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Academic travel largely stopped with the pandemic, and new remote meeting formats have increased accessibility and opened opportunities for worldwide collaboration in ways that were once impossible. As travel and in-person events start to become options again, scholars are questioning if returning to pre-pandemic 'normalcy' is the best choice.
Brandeis community members gathered over Zoom on Friday, Feb. 19 to discuss the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, white nationalism and white supremacy. “Let’s Talk About… White Supremacy” debuted as the Sociology department’s first anti-racism event of the semester. This discussion is part of a new series aimed at creating informal spaces outside of the classroom to talk about world events in an academic setting.
Sen. Joseph Coles ’22 announced at the Feb. 21 Union Senate meeting that the Brandeis Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance planned to split off from its national parent organization and rebrand itself as the Intersectional Feminist Coalition.
Dr. Carol Fierke Ph.D. ’84 has been named the next Provost of Brandeis University, according to a Nov. 30 email from University President Ron Liebowitz. Fierke, who began as provost at the start of 2021, succeeded Lisa Lynch, who announced her intention to step down from being provost at the end of the spring 2020 semester. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lynch remained provost for an extra semester — fall 2020 — before taking a position as the Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
The Baker-Polito administration announced changes to Massachusetts’ COVID-19 guidelines on Feb. 8. The changes were made following an overall decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the state. In November, when the state implemented stricter guidelines to slow the spread of the virus, Massachusetts had a positive test average of approximately 5.94% for a data collection period of seven days. As of Feb. 18, the rate of weekly positive cases was 2.13% in Massachusetts and 1.18% in Waltham. The number of active cases, hospitalizations and deaths has also declined over the past weeks.
On Saturday, Feb. 13, the U.S. Senate acquitted former President Donald J. Trump in his second impeachment trial for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The final vote was 57 guilty to 43 not guilty, which was just 10 votes short of the total 67 guilty votes needed to convict Trump. Unlike his first impeachment trial where only one Republican Senator, Mitt Romney (R-Utah), found Trump guilty, seven Republicans voted to convict Trump this time. Do you think that Trump was exercising his constitutional right to free speech or inciting violence and violating the law? What do you make of seven Republican senators voting to convict Trump, and what consequences might these senators face in the future?
Sen. Noah Risely ’24, chair of the Social Justice and Diversity Committee, informed the Senate at their Feb. 14 meeting that because of an “incident” involving Chinese international students, he was proposing adding a new senator position specifically for an international student from China. Making such a change would require an amendment to the Union Constitution. Vice President Krupa Sourirajan ’23 instructed senators not to discuss the incident Risely referred to during the public session.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
Dr. Cara Streit is the new director of Student Accessibility Support, according to a Nov. 30 BrandeisNow article, following the unexpected departure of Beth Rodgers-Kay in the fall of 2019. The Justice reached out to Streit to learn about her plans for the department.
The pandemic brought Brandeis’ study abroad programs to a grinding halt last year, but students hoping to study abroad may have the opportunity to do so this coming summer and in the fall semester. The University has opened the application period for upcoming 2021 study abroad programming, but the constantly changing circumstances of the pandemic have led to much uncertainty.
The University held its 15th annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial event over Zoom on Monday, Jan. 18. Twenty-five women spoke at the event, which was themed, “As She Is Queen and King.”
On Wednesday, Jan. 27, President Biden signed a series of executive orders addressing the climate crisis. These executive orders ranged from pausing federal oil leases to increasing the use of electric cars, with a specific goal of making the United States carbon neutral by 2050. Some have praised Biden for his ambitious policies in addressing the climate crisis, while others believe it is not ambitious enough. Over this century, the world is on track for a temperature rise of three degrees Celsius, making this coming decade critical for slowing carbon dioxide emissions. Another common critique of Biden’s climate plan is the potential economic impact it will have on middle-class families who depend on fossil fuel jobs for income. Is Biden’s 2050 goal too ambitious considering the years it will take to reverse the Trump-era policies on climate change, or not ambitious enough? What else should Biden do to fight climate change?
In November, anonymous users interrupted a virtual panel discussing the oppression of the Uyghurs Muslim minority group in Xinjiang, China. One user played the Chinese national anthem and others used the annotation function of Zoom to write “Bullshit” and “Fake News” across the screen. A joint statement from the event sponsors said that just before the Nov. 13 event they were notified about “threatening emails from members of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association” urging the University to cancel the panel. The emails, according to the sponsors' statement, were sent to the President’s Office, the International Students and Scholars Office and the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
No clubs were chartered, de-chartered or recognized at the Feb. 2 Student Union Senate meeting. Union Vice President Krupa Sourirajan ’23 swore in four new senators who were elected in the recent winter 2021 elections.
Students will now have to independently administer COVID-19 tests
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
The start of the new semester brought a new round of Student Union elections. On Jan. 25, students voted for five Union Senate seats, four Allocations Board seats and one junior representative seat to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.
The Brandeis Food Pantry, recently renamed Food and Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Health, has become an essential part of the Brandeis community over the last two years. FRESH aims to supply undergraduate and graduate students with non-perishable and fresh food products, toiletry and hygiene items, as well as clothing and kitchen supplies.