In response to your editorial “Commend University decision on Usen Castle” (Feb. 2):

I was very surprised and disappointed to hear that there are plans to tear down the majority of the Castle. To me, this seems to be a mistake that will be soon regretted and will forever change the fabric of Brandeis.

An important element of most major universities is the sense of a collective history of the institution. Most have buildings of their campus which tie their present students to the past students and also to those students in the future. Examples include Harvard Yard, Stanford’s Main Quad, the Wren Building at The College of William and Mary, and The Lawn at The University of Virginia. The list goes on. The Castle is the unique place on the Brandeis campus that provides the campus with a sense of connection between the past, present, and hopefully the future. It is a unique historic treasure.

Brandeis’ President and Trustees find themselves in a position on this issue to leave their legacy in a very tangible way. One path would be to recognize the Castle for its place in the history of Brandeis and do whatever they need to do to preserve it. The other path is to replace it with a modern building that almost assuredly lack the soul of the Castle. The question that should be asked is what type of university will we want to leave to Brandeis students 50 or 75 years from now. Will they find a campus that is composed of a series of buildings that could exist on any campus that are viewed as disposable and are replaced on a routine basis, or will they find a campus that connects them with the history of the school? This may not have been as pressing a question when I was a student at Brandeis, since it was a school with a relatively short history at that time, but now we must accept that Brandeis has built a history that we should be proud of and that we should respect. I remember when the Castle was put on the National Register of Historic Places and when it appeared on postcards. Those were proud days for Brandeis that should [sic] be forgotten so easily.

Obviously, the Castle needs attention. Since I have occasion to visit the campus periodically, I have been long troubled that the Castle has not seemed to have its share of routine maintenance. I also agree that a rehabilitation of the present structure would be more costly than constructing a new building, and I am also not naïve to the economic realities of the University. However, the loss of most of the Castle carries a cost to the history of Brandeis and the connection to the past; that is priceless. Do we want to be the people who allow the Castle to be demolished simply because it was the most cost-effective course of action?

Consequently, I urge the Trustees and President Lynch to reconsider the plan to raze the majority of the Castle. If they ask themselves what legacy they want to leave to the Brandeis of the future, I hope they will decide that the entire Castle is worth a major rehabilitation that will preserve it for future students and will allow it to regain its position as an icon of the school.

—Larry Thomas ’81