The Justice, November 15, 2022

WALTHAM NEWS

Sexual assault cases under investigation on Waltham’s Riverwalk

■

women came to the

By ISABEL ROSETH JUSTICE EDITOR

Content warning: This article dis cusses instances of sexual assault.

Two sexual assaults recently took place along the Waltham Riverwalk. The Riverwalk, located alongside the Charles River and spanning roughly two miles, is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts State Police, but the Waltham Police Department “has been assisting and will continue to assist with these investigations,” according to a statement in NBC Bos ton. Extra patrols have been added to the area.

A teenage girl, whose age re mains undisclosed, was assaulted the night of Sept. 14. After walking with friends near the Riverwalk’s en trance on Elm Street, once alone, she was grabbed from behind by an un

MATCHMAKING

known assailant, according to police. The suspect pushed her up against a tree and assaulted her but left when he thought he heard someone ap proaching. The girl did not see her assailant, but heard what sounded like the suspect riding away on a bi cycle.

The evening of Thursday, Oct. 20, a woman who was running along the Riverwalk’s bike path was assaulted by an unknown suspect, according to state police. The 37-year-old woman reported on the evening, Oct. 20, that a man approached her from behind and touched her inappropriately twice. “He followed me down the riv erwalk to the east and then assaulted me closer to Moody Street, so he could bike off into traffic and not be seen,” the woman told CBS News Boston. She ran off, but he approached on a bicycle and grabbed her from behind a second time. “He did it twice in a 30-minute span, so if he didn't do it to me again, he would’ve just done it to someone else.”

The woman reported that the as sailant wore an orange sweatshirt. He is described as either white or

Marriage Pact returns to Brandeis

■ After a highly publicized run in March 2022, the matchmaking service has returned to campus for a second round of romance facilitation.

By LEA ZAHARONI JUSTICE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last semester, when @brande ismarriagepact launched on Ins tagram with a stylish dating ques tionnaire in its bio, campus was abuzz with speculation and excite ment. The service, first established at Stanford in 2017, pairs students whose values — ethical, political, and social — match up. Questions range in intensity, from “Are you an only child?” to “Would you be comfortable with your child be ing gay?” Survey results are first released as just the initials of your match, followed by full names and compatibility scores a few days lat er. Both ends of the match are noti fied, leaving it up to them to pursue any kind of connection.

In 2022, Brandeis became one of 78 participating schools. Within a day of the 50-question-survey’s launch, over 300 Brandeis students had filled it out in hopes of finding a potential mate. Over the next week, through word of mouth and Instagram promotion, that number swelled to 1,098 — over a third of the undergraduate population.

The service made its way to Brandeis largely through the ef forts of the Brandeis Entrepre neurship and Tech Association, a

relatively new club at the time. In a March 8 interview with the Justice, BETA founder Eyal Cohen ’24 said, “BETA is all about finding creative solutions to problems that arise. After transferring to Brandeis from Kenyon College, I noticed there was a lack of cohesion among students here. We wanted to be able to con nect people to one another, across campus, as much as possible.”

While Cohen’s observation about the Brandeis social envi ronment might be true, Marriage Pact seemed to lose steam almost immediately after matches were released, despite the hype around its initial launch. Molly Brown ’25 remembers getting paired with someone in a relationship, which was an experience shared by many. “A lot of people who did it were in relationships and only participated because they thought it was funny. The matches came out, and then it was dead silent — I thought it was fun but no one I know has gotten anything out of it,” Brown said.

This issue with relationship status was one of the more highly contested aspects of Marriage Pact’s rollout. One of the survey’s questions asked about the person’s current relationship status and if they were interested in polyamory. Ostensibly, this would lead to peo ple with matching statuses being paired, but it didn’t pan out for most people. Other students described their experiences as “scary” and “mid.” Across all campuses, Mar riage Pact’s website touts only a 3-4% success rate at pairing longterm couples. No such poll has been

Massachusetts midterms

By NOAH RISLEY

ROOFIE RUMORS

Students allegedly drugged at frat parties

their friends were drugged at the party; one user commented, “that night was scary I had multiple friends going to the ER bc [sic] of it.”

By RIVER SIMARD JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Content warning: this article discusses instances of violence and sexual assault.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Brandeis chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi held a Monster Energy Drinkthemed party. The frat brothers and guests dressed in black and green clothes to match the colors of the drink can. At the bar, they mixed vodka with Monster Energy. The party had an open-door policy, so almost anyone who paid $5 at the door was able to enter regard less of whether or not they were a Brandeis student. There was no list of names specifying which guests were allowed in, and no one was put on a list after they paid.

The following morning, an anon ymous user posted a question to Sidechat, an app where students can post anonymously to only their peers: “How is no one talking about people getting roofied at AEPi?” The post received mixed reactions. One user commented, “That shit is just not true.” Another comment ed, “Some douche was touching up girls but no one was roofied.” Both comments were heavily “downvot ed,” meaning “disliked” by other users. Other users commented that

One week later, on Saturday, Oct. 29, Alpha Delta Phi hosted a Hallow een party. Like the weekend prior, party guests simply paid an en trance fee. There was no prior list of who was allowed in, and there was no list kept of guests who had paid. Once again, posts and comments on Sidechat began to surface. For the second weekend in a row, Brandeis students were allegedly exposed to drugging at a Greek life event. The Justice spoke to multiple members of the Brandeis community who stated that either themselves or close friends were drugged on the nights of Oct. 22 and Oct. 29, but the exact number of people who were drugged is unknown.

Brandeis is not the first scene in the Boston area to experience a wave of drugging. In May of this year, following an increase in so cial media posts that people in the Boston area were being drugged, the Boston Police Department is sued a statement warning Bos tonians to be aware of tasteless, scentless, odorless drugs such as royhphonol, GHB, and ketamine being used in drink-spiking. They issued a similar report on Sept. 8, this time directed at students. Later that month, two students at Boston University reported being drugged at an off-campus event.

As these reports in Boston began to increase, Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps began to increase training regarding situations that

involved intoxication caused by these substances, according to Ex ecutive Director of BEMCo Lorrin Stone ’23. BEMCo is unable to diag nose the cause behind intoxication — which is typically done through urinalysis — whether it be alcohol or drugs, or otherwise test a patient for substances.

There are five fraternities that have chapters at Brandeis, all of which have their houses off cam pus, some as far as a mile. This means that while BEMCo is able to treat students who come back to campus from an off-campus party, they are unable to treat them di rectly at the frat houses. Anyone who is suffering symptoms that require medical attention and who is unable to return to campus will receive assistance from Waltham paramedics, like other Waltham residents.

The increased training initia tives undertaken by BEMCo allow them to better treat a patient who is showing symptoms of intoxication caused by the various drugs used in drink spiking. “We’re working to just make sure we are more aware of how these [patients] can pres ent. And while we can’t necessarily file reports, we can at least try to be aware of what might be a more dangerous situation for a patient and ensure that they get the proper treatment that is indicated,” Stone said.

In the weeks following the drug gings, the Brandeis fraternities have begun implementing new safety measures. In a meeting held by the Greek Awareness Council,

Panel on Israeli elections

By AMANDA CHEN

The

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

By ETHAN GERSTMAN

Women’s basketball splits the weekend

By JACKSON WU

‘Banshees of Insherin’

Why are we friends with our friends? What is the meaning of life? These questions are unlocked in the film review of “Banshees of Inisherin.”

The Justice breaks down last week’s election results and what they mean for the state.

Board addresses housing instabillity on campus

■ The Justice spoke to various fraternities at Brandeis to hear more about the operational reforms they’ve initiated since the incidents.

Two

police with allegations, but it is unclear if the attacks were committed by the same person.

Image courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

Waltham, Mass.

SAFETY: Brandeis frats have implemented new regulations, like disposing of any unattended cups immediately.

Charlie Baker/FLICKR

Senate charters new clubs, approves name changes of three existing clubs SENATE LOG

The Student Union Senate chartered two clubs and approved the name change of three clubs. Director of Accessibility Hana Miller ’25 informed the Senate of an executive money resolu tion, which the e-board approved, for funding the upcoming “Sundown Scream” event. Miller said that it is an inexpensive and stress-relieving event intended to help students around finals time.

Joseph Pendleton ’24, president of the Effective Altruism club, presented on why the club should be chartered by the Senate. Pendleton said that effective altruism is a movement which seeks to make the “biggest possible impact with lim ited resources.” The Senate chartered Effective Altruism by acclamation.

President Zachary Mecenas ’23 of Brandeis Club Squash

POLICE LOG

Nov. 6—There was a medical emergency in Ridgewood Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 6—There was a medical emergency in North Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 7—There was a medical emergency on the athletic fields. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 8—There was a medical emergency in the Sachar International Center. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refu sed further care.

Nov. 8—There was a medical emergency in Sherman Dining Hall. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused furt her care.

Nov. 8—There was a medical emergency in Foster Mods. The party was treated by an officer and refused further care.

Nov. 9—There was a medical emergency in Rosenthal Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 9—There was a medical emergency in Rosenthal Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

asked that the Senate both charter and change the name of the club. Mecenas said that Club Squash is a “gathering place for people interested in learning and playing squash.” He also said that in order to become a club sport, the Club Squash had to change its name to Squash Club. The Senate approved both the chartering and the name change by acclamation.

Brandeis eSports club’s president, Griffin Dugan ’25, asked that the Senate change the club’s name to Brandeis PC Gam ing Club. Dugan said that students expressed disinterest in participating in a sport-related gaming club, so the club’s leaders wanted to change the name to be more reflective of students’ interests. The Senate approved the name change by acclamation.

Inaara Gilani ’23, president of the Women of Color Alliance,

requested that the Senate change the organization’s name to Femmes of Color Alliance. Gilani said that non-binary and transgender students requested this change in order to make the club more inclusive. The Senate approved the name change by acclamation.

Nov. 11—There was a medical emergen cy. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and transported to a local hospital via am bulance.

Nov. 11—There was a medical emergen cy in the Spingold Theater. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 12—There was a medical emergen cy in East Quad. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 12—There was a medical emergency in Skyline Residence Hall. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 12—There was a medical emergen cy in the Usdan Student Center. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and refused further care.

Nov. 12—There was a medical emergency in Spingold Theater. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

Nov. 13—There was a medical emergency in the Shapiro Campus Center. The party was treated by BEMCo staff and transport ed to a local hospital via ambulance.

ACCIDENTS

Nov. 7—A caller reported that a pedestri an was struck by a moving vehicle. Officers checked the area, but all was quiet and in order. The call was unfounded.

Nov. 8—There was a minor multiple ve hicle accident on Charles River Road. A report was composed.

Nov. 11—There was a minor one car mo tor vehicle crash on Turner Street. A re port was composed.

MISCELLANEOUS

Nov. 6—A community member reported the odor of marijuana in North Quad. The Area Coordinator on call was notified to handle the situation.

Nov. 7—A report was composed on a past assault and battery that occurred off cam pus.

Nov. 8—A student reported the theft of their cell phone from the weight room in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Cen ter. A report was composed.

Nov. 8—A caller reported a man who has been escorted out of the building in the past was in the lobby of the Shapiro Cam

pus Center. The man was identified as a current Brandeis staff member.

Nov. 9—A report was made of a group smoking marijuana in East Quad. Officers checked the area, but the group was gone upon arrival.

Nov. 10—A report was made of harass ment received by email.

Nov. 10—A report was made of harass ment by phone.

Nov. 10—An officer reported graffiti wri ting on a placard outside of the Usdan Stu dent Center. A report was composed.

Nov. 10—A community member report ed a negative interaction with a Brandeis alum in the Usdan Student Center. A re port was composed.

Compiled by Leah Breakstone

The Justice is the independent student newspaper of Brandeis University. The Justice is published every Tuesday of the academic year with the exception of ex amination and vacation periods.

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■ A news section article incorrectly referenced one of the alleged people involved in the incident leading to former Senator Zachary Moskovits’ ’26 impeachment as Steven Gaughan. It was corrected to Stephen Gaughan.

(Nov. 8, page 2). The Justice welcomes submissions for errors that warrant correction or clarification. Send an email to editor@thejustice.org.

Brandeis South Asian Student Association presented their 25th annual “MELA,” their biggest event of the year, on Sunday, Nov. 13.

ELIZA BIER/the Justice

The implications of the most recent Israeli elections

By AMANDA CHEN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

On Nov. 8, the Office of the President spon sored a discussion on the Israeli elections and its implications for the nation and its relations with the U.S. Just a week earlier, on Nov. 1, Is rael held legislative elections — the fifth round of elections in just three years — to elect the 120 members of the 25th Knesset, Israel’s unicam eral parliament. Two days later, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition won the majority with 64 seats.

President Ron Liebowitz gave the opening remarks before handing it off to the modera tor, Prof. Emerita of Contemporary Jewish Life Sylvia Fishman (NEJS). Fishman introduced the two panelists: Member of the Knesset and Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University and Georgetown University Yossi Shain, and the Raymond Frankel Chair in Israeli Politics and Society, Shai Feldman.

Shain is the author of “The Israeli Century: How the Zionist Revolution Changed History and Reinvented Judaism.” He served in the Knesset and worked with national and inter national communities, as well as Non-Govern mental Organizations in Israel, the U.S., and elsewhere. He is also the Romulo Betancourt professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv Uni versity; the head of TAU’s School of Political Science, Government and International Af fairs; and the head of the Abba Eban Graduate Studies Program in Diplomacy. Shain is also the director of the Frances Brody Institute for Applied Diplomacy.

Feldman was the founding director of the University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies from 2005 to 2019. He was president of

Sapir Academic College in Sha’ar Hanegev Is rael and head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. He co-authored “Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East,” alongside Abdel Monem Said Aly, and Khalil Shikaki. This textbook was the first of its kind to, address the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and be co-authored by an Israeli, a Palestinian, and an Egyptian.

The discussion mainly centered around three bodies of thought: the election results and its implications for Israel, the election’s impact on Israeli-American relations, and current key political issues in Israel. Both speakers touched on why Netanyahu was reelected and how the election results may contribute to the erosion of democracy.

According to Shain and Feldman, three fac tors led to Netanyahu’s success: his strong leadership and political maneuvering, his bloc’s cohesiveness, and missteps made by the left-wing coalition. Netanyahu emerged as the clear leader of a conservative alliance, whereas Yair Lapid was a weaker leader of the Israeli left. Feldman talked about how when an im portant event occurred, Netanyahu’s bloc had a united response in the media and individu als used the same talking points. On the other hand, the same party discipline was not pres ent in Lapid’s coalition. For example, Feldman mentioned that Lapid did not have the author ity to order Meretz, a left-wing political party, and the Israeli Labor Party to run together in the election.

Moreover, the disqualification Supreme Court case surrounding the Arab political par ty Balad demonstrated Netanyahu’s strategic abilities. According to Haaretz, the political party We Are Together Towards a New Social Order urged the Supreme Court to disqualify Balad from running in the election because the party violated the Basic Law of the Knesset by rejecting “Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.” Netanyahu broke away and ordered his party Likud to not join these efforts because he believed that Balad would not reach

the threshold of votes needed to gain seats in the Knesset, and as a result, the thousands of votes for Balad would be wasted.

The left-wing coalition did not focus its mes sages on voters’ top issues, and Shain stated that this was a mistake. He said that right now, Israelis are concerned about security, the ris ing cost of living, and the relationship between religion and the state. Specifically, Israelis are concerned about Iran acquiring nuclear weap ons and supporting militant groups, as well as continuing violence between Israelis and Pal estinians. However, the left focused mainly on pushing for peace talks to end the PalestinianIsraeli conflict.

Feldman explained that the election results weakened democracy because of the legitimi zation of new political leaders, namely Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich who are leaders of the Religious Zionism party. He argued that this is problematic because of their extreme political views and criminal backgrounds. BenGvir has been convicted of incitement to rac ism and supporting a terrorist organization.

Furthermore, the right-wing coalition may upset the balance of power between the legis lative and judiciary branches. Some conser vatives want to create an override clause that would allow the Knesset to override Supreme Court decisions. They argue that since the Knesset is sovereign, it does not make sense to allow the Supreme Court to disqualify the legislature’s decisions. If such a clause were approved, it would damage the separation of powers and the democratic system of checks and balances.

Feldman does not believe that the elections will substantially impact the relationship be tween the U.S. and Israel, but he does think that it will negatively affect relations between Israel and the American Jewish community. He said that the American Jewish community tends to lean left, which clashes with the ruling conser vative coalition in Israel. Shain stated that it will take time to see what the impacts are.

Feldman also observed a similarity between

Israeli and American politics. Although Netan yahu’s alliance won the majority of seats in the legislature, they barely received the majority of votes. The vote difference was 30,000 among a total of 4.7 million votes cast. The 50/50 ideolog ical split is not new. The 2022 election enabled the Knesset to have a steady majority for the first time since 2019. The country experienced a period of gridlock with five elections in less than four years. When there is a near 50/50 split, it gives powerful extortion power to small parties and individuals who can tip the balance of power. Similarly, in the U.S., individual con gressmen have the power to delay the passing of legislation or ensure a certain political par ty’s majority in the legislature.

The panelists discussed multiple critical issues in Israel such as changing demograph ics and the relationship between religion and state. Shain explained that the ultraorthodox community makes up 20% of the vote, and they are the fastest growing group in Israel.

The growing population places more emphasis on issues surrounding religion and the state.

Reforms passed by the outgoing government regarding religious beverages and the school system and attempts to restrain the ultraortho dox education system during the pandemic has made this a contentious issue. Ultimately, its trajectory will be influenced by the shift from a left-wing to a right-wing ruling government.

Both panelists agreed on a point of optimism for Israel: strong institutions. Institutions are stable in Israel, and they are crucial for defend ing democracy. Shain described them as “di vorced from the bickering and the deep seated rivalries in the political system.” He stated that reforming or eroding state institutions would require a large amount of power. Shain said that “Netanyahu himself and many of his allies in the Likud are not keen” on eroding institu tions because “they understand that if they [do] not guard these institutions, it will come [back] to haunt them.”

■ Brandeis hosted a panel that focused on the events leading up to the Israeli elections and the potential aftermath of the results.

ELIZA BIER/the Justice

Image courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

One of the women who

reported an assault was a teenage girl

Hispanic, of average height and build, and in either his 20s or his 30s. State police spokesman Dave Procopio stated in an Oct. 26 Boston Globe article that it is currently unclear whether or not the attacks on both women were commit ted by the same person.

The woman shared her experience on a neighborhood app after reporting the incident to the Waltham Police, and her story resonated with other Waltham families. A woman who spoke with NewsCenter 5 reported that in toxicated men have harassed her multiple times when she was walking along the Riverwalk. “Generally speaking, [it is] a beautiful path. However, many times in the past few months, I have felt uncomfortable,” she said. Another woman reported that her teenage daughter was assaulted on the Charles River Greenway in mid-September.

Waltham City Councilor Jonathan Paz, according to WCVB 5, is urging the state to take more precautions in

order to protect its citizens, such as better lighting on the Riverwalk. “Assaults like these are not the norm,” Paz said. “We know we’re not seeing this all the time, but it’s important to show that this area is not just abandoned.”

Brandeis students have also been the subject of harass ment along the Riverwalk in the past, but the University has released no statement on the recent assaults.

Anyone with information is asked to call State police at 617-740-7544. Brandeis students can also call the Preven tion, Advocacy & Resource Center’s 24/7 counseling and rape crisis hotline at 781-736-3370, the Brandeis 6TALK peer hotline at 781-736-8255 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays through Wednesdays, or the Brandeis police at 781-7363333. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides 24/7 support via their hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and resourc es for prevention, crisis intervention, and safety planning.

REACH provides emergency shelter, education, preven tion programming, and a 24/7 confidential hotline https:// reachma.org/get-support/direct-services/.

FRATS: Students fear for safety after roofie incidents at two Greek life events

CONTINUED FROM 1

the fraternities and sororities dis cussed ways in which to limit risk at Greek life events. “A central te net of our fraternity is that we are our Brothers’ Keepers. We have a responsibility to protect each other, our guests, and our community at all times. We must continue to work to uphold that value and ensure that those inside and outside of our organization are made to feel safe.”

AEPi President Elye Robinovitz ’23 said in a Nov. 12 statement to the Justice.

One of the most significant deci sions GAC made is that fraternities will no longer be hosting open-door parties for the foreseeable future; parties instead will be invite-only events. Each fraternity’s qualifica tions in order to be on the list for a party may slightly differ, but the general policy is that the per son must be invited by either a frat brother or be a member of the group that the fraternity is mixing with that night. When the guest ar rives at the party, they must pres ent an ID; some frats may require a regular ID while others may re quire only Brandeis IDs. The idea behind these closed parties is that there will not only be a record of who attended the party, but it also prevents any strangers from poten tially causing harm.

The concept of a closed party is in no way a new one — while frater nities choose to occasionally host open parties, many will often host closed parties. These parties don’t receive the same level of publicity as the open ones but are occurring just as frequently, if not more so. This precaution only works, how ever, if the perpetrator is not a Brandeis student or associated with Brandeis Greek life in any way. Regardless, if the drugging contin ues, the frats will be able to identify every single person who attended the party and may be able to better identify a suspect.

In addition to the closed parties, GAC is looking to find funding for drink test kits. In past years the Brandeis Student Union has in vested in Sip Chips; however, that company has since gone out of busi ness. GAC has identified alterna tive products and is hoping to begin having them available at Greek life events. The project has been headed by President of both the sorority Delta Phi Epsilon and the Greek Awareness Council Monica Aponte ’23. Aponte, who is also a member of the Brandeis Student Union, is working with the Union to help secure funding for these drink test kits.

ken] and we invite others to as well, if they are comfortable and inter ested,” Robinovitz said. “We have also been in consultation with our nationals and other trusted institu tions to determine the proper next steps and ensure we implement new measures to increase security.” Ad ditionally, Robinovitz emphasized that if at any point there is credible information that a member of AEPi is responsible for anything against AEPi values, their membership will be suspended. If found guilty, expul sion proceedings against them will take place.

Although the Brandeis Greek life organizations have been acting in response to the increase in drug ging, the University itself has yet to take action. “We do know that this is a concern, there’s been nothing that has been confirmed for us in regard to reports. I know that there are some concerns, but there have been no formal complaints,” Dean of Students Monique Gnanaratnam said in a Nov. 10 interview with the Justice.

Even if the University is aware of claims that students have been drugged they are unwilling to take action until a student reports the incident to the school. Brandeis does not officially recognize Greek organizations, but they are still able to investigate an event that took place at a Greek life event due to the fact that it is an event hosted and primarily attended by Brandeis students, even if off campus.

Gnanaratnam expresses that stu dents should use resources such as “Report it!” in order to file an official report with the school, or communicate with someone in the Prevention Advocacy and Resource Center in order to better receive as sistance. “We want to address and support students who may be af fected. So we want our students to be cautious, we don’t want anyone to experience harm. But again, to address and support students who may be affected, I encourage that our students actually come talk to us,” Gnanaratnam said.

Despite the fact that Brandeis en courages students to report instanc es of drugging to the University, some students are opting to turn to Greek life organizations before they turn to the school. “I know some of the people that were affected did have conversations about poten tial safety measures that can be in place. But I don’t think people, in general, feel comfortable reporting to Brandeis when things like this happen,” Aponte said. Aponte em phasized that this is her personal view and not representative of the views of either DPhiE or GAC.

taken at Brandeis, but it’s rare to find someone whose match turned out to be anything but a mute stranger. Another obstacle was gender deficits — a problem faced by a myriad other participating schools, includ ing Princeton University and the University of Penn sylvania. At Brandeis, a surplus 155 heterosexual fe males were left without male matches. In the eleventh hour, Marriage Pact’s Instagram posted a potential solve: refer a heterosexual or bisexual male friend to the survey to get moved off the waitlist. This kind of marketing was also employed at UPenn to great suc cess.

Certain questions on the survey drew ire from stu dents, including questions about race, ethnicity, and certain political beliefs. Brown recalls one question which asked students if they wanted their match to be the same ethnicity. The question reads, “By default, people are equally likely to match with individuals of any ethnicity. Given historical contexts, there are some reasons why people might want to opt out of this default. Would you like to opt out?” Participants could answer with a “yes” or a “no.”“I thought it was so bizarre — on one hand I understand it for BIPOC students who don't want to be matched with some one who would microaggress them or not understand them. To a certain extent it makes sense, but it’s also really tricky,” Brown explained.

Returning to the “Would you be comfortable with your child being gay?” question, Marriage Pact ac knowledges that these questions may seem to be based in prejudice or intolerance. Their website states, “While surveys show that almost everyone in college

shares our support, we also recognize that queerpho bia does exist in our world. As such, an important re sponsibility of the Marriage Pact questionnaire is to identify incompatible views privately so that students will not experience discrimination when connecting with their matches.” These kinds of hurdles highlight the complicated nature of matchmaking, especially within diverse communities.

Marriage Pact’s website also advertises plans for future matchmaking services. One is “Soulmate Ra dar,” which uses location-tracking software to alert an individual when a passerby has a high compat ibility score with them. Another is “Checkmate,” which scores compatibility between any two people, allowing friends to measure their ideological simi larities. Checkmate’s description reads, “Check your long-term compatibility score with anyone. Send your friends questions. See who’s getting scanned. Discuss the ensuing tea.” Judging from this quote as well as plenty of other ads on Marriage Pact’s Instagram pag es, the service is clearly targeted toward Gen Z. Al though most social media sites are as well, Marriage Pact marks a deepening foray into a Gen-Z-based so cial etiquette.

Marriage Pact relaunched at Brandeis just a week ago, we’ve yet to see whether it will simply be a re peat of last semester’s run — the same controversies, the same success rate, the same level of participation, etc. For the second time, only a day into the survey’s launch, it had over 300 participants, matching last semester’s quantity. As for measuring the quality of this semester’s Marriage Pact, we’ll have to wait and see.

Another idea proposed by GAC is allowing sorority sisters who are mixing with a fraternity to assist in working the door or monitor the bar in order to ensure the alcohol is never left unattended, as opposed to all responsibility being placed on the frats. “Not to say that they’re [the fraternities] not safe. But it is a big responsibility to just hold one group of people accountable for the bar when there are multiple organi zations involved,” Aponte said in a Nov. 13 interview with the Justice.

Frats at Brandeis as a whole are taking precautionary measures; however, since one of the two in stances of druggings happened at an AEPi event, they have decided to implement additional measures including no longer allowing any backpacks of any kind, an increase in floor monitors, disposing of all unattended cups immediately, increasing the lighting in their basement where the parties are primarily held, improving the com munication with the organizations they are hosting events with, and conducting ongoing assessments of the safety and security of their events, according to Robinovitz.

In addition to the improved safety measures, AEPi has conducted an internal investigation into the night of Oct. 22, the findings of which are unlikely to be released to the pub lic. “We have gained as much infor mation as we possibly can. People who wished to have spoken to us about their experience [have spo

Going forward, Greek life events will continue, but they will look dif ferent. GAC is committed to making changes to the operations of Greek life events at Brandeis; however, they are not responsible for all par ties hosted by Brandeis students. The new safety measures may be in place at Brandeis fraternity parties, but these safety measures won’t necessarily be in place at other par ties hosted by Brandeis students.

During the weekend of Nov. 6, one week after students were drugged at Alpha Delta Phi, Sidechat us ers shared that there were open parties being thrown at the Foster Mods. While Brandeis fraternities have begun to do what they can to mitigate the risk of drink-spiking at their events, it doesn’t mean it can’t occur at other Brandeis events. There may not be an immediate so lution to the problem of drugging as a whole; however, students can continue to take individual precau tions in order to mitigate any per sonal risk; however, precautions alone will not resolve this issue as drugging and other forms of sexual violence are systemic issues.

Alpha Delta Phi, Zeta Beta Tau, and Phi Kappa Psi did not respond to the Justice’s request for com ment. Alpha Delta Phi was directly implicated in the drugging reports.

Students impacted by or other wise affected by the recent increase of druggings can contact the PARC office for confidential mental health resources.

justfeatures

VERBATIM | RUBY BRIDGES

Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail.

ON THIS DAY…

In 1979, the Unabomber struck for the first time when a bomb exploded in the cargo cabin of an American Airlines 747 on the way to Washington.

FUN FACT

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. She is from Wisconsin.

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky on effective leadership and lifelong learning

By ZEV CARLYLE JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

When Adam Selipsky first took over as chief executive of the Seattle-based Tableau Soft ware, some employees were hesitant to em brace him. For starters, he was succeeding a charismatic cofounder who was deeply popu lar throughout the company. And then there was the culture question — Selipsky arrived in 2016 after spending 11 years at Amazon, which had a notoriously rigorous environment that some at Tableau feared would infiltrate their more upbeat way of life.

The sentiment didn’t last. Selipsky quickly earned the credibility and trust necessary to implement broad changes at the company. “I just had to be myself and have the confidence to lead in the way that was right for me,” he told me in the fall of 2021. “I never would have done a good job at trying to precisely fill the cofounder’s shoes.” He made it clear to employ ees that he had a balance of “patience and im patience” and planned to reinforce Tableau’s mission-driven culture while at the same time injecting some “Amazonian” elements such as customer obsession, ownership, and relentless innovation.

Tableau was a $3 billion business that li censed desktop software when Selipsky joined. Within three years, the company had shifted to a cloud-based subscription model and was ac quired by Salesforce for $15.7 billion. “Chang ing your entire business model is really risky, to put it lightly,” Tableau’s product director Francois Ajenstat told The Seattle Times in May 2021, adding that Selipsky’s “customer empathy” and careful listening made people trust him.

“People were so hesitant,” another Tableau employee, Ellen Bryan, told me in 2021. “Adam was an outsider, but he quickly proved that he got it and mobilized these people to move fast in a way that didn’t offend them.” Years after the fact, she still expresses astonishment at the speed of the subscription rollout and the magnitude of Tableau’s transformation under Selipsky’s watch.

Amazon seemed to agree. After Jeff Bezos retired in 2021, Andy Jassy became CEO and tapped Selipsky to lead the $50 billion cloud computing division known as Amazon Web Services. Selipsky is now back in the company he helped build alongside Jassy and experienc ing an interesting mix of the “familiar and the unfamiliar.” While many faces and products are the same, there is a lot to learn in the com pany that grew four-fold during his five year hiatus. “I hope [the learning] continues,” he added. “I’m a big believer in being a lifelong learner, so I think this or any job I’m in would be really boring if I stop learning.”

Later on in our conversation, he elaborated

on this philosophy. “One thing I’ve decided over the past few years is that I’m not going to learn very much by hearing myself speak,” he said. There will always be time for his thoughts, but he has made a conscious effort to “keep [his] own mouth closed” and listen to what’s going on around him. “If you start to address, ‘Well, what place is somebody com ing from?’ [and] not just ‘What are the words coming out of their mouth?’ then you can re ally help people understand what we’re trying to achieve together.”

Selipsky described great leaders as being both smart and humble. “Some of the best lead ers I’ve been around in my career are incred ibly capable … and yet at the same time are very humble about their place in the company, their place with customers, and still feel like they have a lot to learn and need a lot of input from the people around them,” he said. Selip sky also said it is important to be observant of leaders that are both effective and ineffective: “Great leaders are very observant and pick up on these things and then decide how they’re going to behave in reaction to that … I think that process of watching and dissecting and then sort of personally growing is incredibly important.”

When sharing his advice for people early in their careers, Selipsky echoed the recur ring theme of personal growth through “vocal self-criticism,” a term found in Amazon’s set of Leadership Principles. “It’s about taking an honest look at yourself and understanding what you are great at and what you are less great at. And then what can you do about it.”

He explained that this self-reflection is not easy to do and requires a lot of self-confidence, but if you understand yourself and where you can improve, then you can start to take action.

It’s also a lesson that took him many years to take to heart. “Frankly, if I’d understood that early in my career, I probably would have not stubbed my toe a couple of times … if you do it and if you do it early, all the better.”

His closing advice for young people centered around passion — not for the sake of finding your calling in life, but for a much more prac tical reason. “Any job or endeavor you under take, there are going to be passionate people doing it,” he said. Simply put, it’s hard to com pete against people who are passionate when you’re not. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to find their one destiny in life in order to be successful. Rather, he explained, it’s about finding things you’re capable of being passion ate about. “If you’re excited and want to throw yourself into the things that you’re trying to do, you just have a lot higher chance of suc cess.”

The head of Amazon’s main profit-driver describes how being “vocally self-critical” and “highly observant” has helped him grow as a leader.

Scan the QR code above to listen to the full episode of Zev Carlyle’s “Voyager Talks” podcast (available on Spotify, iTunes, or @Voyager. Talks on Instagram) to hear Adam Selipsky in his own words. Other guests include Former President of Starbucks U.S. Kris Engskov and Waldo Contacts CEO Ashleigh Hinde.

Photo courtesy of AMAZON

EXECUTIVE: Adam Selipsky served as Amazon CEO and Tableau’s former CEO.

Making sense of the Massachusetts midterms

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters across the country went to the polls to vote in the 2022 midterm elections. Many candidates made history, like Florida’s Maxwell Frost, who will become the first member of “Generation Z” to serve in Congress. Candidates here in Massachusetts made history as well.

Governor-elect Maura Healey became the first wom an to be elected governor of Massachusetts, and the first openly lesbian governor in the country, followed quickly by Tina Kotek of Oregon, also elected on Tues day. Joined by Mayor Kim Driscoll of Salem, now lieu tenant governor-elect, Massachusetts and Arkansas will be the first states to have two women occupy the offices of Governor and Lt. Governor concurrently.

But unlike Arkansas, Massachusetts also elected a woman into the attorney general seat. Andrea Camp bell broke a “concrete ceiling” by becoming the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Massachu setts, winning the attorney general race. Incumbent Secretary of State Bill Galvin won an unprecedented eighth term. Incumbent state Treasurer Deborah Gold berg was elected to another four-year term, and Diana DiZoglio won the race for state auditor. For the first time since 2008, all six executive statewide offices will be held by Democrats.

Massachusetts was widely seen as one of the most “flip-able” governor’s mansions during this year’s midterm cycle. Republican Governor Charlie Baker is one of the most popular governors in the country, but when he opted not to seek reelection and Geoff Diehl won the Republican primary, many saw Massachu setts as a lost cause for the GOP. Healey won by 30%, leading many to wonder how Diehl fumbled Baker’s legacy.

A former delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention and campaign staffer who wished to speak anonymously said to the Justice that Diehl lost be cause of his association with Donald Trump and that “Trumpism is just not popular in MA.” He elaborated, “Diehl took the difficult, but not impossible, task of winning as a Republican in MA and decided to run as a hardline conservative.” His defeat marks a shift in historical trends: Over the last three decades, Republi cans have held the governorship in Massachusetts for all but eight consecutive years.

When asked how her administration would differ from Baker’s during a Nov. 9 press conference, Healey had only this quip to offer: “The microphones are go ing to be a little lower. There you go. And the rest, we’ll see,” which is a reference to the fact that Baker stands over a foot taller than Healey.

Jonathan Cohn, the policy director at Progressive

Mass, a grassroots activism organiza tion, felt Healey had not been “as direct in her policy proposals” as he would have liked. In a Nov. 14 email to the Justice, he elaborated that he was hope ful about the Healey/Driscoll team, and said they care far more about “cli mate action, reproductive rights, public schools, and public transit than [Gov ernor] Baker does.” Cohn said Baker “tends to get a pass” for right-wing be liefs due to a “boring congeniality” and that he “enables the worst instincts” of the Massachusetts legislature, saying they can “always use the real or imag ined threat of a veto as an excuse for in action.” Cohn hopes that with Healey as Governor, the Legislature will embrace new opportunities to deliver on Demo cratic priorities. For instance, Cohn said that his organization plans to push for more ambitious legislation to coun teract the “inertia” of inaction in the Legislature.

In a Nov. 14 email to the Justice, John Dolan — the former campaign manager for lieutenant governor candidate Eric Lesser, who lost the Democratic prima ry to Driscoll — said he was “thrilled” to see the incoming Healey/Driscoll administration earn a victory on Elec tion Day and see Democrats back in the governor’s mansion. Describing how a Healey/Lesser administration would have been different, Dolan iden tified transportation as the issue where Lesser and Driscoll differ the most. Improving and expanding the state’s public transportation systems was a main focus of Lessers’ campaign. Driscoll mainly emphasized her experience working with municipalities during her campaign.

However, the Healey/Driscoll team did indicate a willingness to take up Lesser’s signature campaign promise of East/West rail. When asked if he expect ed Healey and Driscoll to act more as progressives or pragmatists, Dolan pointed to early signs that “have indicated to me that they may be intent on simply providing a steady hand rather than a vision.” One of the signs Dolan cited was the newly elected officials’ unwillingness to publicly support Ballot Measure 2 on the campaign trail. The second question on this year’s general election ballot asked voters to decide on new dental insurance regulations, including a “medi cal loss ratio” which would mandate that at least 83% of insurance premiums go toward improving patient care. Dolan called this measure “overwhelmingly pop ular,” and he was right. Question 2 passed with 71.4% of the vote, by far the highest percentage of any ballot measure this cycle.

Dolan said he wasn’t sure of Healey and Driscoll’s reasons for not endorsing it but called their choice “nearly inexcusable” considering the mea sure’s mass support and ability to establish new consumer protec tions. He said he hopes this early decision of the Healy/Driscoll team is not indicative of a larger “pragmatic” ap proach by the governor and lieutenant gover nor-elects.

The other ballot mea sures passed last Tues day were also transfor mative. Voters approved Massachusetts Question

1 by a slim margin, with 52% voting “yes” to amending the State constitution to add a 4% tax on income over $1 million, with the revenue dedicated to public edu cation and transportation. At Progressive Mass, Cohn worked on the “Yes on 1” campaign in support of this ballot measure. He attributed the campaign’s success to the coalition of “faith, labor, and community groups that we were able to build,” in a Nov. 14 email to the Justice. There have been multiple attempts to address Massachusetts’s constitutional flat tax rate, Cohn said, but this is the first that has succeeded. The estimated $2 billion additional investments in public education and transportation resulting from the new amendment could be “transformative,” he said, adding that the ini tiative passed at an excellent time. Since the ballot ini tiative was first proposed, the COVID-19 pandemic has put an even bigger strain on schools while the state’s public transportation services “seem to keep getting worse,” he elaborated.

Massachusetts voters also voted to keep in place a Massashusetts law allowing residents to obtain driv er’s licenses regardless of immigration status. The campaign supporting this initiative, Question 4 on the ballot, argued that the law would keep roads safer, even going so far as to name their campaign “Yes on 4 for Safer Roads,” and cited widely-held support from law enforcement groups.

Cohn pointed out that although Question 1 and Question 4 ended within a point of each other in the final tally, they were supported by different coali tions. While there was strong support from progres sives for both, it was different combinations that got them to majorities. The wealthiest towns in the state, like Dover and Wellesley, voted solidly in support of Question 4, the driver’s license measure, but strongly against Question 1, the income tax amendment. Cohn added that conservative towns on the South Coast and in South Shore voted no on both, but were harsher on Question 4 than Question 1. Overall, he said, “The two questions combined really do provide a useful political typography of the state.”

The dental insurance regulations measure that vot ers passed is the first of its kind in the entire nation. In voting to allow undocumented immigrants to get drivers’ licenses, Massachusetts voters joined 17 other states. By approving a millionaire’s tax, voters in the Commonwealth accomplished a progressive goal a cen tury in the making. While questions remain about the policy goals of the new governor, the results of this year’s ballot questions offered a

progressive policies.

resounding “Yes” on

Design: Anna Martin/the Justice

The Justice breaks down last week’s state election results: from a Governor-elect who has already made history, to ballot measures that suggest the state may be moving in a more progressive direction.

Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

SECOND-IN-COMMAND: Kim Driscoll, mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, won the lieutenant governor election.

By NOAH RISLEY JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS GOVERNOR-ELECT: Maura Healey won the race for Massachusetts governor, making her the country’s first openly lesbian governor.

Jen Crystal, Editor in Chief Jane Flautt, Managing Editor Cameron Cushing and Sofia Gonzalez, Senior Editors

Leeza Barstein, Jack Yuanwei Cheng, Juliana Giacone, Samantha Goldman, and Hannah Taylor, Associate Editors

Dalya Koller, Leah Breakstone, News Editors

Natalie Kahn, Features Editor

Lauryn Williams, Forum Editor

Aiden Guthro, Sports Editor

Megan liao, Arts & Culture Editor

Smiley Huynh, Owen Chan, Photography Editors

Ariella Weiss, Isabel roseth, Copy Editors

Devon Sandler, Eden Osiason, Online Editors

EDITORIAL

How Brandeis is failing to accommodate growing student body

For the past several years, the University has attempted to develop new housing around campus. Post pandemic, the University has seemingly made no further progress in new housing developments yet continues to admit growing numbers of students. Previously, the board critiqued this issue in a Sept. 20 editorial, specifically calling out the University’s lack of housing resources for an increased student demographic. In fact, this year’s freshman class is the largest yet, with 1,007 students. Starting with the demolition of the Usen Castle and the construction of Skyline in 2017, Brandeis began to develop modern and accessible housing for its student body. However, since then, there has been little to no progress in developing more housing for students. In fact, Brandeis has increased the cost for housing along with inflation after the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping it one of the most expensive housing plans in the United States, according to the Justice. Brandeis has also turned formerly twoperson dorms into “forced triples,” which looks grim for the University to continue to be able to guarantee housing for students through their sophomore year.

Myah Crowell ’26 told the Justice, “the way we live is super cramped, and we always have to move stuff around just to function,” adding on that at one point she and her roomates “had our trash cans in the middle of the room just because we had no where else to put them.” In addition to the cramped living situations, some students deal with issues before even getting into their dorm. Mazzi Ingram ’25 told the Justice that Brandeis didn’t communicate with them about when they could move in and that, “DCL ignored my emails over the summer, [so] I had to go to the Dean to get help.” For students to be able to plan and have peace of mind about the upcoming semesters and breaks, communication between students and the Department of Community Living should be a priority.

Students also face difficulties navigating study abroad housing. In addition to forcing students to register for housing before knowing for certain if they will be studying abroad, the housing options for juniors and seniors studying abroad are less than half of that of the rest of the classes’. Further, Brandeis requires students to indicate definitively if they will be studying abroad the year before they select housing, posing issues for students applying for scholarships or special permission from study abroad programs. The University requires you to obtain permission from the administration to study abroad before selecting housing, but when it comes to applying to specific programs, these organizations may not disclose acceptances before Brandeis housing selection. If a student is lucky enough to have approval from their program before Brandeis housing, students are still required to select housing before knowing the amount of financial aid, if any, they can receive for the program. Additionally, if a student’s situation changes after the housing selection period, students who

selected study abroad housing will not be guaranteed housing for the semester they were supposed to be abroad.

The application process for accessible housing is difficult to navigate. Ingram told the Justice they “only knew to apply for it because my therapist was with the Brandeis Counseling Center, I imagine it’s harder for students that don’t know.” The Academic Services website outlines how to apply for accessible housing; however, the application can only be filled out through a University form and there is no PDF version, which makes things more complicated for medical providers that will only fill out a PDF or physical document.

The housing process remains one of the more stressful things students have to deal with at the end of each school year, on top of preparing for finals. Since there is no guarantee that students can get housing past sophomore year, the weeks between when students receive their housing numbers leading up to the days that housing can actually be selected are very hectic and stressful. Students have to prepare for every outcome: getting the housing they wanted; their second, third, or even fourth choice; or having to live off campus. Although the live updates on room availability are appreciated, almost anything can change in between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., adding to the tension. The increasing student population and stagnant amount of on-campus housing has led to more and more students being forced to live off campus, which poses many problems. Living off campus requires a mode of transportion to campus, and while the University provides the Waltham shuttle as an option, it is unreliable due to the shortage in drivers as seen in gaps in the shuttles’ schedules posted on the Escort Safety Service Instagram page. And even with a consistent shuttle schedule, this still necessitates finding housing near the shuttle stops. Even if students find housing located in walkable locations from campus this is not always the safest option without reliable transportation, especially given the lack of sidewalks/pedestrian safe options and the recent assaults along the Charles Riverwalk — a common walkway students frequent that is under a 20 minute walk from campus these assaults the University has failed to communicate to students and failed to increase Waltham transportation for the numerous students that already reside off campus.

Because of classes, extracurricular commitments, and late nights studying in the library or other popular hubs on campus, students can be forced to walk in darkness. Due to the early sunset, it can become dark outside as early as 4:10 p.m. Although students have the option of traveling in their personal vehicle, this is made difficult by the University due to the limited parking spaces and parking passes. It is also an incredibly expensive and privileged option as gas prices are still inflated and cars require expensive upkeep. This can be a large unnecessary stressor for students who have financial issues

affording this already expensive University. This issue not helped by the University being slow to build housing to keep up with the demand for on-campus housing, with the most recent housing Skyline, opened in 2018, and Village and Ridgewood Commons in 2010 and 2009, respectively. This leaves few options for upperclassmen who are not guaranteed housing. Especially due to the timeline of the housing selection process, students may not find out if they can live on campus until late April, which can force students to live further away from campus since nearby housing fills up very quickly in the spring. This also increases the financial burden for students who are already paying to go to one of the top 10 most expensive universities in Massachusetts.

Brandeis continues to claim that they want to house more students on campus, but they are not transparent about their

intentions or progress with that. Though there is a pre-existing housing crisis on campus, the University continues to admit more students, making the housing lottery that much more competitive.

Brandeis has shared they do their best to maintain housing stability for students, but campus housing is still difficult to obtain and off-campus housing is far from guaranteed. This is especially a slap in the face, considering the construction of a new science complex. All in all, Brandeis needs to do better maintaining the comfort and safety of their students.

—Editor’s note: Editor Cameron Cushing ’23 is employed by the Department of Community Living as a Community Advisor. He did not contribute to or edit this article.

Asking for a friend

“Asking for a friend” is Forum’s advice column where each week we ask Brandeis students

thoughts and opinions, which range from an array of topics. This week we want to focus on the upcoming registration period for Spring 2023 classes. If you are interested in submitting advice for the upcoming column, follow our instagram: @thejusticenewspaper.

Q: How can students better prepare for class registration, given recent changes to the process?

A:

Have a plan. Be sure to make a solid saved schedule in Workday, and also have some backup courses in mind so that you are registered for 16 units by the time this round of registration ends on November 21 at 11:59 pm. There will be time to make subsequent changes on January 2. Think about the week you are building. If your schedule of firstchoice courses means you don’t have time for lunch, or if you have early morning classes every day but would rather sleep later some mornings, you should reevaluate your plan and see whether some alterna tive courses would build a more sustainable sched ule. Anticipate the kind of routine you’ll be able to manage. Use your resources. Attend one of the Roo sevelt Fellows’ events if you’d like some advice from peers. Students are also encouraged to consult with faculty advisors in their major/minor, departmental undergraduate advising heads (UAHs), and/or peer undergraduate department representatives (UDRs) for support. Don’t panic. Academic Services is here to help you set yourself up for success! There is sup port on campus for registration and for overall aca demic planning, both this week and going forward. Note that Academic advisors and Roosevelt Fellows are available for 20-minute (schedule up to a few days in advance) and 30-minute appointments (schedule up to three weeks in advance).

Look through the course offerings ASAP! It’s bet ter to know what courses you may want to take now versus later based on when they are being offered! Find the balance! Sign up for 2 classes for your major, 1-2 classes for the Brandeis Core, and then a class for fun! Make sure you set up your registration schedule as soon as you know what you want to take so by the time you have your appointment time, you are ready to go and register for all of your classes at once!

— Lori Tenser, dean of Academic Support and Advising

— Roosevelt Fellow Nathalie VieuxGresham ’23

In the past week, Chinese Stu dents and Scholars Association members noticed that there was a Justice news article, published on November 8, 2022, that mentioned CSSA’s possible connection with the Chinese government and role as being a spy on international students. As CSSA members, our daily lives are already negatively impacted by the spread of such ru mors. In the past few days, we’ve heard students, both local and in ternational, discussing CSSA be ing a spy without even knowing what CSSA is and spreading the rumors to their friends or class mates. Thus, we wrote this on be half of all CSSA members in the hope of clarifying ourselves and expressing our attitude regarding the entire rumor.

Two weeks ago, CSSA’s e-board members presented the student organization’s past events, cur rent mission, budget, and future plans to the Student Union in or der to be considered for a proba

tionary status. At the time when we became a probationary club, every member was sincerely hap py, hoping to get more involved in campus activities and do our best to hold academic, cultural, as well as career developmentrelated events for every Brandeis student ranging from undergradu ate and graduate, to Ph.D and vis iting scholars. Throughout the en tire process, CSSA did everything in accordance with the standard principles and adhered to all the rules and regulations. However, this week, we learned from “The Justice” newspaper that CSSA’s probationary status was revoked and the student organization itself is even being considered as a spy organization monitoring inter national students. When we read about this in the news, we were first shocked, thinking how is this even true and re-reading the article again and again to double check that we did not misunder stand the content, then we felt it

was ridiculous, why would we, as Brandeis students who promoted justice and righteousness, do such things, and finally, we felt disap pointed, feeling that we did not gain any trust from our peers and wondering why should we accept such charge when we did nothing mentioned in the articles that the senators used as sources of proof.

In the past and present, CSSA held various types of events, in cluding soccer competition, MidAutumn Festival Gala, Running Brandeis, and career experience sharing fairs in effort to give Brandeis students a platform to learn more about Chinese cul ture, alleviate Chinese students’ homesickness, and help students expand their network and make more friends across different uni versities. In the future, we origi nally planned to continue to do so and create a welcoming environ ment for every student. Now, due to the revocation of CSSA’s pro bationary status, we are unable to

carry our passion and dedication to Brandeis students onward.

By writing this letter, we, as CSSA members, are not trying to blame anyone for doing anything wrong. We just simply wanted to protect our own rights and let the truth speak for itself. We will not be taking any charges on things that we never did before, and we sincerely hope that the school can take action to stop the spread of the rumors and find the truth.

— Chinese Students and Scholars Association

— Editor’s Note: The Justice re ported on the Student Union Senate’s dechartering of the CSSA in the Nov. 8 issue. The viewpoints of this letter to the editor do not accurately reflect the Justice’s coverage of these events.

A reflection: How Iranian women have been excluded from the revolutionary narrative

By TIBRIA BROWN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Upon 17 year- old Mahsa Amini’s death, after being held in police custody on Sept. 16, women’s rights protests broke out across Iran. Western coverage of Iranian revolutions have historically minimized women’s influence over the movements. This continues today. The focus of media coverage is rapidly shifting as international reporters compete for eyecatching headlines.

The most egregious way I’ve seen reporters mine this story’s punchy headlines is by comparing Amini’s death to the murder of George Floyd. BritishIranian actor, Nazanin Boniadi, evoked Floyd’s name during an interview with PBS saying, “when George Floyd was killed by police in America, there was global solidarity… The least we can do in the West is to show solidarity to the people inside Iran.” After this comparison, media coverage has continuously conflated these two protests. A Christian Science Monitor reporter even went as far as to label these protests “Iran’s George Floyd Moment.”In several ways, this comparison by reporters is disgusting, completely misunderstanding the point of their respective protests. Though both groups of protesters attack systemic issues which caused the death of two innocent people, that is where the similarities end. These protests for Amini are a continuation of the 1979 women’s rights movements and attempted revolution in Iran. By conflating the deaths of Amini and Floyd, reporters are trivializing both movements. This almost insinuates that their deaths are part of the news cycle that covers a different global protest every few years. This type of coverage also increases the likelihood that nothing will come of the protests as governments begin seeing the public outrage as another trend. I also fear this allows room for the point of public outrage to be lost. This is similar to how the Iranian Revolution of March 8, 1979, which began as a women’s rights protest (beginning on International Women’s Day), was distorted by western media

to be a criticism of Islamic belief, which was further used to justify widespread Islamophobia.

Some American reporters have also been taking the Iranian protests as an opportunity to reflect on how the United States has been dealing with women’s gender equality issues. One headline from the Portland Press Herald pointed out how American media and government officials are using this to distance themselves, saying, “Let’s not be too smug about how Iran oppresses women. Men have an understanding that women’s bodies are ours to regulate, approve, criticize and use as we see fit.” Another reporter from The Salt Lake Tribune went further, saying that, unlike Iran, American women don’t fear death or imprisonment from dressing immodestly but “may face that fate if she has an abortion, thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling that robbed women of that right.” The criticism in these two pieces is fair and necessary; however, the speed at which it was presented seems inappropriate, especially while the reason for the Iranian protests in Amini’s name isn’t widely understood or covered. Reporters are making her and the protests share the spotlight with older stories.

Something else I’ve noticed in the American coverage of these protests is how reporters dub these protests as a result of Gen Z’s efforts, turning this current movement into one that is generational, though it is a continuation of previous Iranian revolutions. This also somewhat insinuates that older Iranian women have been complacent this whole time. This may be a result of reporters throughout the 1980s and 2000s not highlighting the influence female protesters had over the movements. Reporters during these times talk more about Iranian women than to them, reducing them to bystanders or victims of twisted regimes, as opposed to activists fighting for their rights.

Similar to the beginnings of the Arab Spring, which was Iran’s second revolution that took place throughout the 2010s, young Iranian protesters have been using Twitter and other social media to raise awareness for the situation in Iran, though this is increasingly difficult as the

Iranian government attempts to remove local and international access to the internet and Wi-Fi. The majority of these activists are young women who created somber trends like cutting their hair in an act of rebellion or TikTok videos labeled “Get Ready With Me: To Be Killed/ Imprisoned in Iran.” I believe that due to this, more Iranian women are able to give themselves a voice to raise awareness. Unlike previous protests, Iranian women are being centered and spoken to by reporters.

In closing, I’d like to reflect on how the coverage over the past two months of the 2022 Iranian Revolution parallels and diverges from previous coverage of other running revolutions since 1979. One major difference that I’m seeing is that this time around, reporters are actively seeking out protesters, particularly women, to interview and report on their perspective on the story. Also, with the advent of social media and the internet, Iranian women are able to easily share their perspectives on a global scale. However, I’m also seeing that the evolution of media coverage is expedited by the 24-hour news cycle, and the narrative has shifted so much in just

two months. During the protest in 1979, 1988, and the early 2000s, it took weeks or months for the story to devolve in certain ways. One major similarity that I’ve seen, though unfortunately, is that the main subject of these protests, being the egregious women’s rights issues that Iran has violated, is sort of taking a backseat to other more click-bait headlines, especially with the conflation of Mahsa Amini’s death and George Floyd’s. Coverage like this seems to trivialize the systemic issues of these protests and reduce them to somewhat trendy recurrences.

I’d also like to ask what the role of the media has been during this coverage of the past couple of months.

As I mentioned before, these clickbait titles help reporters get attention in the 24-hour news stream. But it is our duty as reporters to investigate world events, and the goal should be to eventually make change while raising awareness. Yet it seems like the media hasn’t really been doing this as of late. It seems like reporters are mostly competing for clicks and engagement online more than trying to investigate the root cause of the tragic events that create change.

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Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

IRVING: Nets face tough decisions

attract more problems in the front office of the organization.

Many people are still waiting for a formal and authentic apology from the Nets guard. The Nets have

many decisions to make about the direction of their organization and whether Irving will be part of that future or not.

BADMINTON: BWF goes against players, stands by umpires

division of the Hylo Open.

In the post-game conference, Chou responded to the controversial call: “I know I cannot change the situation, but I hope there is [a] rule change to avoid situations like this in [the] future. There should be a better system to review situations such as rackets crossing the net while hitting the shuttle and incidents like this.”

After remaining silent to all protesting voices, the BWF released a statement the next day promising to investigate the case, but they refused to make any changes to the results of Hylo: “BWF trusts that all umpires endeavor to make the best call he or she can make in real time. However, even if a mistake occasionally occurs, a referee cannot overrule the decision of an umpire on a point of fact, and an umpire’s decision stands as final.” Standing with the umpire and referee who misjudged the situation, the BWF deprived Chou of the justice he deserved and the chance to win his second championship title of the season. This statement also refuses protection for players in the same situation going forward.

At present, the BWF has not released any clips of the video

replay to the public, yet various sources have revealed clips of the controversial moment — all proving that the umpire misjudged the point. On his Instagram account, Chou humbly stated, “I suggest we should value the truth in each game from now on. The accuracy of judgment is what we pursue. Undoubtedly, it can enhance the honesty and integrity of badminton. To have an honest and fair match is a responsible attitude towards fans around the world and professionals joining in the game. There is no doubt that I will keep on respecting and trusting all the umpires as usual.”

The Hylo Open controversy was not as simple as an umpire’s miscall. It was a mistake continuously enlarged by the extent of the referee team and the BWF’s flawed response. Rather than supporting its athletes, BWF has chosen to protect its umpire and referee unconditionally.

Chou is not the only victim in the event. Facing condemnation from Chou’s fans, Ginting’s victory is an inglorious one, despite his tireless effort to compete. If the BWF deprives the two of a fair judgment, Hylo Open 2022 will forever be infamously remembered.

BRANDEIS: Pierre and Vaughan claim All-Tournament honors

her own 5-0 run. James made one from downtown to put the Judges up by double digits for the first time and closed up the half with a strong rebound and two free throws. The Judges took control of the quarter and went into the break with a 39-26 lead.

Coming out of halftime, Rensselaer altered their game plan by driving into the paint and crashing on the rebounds which cut the Judges' lead to five. Ohm stepped up with a pair of free throws and a trifecta to restore the temporary lead for the Judges. Brandeis had difficulty handling the ball and making shots fall, while RPI fired from distance to take the lead and forced a Judges’ timeout in the fourth quarter. The visitors enjoyed a brief five-point lead before the Judges found their rhythm down the stretch. Junior Selenya Gonzalez ’24 stole the ball and fed it to Marchese, who rewarded Gonzalez with an assist as she cashed in for three. Marchese came up clutch and sank another deep three with 4:45 on the clock to put Brandeis up by two, but RPI answered with a tough layup to force the overtime period.

Just five seconds into the overtime, Reavis found the rim with a layup. Pierre and Vaughan joined Reavis in another joint 9-0 run to lead the Judges out of the turmoil, finishing

the game with an 80-73 win over RPI. Reavis tallied a career-high 19 points in the winning contest. Pierre put up 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists: all career-highs for the New Jersey native. James did not miss a single field goal and scored ten in her collegiate debut. And Vaughan showed off her efficiency with a double-double of ten points and 11 rebounds in just 10 minutes of playing time.

Brandeis 59, Maine Maritime 67

The Brandeis Judges faced off against the Maine Maritime Mariners in the Brandeis Judges Invitational Championship game. After the tip-off, Gresko went on a roll to cancel the Mariners’ offense with seven points of her own. Maine Maritime sped up their game, launched from a distance, and executed a couple backdoor-cut plays to build up a ten-point lead in the first quarter. The Judges tried to stay in the game as they matched up on the shooters in the second period. Smally tried to exploit the mismatch down low and was awarded with a few foul calls that put the Judges in bonus. Gonzalez drew a foul right before the half ended to counter the Mariner’s second-quarter firepower. The Judges trailed 31-41 at halftime.

Gresko opened the second half for

the Judges with another four points of her own, and Vaughan fought hard in the restricted area to attract some foul calls. It took her some time to find her shot from the charity strike, but she eventually made two of them to close the gap to eight for Brandeis. The Mariners tried to extend their lead with another three-point bomb, but Smally responded with a layup to close out the quarter. A minute into the fourth quarter, Marchese connected from the arc, shrinking the deficit to just five. The Mariners wanted to pull away, but Ohm knocked down a three off the transition while Pierre added a couple free throws. However, the Judges struggled to make shots fall for the rest of the game and gave the Mariners the championship.

Gresko led the team with 13 points. Vaughan stayed productive with eight points and six rebounds in nine minutes. Both Pierre and Vaughan were recognized in the All-Tournament team for their outstanding performances. The Judges will host the Emerson Lions on Tuesday and the Tufts Jumbos on Saturday. Currently ranked tenth in franchise history with 95 career three pointers made, Marchese is on the watch for joining eight former Judges in totalling a hundred three pointers made.

Photo courtesy of ERIKDROST/flickr

DISGRACED: In the past few seasons Kyrie Irving has missed multiple games due to off-court issues and breaking team rules.

BASKETBALL: Judges defeat RPI in overtime 80-73

By AIDEN GUTHRO JUSTICE EDITOR

TIPPING OFF: Katherine Vaughan ’26 got things started for the Judges by winning the opening tip off. Vaughan added ten points in the winning effort for the Judges.

TRIPLE THREAT: Judges’ guard Tathiana Pierre ’23 rises above the RPI defender for the triple. Pierre secured All-Tournament honors.

STOP AND POP: Captain Francesca Marchese ’23 stops on a dime to create separation from the RPI defender.

BATTLE ON THE BLOCK: Forward Courtney Thrun M.A. ’23 finds open space for the shot.

■ The Judges faced up against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday, Nov. 11, at Auerbach Arena in the Brandeis Judges Invitational tournament.

POINT GOD: Selenya Gonzalez ’24 takes on the RPI defender one-on-one.

ANKLE BREAKER: Guard Abby Kennedy ’26 drives into the paint.

Photos by TIANCHENG ZHENG/the Justice

Sports just

BASKETBALL BOUNCES BACK

Brandeis Women’s Basketball pulled out a close overtime victory vs. RPI on Nov. 14 to go 1-2 on the season, pg. 11.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE MINTON BADMINTON

Hylo Open 2022: Controversial calls captivate final match

■ After saving six game points, Tien-Chen Chou fell to Anthony Ginting in the championship match due to an umpire’s miscall, and, in the aftermath, the BWF refused to grant Chou the justice he deserved.

By MEGAN LIAO JUSTICE EDITOR

Although the Hylo Open concluded two weeks ago, debates over the championship match between Tien-Chen Chou, ranked number four in the Badminton World Federation World Ranking, and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, ranked number eight, have remained heated over the past six days, stemming from the umpire’s controversial decision at a match point.

Tien-Chen Chou, known by his international fans as “CTC,” is a highly celebrated badminton player from Chinese Taipei. Due to the fact that Taiwan is not an internationally recognized nation, athletes representing the sovereign state compete under the delegation of “Chinese Taipei” in order to avoid international disputes while still differentiating themselves from the delegation of “China.” Standing at 5 feet 11 inches, Chou’s

height provides an advantage for receiving shots at the far edges of the court, making defense his undisputable strength. Prior to Hylo 2022, Chou had taken only six matches among his thirteen encounters with Ginting. The championship match in Germany was the chance for Chou to finally tie up the series between him and Ginting.

In their head-to-head competition, while tied at 22-22 in game 3, Ginting went for a smash intended to land on Chou’s front court. Lunging to save the drop, Chou was called out by the umpire Henrik Boas for striking the shuttle after it had landed. Chou requested to review the video replay, but the umpire refused, stating that video replay can only be used when there is a challenge to determine whether the shuttle landed out of bounds. Therefore, the foul is determined solely by the judgment of the umpire. The referee was unwilling to overrule the umpire’s call, nor did the service judge agree to attest to Chou’s claim, awarding the rally to Ginting. Seeing that his protest was futile, Chou begrudgingly continued playing, but it was clear that the devastation had overpowered his spirit. The last rally, played passively by Chou, was handily taken by Ginting, thus concluding the men’s single

Judges go 1-1 over the weekend

■ Judges Women’s Basketball almost came back at Bridgewater State, defeated Rensselaer in an overtime battle, but fell against Maine Maritime.

By JACKSON WU JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

69, Bridgewater State 70

The Brandeis Women’s Basketball team kicked off their season on the road against the Bridgewater State University Bears. Bridgewater State took control in the second quarter and built their lead off the Judges turnovers to enter halftime 42-22. Things started to look different in the fourth period. Graduate student Shannon Smally M’23 and Caitlin Gresko ’25 stacked up buckets from all over the floor while the Judges played stellar defense to hold the Bears to a 17% shooting slump. A miraculous 29-9 fourth-quarter effort from Brandeis tied the game at 6969 with 42 seconds on the clock. The

Bears won the match-up 70-69 with a free throw despite the Judges’ late efforts.

Captain Emma Reavis ’23 led the team by example with 16 points.

Katherine Vaughan ’26 shined in her college basketball debut, contributing 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench. Francesca Marchese ’23 scored nine off threepoint bombs and threaded the needle with a career-high four assists.

Brandeis 80, RPI 73 (Overtime)

Women’s basketball hosted the Brandeis Judges Invitational over the weekend, starting off with a matchup against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Both teams traded buckets after an exciting sequence of four jump-balls in the first 35 seconds. A backdoor cut from Abby Kennedy ’26 off a beautiful feed from Lulu Ohm ’25 put the Judges on top at the end of the first quarter, 14-13. Brandeis’ Molly James ’26 had some elegant footwork as she laid the rock in to start the second period. Reavis found her Co-captain Tathiana Pierre ’23 on another backdoor-cut opportunity and joined the scoring party with

IRVING

Kyrie Irving faces suspension over antisemitic comments

■ Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets’ superstar point guard, is facing all sorts of media and league criticism after posting antisemitic content on his Twitter page.

By PRATEEK KANMADIKAR JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

Kyrie Irving, one of the National Basketball Association’s most popular and dynamic players, has been caught in serious trouble over a series of Twitter posts, specifically regarding antisemitic rhetoric. The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Irving without pay for five games, but some voices around the league are calling for harsher punishment. This news comes on the heels of another celebrity scandal; Kanye West made similar antisemitic comments and was ultimately dropped by numerous sponsors, including his longtime clothing partner, Adidas. Similarly, Irving has been stripped of his sponsorship with Nike, and the release of his new

shoe, the Kyrie 8, has been canceled.

On Oct. 27, Irving issued several tweets regarding the promotion of the Black Hebrew Israelites group. The Black Hebrew Israelites are groups of African Americans who claim that they are directly associated with the ancient Israelites. The Jewish community does not associate with the group, and the Anti-Defamation League said that “some Black Hebrews are outspoken anti-semites and racists.”

Irving shared a link on his Twitter account, which redirects to the Amazon film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which promotes anti-semitic ideologies. The film includes “denials that the Holocaust ever occurred and accusations that Jewish people control the Atlantic Slave Trade and currently control the media.”

Irving ended up deleting his tweet, and claimed that he “intended to learn from walks of life and religions.” He never issued a formal apology until after he was suspended by the Nets on Nov. 3. Irving had a back-andforth argument with sports analyst Nick Friedell during one of the Nets post-game press conferences, and, when asked if he held antisemitic beliefs, he did not reply with a yes-or-

no answer. Instead, Irving conjected, “I cannot be anti-Semitic if I know where I come from.” Adam Silver, a Jew who is the commissioner of the NBA stated that “I personally have no doubt that he’s not anti-semitic.” It is unclear what Silver will do in response to the situation at hand. It is also unclear what Nets owner Joseph Tsai will do to help ease the problem going forward. The current unpaid suspension will only last five games, but due to Irving’s lack of sympathy and understanding, many are calling for an indefinite suspension. Tsai stated that “[Irving] has to show that he is truly sorry. He only apologized after he was suspended.”

According to Fox News, Irving is “the most hated player in the NBA.” Irving is no stranger to frontpage controversies, from denying the COVID vaccine to claiming the earth is flat. However, these recent comments have sent many fans, analytics, and critics over the edge.

After firing head coach Steve Nash, the Nets were rumored to be planning to hire former Celtics coach Ime Udoka, who was suspended from the Celtics for misconduct with a female employee, but the Nets ultimately decided not to hire Udoka so as to not

Brandeis

Photo courtesy of CREATIVE COMMONS

CRUSHED: Tein-Chen Chou lost the Hylo Open after umpire Henrik Boas miscalled a crucial point during game 3 of the finals.

Photo: Eliza Bier/the Justice. Design: Smiley Huynh/the Justice.

Mass.

Adagio: Starry Night

‘Banshee of Inisherin’

By ETHAN GERSTMAN JUSTICE STAFF WRITER

“I just don’t like ya no more.” Imagine your lifelong best friend wakes up one day and decides they no longer want to be friends with you. This is how the fantas tic Irish period piece “Banshees of Inisherin” begins. Directed by Martin McDonagh, the creative mind behind the critically ac claimed films “In Bruges” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebb ing, Missouri,” this tragi-comedy unexpectedly became one of my favorite movies of 2022. “Ban shees” takes place on an isolated Irish island called Inisherin dur ing the Irish Civil War. There is a pub, a church, a small collection of houses, a post office, and a sin gle policeman.

The protagonist, Padraic, played by Colin Farrell, lives with his sister Siobhan, por trayed by Kerry Condon, and pet pony Jenny, spending every day at the pub with his best friend Colm, played by Brendan Glee

son. Padraic lives a simple life. He starts each day with his farm duties, and then at two o’clock, he trudges down to the pub to have a drink with Colm. The movie begins on one of these unremark able days, but this time, things will be different. Colm suddenly refuses to talk to Padraic. This is quite comedic at first. Padraic pursuing Colm is undoubtedly funny, especially when Padraic employs some of his more com plicated antics. All three of us at the local AMC were laughing for a good 45 minutes of the film. “Ban shees of Inisherin” only escalates from here. What comes after in cludes a dead pony or a donkey, as everyone else seems to think; a missing set of five fingers; and a drowned village idiot. The central conflict of “Ban shees of Inisherin” rests on a single question: Is it better to live a simple, happy life or one of meaning and fulfillment? Colm and Siobhan wrestle with that throughout the film. In Colm’s entire life, he spends each day in blissful ignorance with Pad

raic. But as he reaches the twi light of his life, or so he thought, only being 60 years old, he began to question whether he has a re sponsibility to leave a legacy. As we learn, this is the reason he ended his relationship with Pad raic. He views his “friend” as an obstacle to a life of meaning. The film is largely told from the point of view of Padraic, not Colm, so while we gradually gain a sense of this internal battle, we instinc tively side with our protagonist. Farrell’s tremendously grounded performance contributes to that. We sympathize with the simple, nice man that Padraic naturally is, experiencing the same sad ness as his life falls apart. The way Farrell and McDonagh work in tandem in presenting the Pad raic character is very effective. At this point, the theater I was in was completely silent and fo cused on the performance. But the film was not finished here. Padraic still had emotional pain ahead of him. Unfortunately, as if the film couldn’t damage Padraic any further, his sister is suffering

from the same internal struggle. Locked on an island, she feels her environment restricts her poten tial.

Her passion for literature and discovery is stifled. Like Colm, she makes the difficult choice to change, leaving Padraic behind in the process. In almost a week, Padraic loses everyone impor tant to him in his life. The true strength of the film lies in its characters, particularly Farrell’s. It is hard to explain the degree of empathy that I felt for him as the film progressed. With every re buff by Colm, Padraic loses a bit of the person he was before. The happy guy McDonagh presents us with at the start is, by the end, a cold, shattered man. It is hard to watch. Farrell navigates the character in a way that forces us to viscerally experience that change. His body language shifts.

He no longer gives his classic Padraic smile. He has, in a sense, lost his soul. At this point, for the audience, it becomes impossible to sympathize with Colm. Glee son’s character has inflicted such

pain on Padraic that, despite the logic of Colm’s reasoning, what he did is inexcusable. In pursuit of personal satisfaction, he has destroyed his friend. Inexplica bly, when the film fades to black, we are not sad for the person Pa draic has become but for the per son he was.

“Banshees of Inisherin” has se riously affected me. Even a week later, it has not left my mind. Colm and Padraic’s struggle has made me evaluate and consider the relationships in this new con text. Why am I friends with my friends? Is it for the good times or because we share similar traits and values? I have never watched a film that has, a week later, caused me to change the way I perceive my world. The lessons of the tragedy that befell Padraic also remain. Without all of the people that made Pad raic who he was, what was left of him? The film forced me to con front those questions. I whole heartedly endorse watching this film but only warn that it is a dif ficult experience to endure.

Design: Megan Liao/the Justice

FILM REVIEW

ELIZA BIER/the Justice

JAZZY: The Adagio Dance Company put on their end-of-semester show that showcases a variety of dance styles on Nov. 13. They were also joined by other Brandeis dance groups and universities.

‘CHANGE WITHIN YOURSELF, CHANGE WITHIN OTHERS, AND CHANGE WITHIN TIME’

By MEGAN LIAO AND

ROWLAND JUSTICE EDITOR AND JUSTICE EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

“Spring Awakening” is a tale about youth sharing experiences of censor ship and changes together. The rock musical, set in 1891 Germany carries extremely heavy topics, such as suicides, sexual assaults, and violence, relevant to teens and young adults. Notoriously, the musical fea tures sensitive content including explicit language and hazing. Directed by Pascale Florentale, the production staged independently by students will from Nov. 11 through Nov. 20, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

‘SPRING AWAKENING’

MINA

Wendla, portrayed by Nico Miller ’24, and Melchoir, portrayed by Gionni Storit ’26, share an intimate conversation. Wendla is a young and innocent teenager who wants to explore her sexual ity, and Melchoir is a charming student who eventually takes advantage of Wendla.

The ensemble performs “Mama who Bore Me” reprise (left photo) in Act one. Wendla, joined by her friends, expresses in the song their interest in learning about adult relationships, as well as exploring femininity, motherhood, and religion. One of the lyrics from the ballad, “Mama who gave me no way to handle things” is a strong statement voiced in an innocent tone that condemns the conventional parenting that withholds mature knowledge as taboo from children in puberty.

Photos by Ceci Chen/the Justice

— Quoted from “Spring Awakening” Production website

SMILEY HUYNH/the Justice

By SAMANTHA GOLDMAN JUSTICE EDITOR

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