Innermost Parts

So the Activist Resource Center secretly rocks. At a training/meeting/retreat in DC through ARC, we listened to a speech by Angus(?) Johnson, a professor of student activism at CUNY. Apparently he’s really cool – at least his speech was.

He had this to say, and I found it really insightful: “When I tell people that I’m a researcher into student movements,” he said, “unfailingly the first question that comes out of their mouths is this: Why is there such a lack student activism today? Well, activism is all around you, but you just don’t recognize it. In 1967 there were very few womens resource centers, queer studies departments, or black student unions*. If you don’t think that there’s activism going on in your campus you’re not lookingin the right places”

That rings true, at Brandeis especially. The institutionalized (non-club) activism surrounds us – in various academic departments, in the ethics center, SSIS, farmers market, QRC, various organs of Hillel, admissions, and in other parts of “Official Brandeis”. I’m sure I’m missing some.

It’s nice to remember that sometimes.

* I might have misheard this last part. Maybe it was “black studies departments”

For a university reeling for a series of PR disasters on a national scale, this can’t be how Brandeis hoped to return to the news.  The vandalism at the Muslim Student Association lounge has been picked up by the Boston Herald, the Boston Globe, WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston, the Huffington Post, and, for some reason, an obscure newspaper in Louisiana.

I hate seeing Brandeis attracting this kind of attention.  Many of the stories seem to blow a “Muslims vs. Jews” dog-whistle that gives a completely false picture of how things really are at the university.  If I were a Muslim student, I’d definitely reconsider attending Brandeis after hearing this story.

To whomever did this, if you somehow happen to read this, know that I cannot imagine that I’m sharing this campus with as low a form of scum as you.  You’ve stolen and destroyed private property, attacked a minority group, and tarnished Brandeis’s reputation.  I don’t know if you’re actually a student, but I know for sure that you are not a Brandeisian.

I’ll update this post periodically throughout the night with new links if more news stories come to my attention.

The front page of this week’s Justice has, as its lead article, a story about the Constitutional Review Committee’s final report.  The article is well-written, comprehensive, and informative, and it’s accompanied by a nice, eye-catching picture.  The problem is that I don’t think anyone cares.

The CRC is one of those topics that’s only interesting to the very small minority of students who follow the Union closely.  Its meetings were held behind closed doors, its mission is basically just a reshuffling of the Union government, and even the best changes it proposes will measurably affect only a small percentage of the campus community.  You don’t have to take my word for it; in same issue’s ‘Brandeis Talks Back’ section, all four of the students they interview express complete apathy to the process.  Yes, the report is significant enough to merit coverage, but does it really deserve its front page status?

Meanwhile, you’d have to turn to page 5 of the paper to learn that a potential hate crime occurred on the Brandeis campus this weekend.  The newly-refurbished Muslim Student Association suite was viciously vandalized on Friday.  The wall in Imam Talal Eid’s office was permanently damaged, and his personal copy of the Quran was stolen.  The nature of the theft makes it hard to view this as anything but an attack against campus Muslims, and it absolutely sickens me to think that such a vile invasion could happen at the school I call home.  But apparently, it’s worth only one-sixth of a page buried in the News section, next to a full page of advertisements.

During Diana Aronin’s impeachment and trial, many people complained about the petty disagreements that the Union officers turned into a public spectacle.  I agree with them, but the campus media need to be held culpable as well for turning what should have been an internal Union affair into a weekly front-page spectacle.  If our Union government suffers from self-importance, it is only because they’re used to getting undue attention for every minor issue.  Meanwhile, the papers will continue to alienate their readers if they glorify topics that are ultimately irrelevant for most students.  I suspect that students are far more interested in uncovering hate on our campus than on how big the Union Senate will be next year, and I think the every campus media outlet needs to reassess what its reporting priorities should be.

10 minutes ago the entire campus received this email:

All people of good will and conscience at Brandeis University – the President, the Interfaith Chaplaincy, students, faculty, staff, the Provost’s Steering Committee on Diversity, and the Division of Students and Enrollment – stand together in condemning the vandalism to the Muslim Prayer Space and Lounge.

We unite in solidarity with all our Muslim students and assure them that this kind of action will not be tolerated at Brandeis. Any act of vandalism, especially those that target a particular religious or cultural community, is deplorable. This is particularly true here at Brandeis where we place the utmost value on being a community of inclusion and religious pluralism.

This affront to our community will not disrupt or destroy the spirit of our University family. We join together to denounce the acts of the individual or individuals who are responsible.

The Chaplains, and other Brandeis staff, are available to any and all in need of counsel and comfort in this difficult time. The University is committed to the full investigation of this incident. Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is asked to contact Ed Callahan, Director of Public Safety at 781-736-4240.

This is a sad moment for our Brandeis family but we will emerge from this time with a renewed spirit of understanding and cooperation.

President Jehuda Reinharz
Rev. Walter Cuenin, Catholic Chaplain
Imam Talal Eid, Muslim Chaplain
Alexander Levering Kern, Protestant Chaplain
Rabbi Elyse Winick, Jewish Chaplain
Jamele Adams, Associate Dean of Student Life

Agreed. I’m glad they sent out this email, I think it strikes the right tone, and I look forward to seeing the steps the community can take together in the future.

Update: I got an email from Neda Eid right before this email was sent out. She was planning on organizing something on Friday, and this is what she said:

So I met with several people about initiating a form of response to the vandalism and i’ve decided to delay the protest this Friday and work with the Brandeis faculty, club leaders and their organizations, the chaplaincy, the dean of student life, the general student body, and outside MSAs to address the larger issue of hate on university campuses and the need to actively respond. Considering that the administration hasn’t yet officially spoken about the MSA vandalism, i feel it’s important to give the campus time to react and through inclusive organizing, properly respond.

Thanks Sahar for covering the incident and i’ll keep you updated on the efforts.

Hello folks, new blogger here. My name’s Hyder, class of 2012. I’m planning on majoring in bio and IMES, and I’m also interested in politics, activism, Islam in the modern world, South Asia, the list goes on.

I’m a member of the MSA. I first heard about this incident late last week, I think after Friday prayers. As I was sitting in the MSA lounge, talking to people after lunch, I couldn’t bring myself to feel terribly angry or hurt. Because when I had heard “vandalism,” I thought things had been broken, tables upturned, the room terribly defaced, blood on the walls, apocalyptic quotes, broken windows, the whole nine yards; instead we got damage to a wall, unplugged lamps, bent cooking utensils, and a stolen copy of the Qur’an. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that’s okay either, that it should be fine for people to walk into a place for Muslim gathering and worship and do whatever childish immature things strike their fancy. And I’m really glad to see the kind of reaction people have had, because  I’ve seen nothing but support for the Muslims on campus and outrage that something like this could happen at Brandeis.

But I don’t think we can label this a hate crime quite yet. As far as I know, no one knows who did this, or why, or when, or what happened afterwards. Sahar put it well, saying  “stealing (and presumably desecrating) a Koran is a big deal” – because it is -  except I’m not sure we can presume desecration right off the bat. That copy has yet to be found, and may well be returned – who knows? This isn’t like finding a noose hanging in a library, this is more like teenagers TPing a house ’cause they’re bored and want to raise a ruckus.

In the Justice article, Neda was quoted as saying “”No matter what the suspected motivations are, I believe this vandalism should be treated like a hate crime by the Brandeis community and Police department.” I completely disagree. I think this should be treated as immature, juvenile, disrespectful, outrageous…the list goes on, because this incident is all those things (and more) to very many people aside from the Muslims on campus. And if it ends up being something malicious and intolerant and hurtful, I’ll be the first to shout for swift justice and strong action. But before we can assume “hatred” of the Muslim presence at Brandeis, we should have clear proof that it exists; labeling it a “hate crime” when we have so little information is jumping to a conclusion that may not be useful or true, but may end up unnecessarily staining the Brandeis campus and community.

What if someone broke into Berlin chapel and stole (and presumably slashed or burned up) the Torahs there. What do you think would happen? A fucking uproar, that’s what would happen.

Well, someone broke into the Muslim Student Association Lounge last Friday, hacked at the wall, and then stole a Koran. That’s a hate crime. There has been a hate crime on campus. Stealing (and presumably desecrating) a Koran is a big deal.

Where is the uproar? When a noose was found hanging in the UC San Diego library less than a month ago, there were protests and sit ins and sympathy strikes at other colleges. Here – what? There should be some big anti-bigot rally, or a big gathering in support of the islamic students on campus, or something. What are we going to do about all this? Is anything planned?

Update – I hear that there are early plans for some sort of solidarity meeting on Friday. I’m told: “Stay tuned”