and detrimental to this event,'" said Ulm.

Reinharz said in an interview with the Justice, however, that she asked approximately 10 to 15 students to remove their pins, and five complied. She said she did not think she was being coercive.

"If I were being coercive, I probably would have had a better success rate," she said.

Rachel Comstock '10, who works as a gallery guide at the museum, said that she and Reinharz were greeting guests when Reinharz asked her for her pin.

Auslander said that he also observed Reinharz speaking with the students and telling them to remove their pins. "She was forceful. She felt strongly that buttons should not be worn," he said.

Reinharz explained that she believed the buttons were telling people what they should do rather than announcing an opinion or stating what the wearers were doing themselves to benefit the Rose.

"They were misleading," she said.

Auslander explained that he donned the pin to support the students who were wearing them but that he was also surprised by the claim that the Rose has been saved, given that the University is currently engaged in a lawsuit to ensure its right to sell paintings.

Reinharz said that she discussed selling even one piece of art with a student who said that it would "violate the integrity of the collection." Reinharz said this was not completely comprehensible given the varied nature of the collection and noted that selling even one piece of art work might save jobs at the University.

"Selling just one piece would also bring as many sanctions against us as selling ten pieces would. ... we would not be able to borrow work from other museums and we would not be able to loan to other museums," said Roy Dawes, director of museum operations.

Valerie Wright, the Rose collection manager, said that she had not actually witnessed Reinharz and the wife of a trustee asking people to remove their pins but that the Museum's visitor service coordinator subsequently told her that the wife of a trustee had approached her about this matter. Wright also said that, since the opening, approximately five students have come to speak with her to express how they were made to feel uncomfortable.

"Our policy is that the buttons are a free speech choice. Students can wear buttons if they want. It's a free speech issue, so we don't have a policy on the buttons other than people can do what they want," said Wright.

Auslander also alluded to free speech, explaining that this concept was what made Reinharz's actions so surprising. "Prof. Reinharz is a senior member of faculty. She is married to the president and serves as assistant to [the] president. I and other faculty watching were deeply surprised she would pressure students not to exercise their free speech rights," he said.

-Anya Bergman, Hannah Kirsch and Nashrah Rahman contributed reporting.