UPDATE:
As expected, Pres. Reinharz has announced his resignation. He plans to stay on until the next president is selected by the Board of Trustees, or June 30, 2011, meaning he will continue as president for up to three more semesters. Though there were some decisions on which he seriously fucked up (the Rose Art Museum comes to mind) he also did a great job raising Brandeis’ endowment and prestige. Unfortunately, the Rose seems to have done him in… though he told the Hoot that “the situation with the Rose… had no impact on this decision,” and claims to have “reached the conclusion that now is the right time for me to focus on the next chapter of my career,” I suspect pressure from angry alumni, faculty, and students certainly had a good deal to do with that conclusion.
I, for one, thought he was a pretty good, if often tricky, President, though I have had no chance for comparison. This one caught me by surprise – I thought Reinharz had mostly weathered the Rose / budget crisis storm and was back on top. To his credit, he didn’t leave when things started getting nasty, but waited until they cooled down. Anyways, check out Phil and Sahar’s posts for some more nuanced reflection.
The full text of Reinharz’ email is below the break.
September 24, 2009
To the Brandeis Community:
I wanted to let you know that I have made the decision to step down from the presidency of Brandeis University. I have reached the conclusion that now is the right time for me to focus on the next chapter of my career. I have notified the Board of Trustees and they have requested that I continue in my role for this upcoming academic year and stay on as president until a successor has been selected up until June 30, 2011 if necessary. Following the completion of my term as President of Brandeis, I expect to be the president of a significant foundation, where I can address issues facing the Jewish community at the national and international level.
Serving Brandeis for nearly three decades has been a great honor, which I have enjoyed immensely. Ours is an active, engaged community; one that is both intellectually strong and fiercely passionate; it is one that has never failed to make me proud to be a part of Brandeis. I believe the future is very bright for the University and I am confident that my successor will take Brandeis to even greater heights.
I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have helped make Brandeis one of the great universities in this country.
Sincerely,
Jehuda Reinharz, President
Brandeis University
Below you will find my letter to Mal Sherman, Chairman of the Brandeis Board of Trustees, and his response.
August 31, 2009
Mr. Malcolm Sherman
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454
Dear Mal,
I am writing to inform you of my intent to resign as President of Brandeis University. I am letting you know now so that ample time is available to plan for a smooth transition.
As you can imagine, I do so with a great mix of emotions: pride at what we have collectively achieved over these last sixteen years; confidence that this is the right juncture to hand the reins over to the next leader; and a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia and fondness for the Brandeis family that has been my own for almost thirty years. During my tenure at Brandeis, I have had the opportunity to work in partnership with some of the brightest minds in academia.
It is now time for me to enter the next chapter of my professional life. I plan to continue to serve in the non-profit arena at the national and international level where I can address issues facing the Jewish community. I have already been approached by two foundations to run their organizations at the conclusion of my time at Brandeis.
I feel strongly that this is the right time for me personally to move on to a new challenge. Many of the goals that I set out for my presidency have been accomplished. I will leave the University in good condition with a strong foundation on which to build in the future. The Brandeis of today is significantly different than it was sixteen years ago. It is a stronger brand, with a national and international reputation for academic excellence. It is dramatically more diverse in its student body. It offers a substantially larger curriculum with new creative areas of study. It has state-of-the-art facilities that enhance the teaching and learning experience.
The challenges facing all educational institutions of higher learning in the coming years are considerable. I remain steadfast in my commitment to leading Brandeis until new leadership is in place and will work tirelessly with the campus community and friends of the University to ensure Brandeis’ success. I have enjoyed the challenge of leading Brandeis and will always be ready to be helpful in any way I can.
Sincerely,
Jehuda Reinharz, President
Brandeis University
September 24, 2009
President Jehuda Reinharz
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454
Dear Jehuda,
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I accept your letter of resignation with reluctance but with the understanding that you have thought long and hard about this decision. As you know, we would have greatly preferred that you complete your term. But we appreciate your willingness to continue leading Brandeis for this academic year and until a successor has been named. We also understand that your commitment to stay on as President will not go beyond June 30, 2011.
While at this time it is difficult to think about Brandeis in the absence of you as its visionary, we feel fortunate that you will hold the position of President Emeritus, working with the Board and Brandeis following your tenure as president.
When you became President in 1994, you set ambitious goals for yourself and for the University. Your dedication to the achievement of these goals has been extraordinary. While many leaders of higher education are professionally fulfilled after a few years of service and a few accomplishments, your unusually long commitment to the Brandeis community is a testament to your character and devotion.
In partnership with your talented staff and faculty, you have succeeded in strengthening all aspects of the University from the physical plant to the curriculum to university finances. You have guided this University in prosperous and difficult times with an unwavering focus on providing all students with an exceptional education.
Under your leadership, we have witnessed a heightened profile within the international academic community and an exceptionally diverse student body ethnically, racially, religiously and geographically.
One of your accomplishments that I am most proud of as Chairman of the Board is the increase in financial assistance to our student body and indeed that 72% of our students receive some form of financial aid. As we both know, access to education changes one’s life. We need only look at our impressive alumni who have made tangible imprints on all sectors of our society.
Your pursuit of excellence on behalf of Brandeis has been incredible and I feel privileged to have worked alongside you for the past sixteen years. Please know that we all recognize that your hard work and dedication have kept this University on its path of greatness and will allow us to continue to flourish in the future. All of us on the Board of Trustees have the utmost gratitude and admiration for your leadership and stewardship.
Sincerely,
Malcolm Sherman
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Brandeis University
ORIGINAL POST:
According to multiple unsubstantiated ethereal sources (UPDATE: this has been confirmed), Pres. Reinharz, after a long and storied tenure at Brandeis University, will be announcing his resignation at midnight. The announcement will be made by the Justice and the Hoot at midnight. Innermost Parts, which (like you) was not given access by the administration to this information, is telling you now.
This is possibly in response to a recent, renewed faculty push for Pres. Reinharz’ resignation after his mishandling of the Rose incident. We’ll publish more details as they come in. Analysis to come shortly.
UPDATES:
– We believe Marty Krauss will take over the job of President, though for how long we are unsure. (UPDATE: no mention of this in the email, but a likely temporary selection nonetheless)
– We’ve got more sources confirming this news. If you’re reading this and know more about the situation, please email us right away at czar@innermostparts.org
– This is going down, folks. You’ll receive an email at midnight telling you all about it.
“True, there is no mention of Marty Krauss, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she took over a President-like role in governing the University until a replacement can be found.”
I read The Justice and The Hoot and The Globe articles, and they all said that Jehuda would stay until a replacement is found or until June 2011, not that Marty would take over. Get it straight.
I’m going to agree with Postmodern? on this.
I’m attending another school now – transferred due partly to the hysteria of the campus over everything – and I feel as though the responses to this post reaffirm the sheer lunacy of the few misguided, Brandeis-obsessed souls.
When Loki posted this, I am sure in my heart of hearts that he did so thinking it was best for the common good. If Sahar had posted it, I’d think “He’s fishing for readers, that cocky bastard.”
Focus on the fact that Jehuda is leaving – not how you found out. 18 years from now, if you can ever remember how and where you found out, then you’re going to need to seek therapy immediately. The source is unimportant; the content is crucial.
You got an extra three hours to prepare yourself. Congratulations. Now go thank that man for all that he’s done.
Wow! I find it really really strange how everyone is FREAKING OUT about WHEN they heard this and HOW!!!!
Its just NEWS… why does it matter how you hear it or if you hear it at 10pm or 12am???? Who goes to a blog to see whats up and then gets ANGRY that the blog told them something they’d rather have heard from a different source at a different time????
Does the FACT itself of Jehuda’s resignation carry more or different meaning depending on HOW you find out about it? The medium is the message??? Maybe so, but seriously…. you have to admit that’s really, really WEIRD.
I’ll remind you all that this is a blog, not an academic journal or even a news paper and this exactly the sort of thing that blogs are supposed to break, its part of the new Web 2.0 culture. Am I suggesting that you guys should publish false information, no of course not, then this just becomes juicy campus. But if you guys are sure of you sources and are pretty certain about the validity, then go for it. You aren’t a chartered organization, you only have the court of public opinion to judge you.
In other news, let me be the first to do this. http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs275.snc1/10225_1146642946565_1242270090_490297_1569367_n.jpg
I realize that I said “diminishes the lack of weight.” clearly I meant “diminishes the amount of weight.” my bad.
That last paragraph in your most recent comment really diminishes the lack of weight carried by your apology. When students show they can’t be trusted with basic responsibility it hurts the credibility of all of us, and helps justify tightening the reins on student involvement. The newspapers have a responsibility to the Brandeis community to report the news, and if one editor chooses to threaten that ability by weakening their ability to OBTAIN the news then the newspaper owes it to us as a community to take action. Will administration hesitate a little more before breaking early news to newspaper editorial boards? Probably, but hopefully the termination either a) lessened the blow or more likely b)will discourage future editors from hurting the students like this in the future.
Anonymous,
As stated, we would not release the information unless we were very very very certain it were true. The beauty of blogging is that you can release information as it develops and add in the specifics as they develop (Look at the updated story, for example). In addition, I would say our current updates, reading of the situation, and commentary on Reinharz’ presidency, though by no means as extensive or nuanced as it could be (we do choose timeliness over perfection when it comes to first publish of news stories), is at least as much so as either the Hoot or the Justice.
As for your ad hominem attack on my credibility as a friend, wtf? No one pleaded with me not to publish the story, I did not cackle in some corner “I have fooled you! Now I shall take this secret you have told me and use it to destroy you and increase my blog readership!” Please. This was information everyone deserved to know as much as I did, so I shared it. The ridiculous firing of the Hoot editor, my good friend, saddens and angers me. That is much more important than breaking this story, but I had no idea it would happen. For it should not have happened, especially because he was not my only source, nor a direct source at all. The very idea that leaking information like this, which has no need at all to be “classified”, results in the firing of a great editor is preposterous. This is the kind of thing that happens when government officials leak information jeopardizing peoples’ lives and break federal laws! Even then, the right people didn’t get fired!
For the Hoot to fire their editor because he texted someone a faux secret, the revealing of which had no serious consequences in reality… I don’t know what to think. If the campus media is so desperate to please the Administration that they value the trivial privileges and exclusive early interviews it grants them more than their own dedicated editor, and is willing to fire him as a sacrificial appeasement… It makes me want to challenge someone to a duel.
Loki – Thank you for your apology.
The firing WAS justified. The editor was held to a degree of confidentiality and whoever he was, violated it. Whether or not he said it to someone in confidence or not is irrelevant. Your article was the impetus and do not try to pretend like it is not your fault by saying that it was not justified.
Also – the administration is not keeping it a secret – obviously. As we got an email about it. They just wanted to let everyone know at the same time. You violated serious ethical codes by posting this story ahead of time and getting that hoot editor fired.
http://thehoot.net/articles/6593
I hope you’re proud of yourself.
ANMNB,
I do apologize, for the ridiculousness this post has caused. For one thing, the Hoot has fired one of its editors for texting the news to a student off-campus who called me to find out what was going on, after which I substantiated the story with other sources. I did not reveal those sources before, and with good reason – the Hoot has fired one of its editors, a close friend of mine, and this post was the impetus. Though that firing was not justified, I certainly set it in motion. I’ll write more about that in a new post.
If Pres. Reinharz had provided Innermost Parts with a pressing, valid reason for keeping this information secret until midnight, I would have considered it. As we were never informed of the decision at all, that didn’t happen. Interestingly, this is the same mistake made by the Administration last semester, when we were the first to break the Rose story only a few minutes after we had it confirmed, also through anonymous sources.
The ethic I bring to blogging news is to disseminate ideas and information quickly, not formally after extensive editing. That come later as the story evolves – the benefit of being able to update a story in real time, as we learn more about it. You can always wait to hear it in the Hoot or the Justice if you want it authoritatively verified.
anon works for rasky baerlein or something – this is a blog son!
“It is also a great disrespect to the man who welcomed you here upon your orientation to deny him the right to let the students know in the manner which he chooses.”
I can’t speak for your class, but he didn’t even show up at my class’s orientation welcome event. We got a video recording of him.
Your argument relies upon the sophist framing of the issue as a choice between two extremes. It sounds much more defensible to defend your post based on freedom of information if the choice is between knowledge and lack of knowledge. When the alternative is the same information, with the specifics of the story and actual confirmation being released a few hours later, your freedom of information defense is much less compelling.
Your accuracy is credible; I won’t deny that you are able to take advantage of your fellow students’ mistakes to report confidential information accurately. What I question is your credibility as journalists and the credibility of your motives in particular. Your lack of quality is a direct result of your decision to publish news instantaneously rather than waiting to acquire all the details and confirm the reports. While the information you do provide us with is accurate, you provide the bare minimum in your rush to get things out as fast as possible. Your failure of ethics lies in your inability to respect the confidentiality the University requested, the other publications on campus, and Yehuda’s wishes. Come on, when you hear he is going to announce his own resignation in a few hours, show some courtesy and let the man say it himself. Your gross attempts to feel important and be involved in this matter are pathetic. Where you lose respect is in your lack of concern for your fellow students. Someone commented on The Hoot’s article, but no one has mentioned the apology (http://thehoot.net/articles/6593) they were forced to publish first because of your lack of consideration. You all seem to have forgotten that you are also people, and you gained this information due to your friendships with other students. I would be surprised if some of those friendships still exist after this massive betrayal of trust. I hope your “friends” are not foolish enough to still believe that the bonds of trust which are the basis of such friendships hold any real value to any of you.
QED –
Considering that the “real” news organizations were given an interview with Pres. Reinharz, I’d say we did a pretty good job, kept in the dark like the rest of the student body. True, there is no mention of Marty Krauss, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she took over a President-like role in governing the University until a replacement can be found. Also, we stated that with a good deal of uncertainty.
Obviously the Rose debacle is not going to be Jehuda or the Board’s stated reason for the resignation. But sometimes, you need to read between the lines…
Anonymous – As for Innermost Parts being a biased news organization, we aren’t a “news organization.” We’re an opinionated blog that sometimes breaks news. Our opinions are our own, and if they leave a “slight distaste,” no one is forcing you to read them. At the same time, they are backed up by good information, which is why I am taking the time to defend our blog from these *ahem* anonymous attacks.
ART – what so many students (if indeed you are) don’t realize is the cultural capitol brandeis would loose if indeed it went ahead with liquidating the rose – your liberal arts education would be forever stigmatized by this debacle if the deacssioning went ahead – step off campus once in a while. Good looks innermost for the first-publish
Loki,
I don’t mean to offend you, but I agree with some of the other commenters. I’m not angry or anything, but by breaking the information to us in the manner that you did gives us an elitist view of your self-perspective. “Ethereal sources” – You discovered this in a manner which you do not wish to name, then do not taunt the reader by offering him the option of knowing that “ethereal sources” gave this information to you. Additionally, the fact that this article was true does not automatically qualify it for journalistic integrity. Although I personally do trust this blog and read it occasionally, this article was written both hastily and distastefully. Please realize that we are not insulting you, but rather, it would be wise on your part to acknowledge the error, swiftly apologize (even if it is an empty political apology) and move forward. President Reinharz should at least have been given the respect to release this information in the manner which he wanted. He can theoretically be here until June, 2011. So, this was not necessarily breaking news that had to be released before the Hoot did. You lost some brownie points there, and you might lose more than just me as a reader if you don’t at least give an empty apology.
I don’t like secrets either. It’s just like Reinharz to inform the student body last.
Let’s see..
“This is possibly in response to a recent, renewed faculty push for Pres. Reinharz’ resignation after his mishandling of the Rose incident.” –Nope, Reinharz disputes that in his interview with the Justice, and the letter from the Board of Trustees chair makes it clear this is not a matter of JR being pushed out.
“We believe Marty Krauss will take over the job of President, though for how long we are unsure.” –Also apparently untrue.
Good thing we’ve got you guys to bring us half truths hours before our real news organizations are able to correct your sloppy reporting!
“Our blog has a very high degree of accuracy when it comes to breaking news.” Yet another inaccuracy.
Anonymous seems to believe that information pertaining to people should be kept secret from those people unless there is a “need-to-know” basis. I believe information pertaining to people should be made available to those people unless there is an overwhelming reason to keep it secret. That’s what freedom of information and blogging are all about. There was no overwhelming reason to keep this information secret for another few hours, so we published the story, which we had a high degree of certainty through numerous sources to be true. Our blog has a very high degree of accuracy when it comes to breaking news. All we have is our word, which we need to maintain if we are not able to use attributed sources to back ourselves up. When our word lets you down, then you can accuse us of losing “credibility and respect” or “quality and ethics”.
As a student at Brandeis, I am most disappointed that the way I found out about Reinharz’s pending resignation was through a rumor posted on facebook that linked to this article. It is a great disrespect to the university of which you are a part to deny students the right to find out in an official manner. It is also a great disrespect to the man who welcomed you here upon your orientation to deny him the right to let the students know in the manner which he chooses. While more recent impression we have of Jehuda Reinharz may be riddled with controversy, he did many great things for this university.
Your posted “retrospective” on Reinharz and his tenure also leaves me with slight distaste. While I acknowledge this is not an official publication, any site that aspires to be seen as such would not allow such biased articles of that caliber. I for one am grateful that The Boston Globe was able to acknowledge both Jehuda’s strengths and weaknesses, as a real publication should.
And finally,
The Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/25/brandeis_president_to_step_down/
The Justice has it too now.
Whoa. Kudos to you guys. I thought there was no way this could be true. That was excellent buildup XD
The Hoot has it up, as well as an apology regarding the leak.
The Hoot has it:
http://thehoot.net/articles/6594
Any minute now, eh?
Haha I’m with “student,” let’s draft Jason Gray!
Jason gray for president
Krauss is garbage. She’s notoriously unresponsive to students, and even less so to criticism. She also has been the one responsible the past few years when protocol has not been properly followed (anyone remember Hindley?)
has anything been said yet about whether his resignation is even effective immediately? for all we know, he’s going to be here the rest of the year…
Sorry, I realized I’m trusting your word that the Justice and the Hoot will report on this at midnight. If this is incorrect, it does make your post slightly more justified, but at the same time, if that information is incorrect, what reason should we have to trust the rest of the post?
Honestly I’m ambivalent about this. I have a lot of beef with Jehuda, but he’s OK, you know? At least with him we know how he works and how to deal with him. Marty Krauss? I have no idea what she’s like. I have even less idea who the long-term president will be, or what he/she will be like.
Known Knowns and Known Unknowns and all that, eh?
Sorry Loki – But the first rule of journalism is don’t expect us to trust you – Try to prove it to us.
You should be more concerned about the quality and ethics of your post than getting a few extra hits. Sure, people will probably read your site more often when they learn that you were the first ones to write anything about this matter in hope of a similar break in the future, but please spare us the false altruism. Statements like “we work for you” and “I don’t believe in keeping relevant information in the hands of a privileged few” sounds nice until you consider that both Brandeis newspapers were going to break these stories a few hours later with actual facts on the matter. What does the Brandeis campus possibly have to gain from learning this at 9pm instead of midnight? It’s not exactly time sensitive material.
Congratulations, you’ve gained readership at the cost of credibility and respect. Also, I’m not part of either news organization, but it seems as though you have ruined one of the biggest opportunities these kids will have during their Brandeis career, and taken advantage of whoever it is that leaked this information to you. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I know I find you completely disgusting.
“Curse the radical extremists who couldn’t comprehend economic realities”
oh.
In response to LOKI’s “(I don’t believe in keeping relevant information in the hands of a privileged few unless there is a very good reason to do so).”
If that is the case, what is your “very good reason” for not revealing your source?
Reveal it after midnight, I for one don’t believe in keeping relevant information in the hands of a privileged few unless there is a very good reason to do so.
Well done all. I appreciate your efforts.
Curse the radical extremists who couldn’t comprehend economic realities. Jehuda and French were two of the greatest things to ever happen to this university.
Thanks Emma. For the record, I am amazingly confident that we’re right on this.
damn, jehuda, always being all dramatic and shit. MOURN YA TIL I JOIN YA i guess. now he can work on his tan 24/7.
oh and everyone should stop hating on innermost parts cause they did good and scooped everyone.
Nooooooooo jehudaaaaaa
We would only post something we are nearly certain is true.
If we cannot credit our sources, it is because they do not wish to be credited. In my view, there is a different journalistic ethic between blogging and print journalism – blog posts represent our (the writers’) thoughts and knowledge, things we find interesting. I found this interesting. We choose timeliness over journalistic custom. All I can give you as credibility is my word and my relative certainty, not the on-the-record statements of others (which, would, if possible, be preferable).
I made an on-the-record statement about this to the Justice a few minutes ago (so that seems to confirms the story, if nothing else does it for you). They asked me how I knew (no comment) and whether I was aware the information was not-supposed-to-be-revealed-until-the-precipitous-hour-of-midnight (I don’t believe in keeping relevant information in the hands of a privileged few unless there is a very good reason to do so).
I was just contacted by the Justice for my reaction.
It’s true.
I agree with Anon. I think that if you do want to write an article like this – writing “multiple unsubstantiated ethereal” sources is very bothersome to say the least. Even if this is true – Terrible reporting. Sorry Loki.
Well, we’ll find out tomorrow, won’t we?
We shared the news as soon as we found out. That’s because we work for you.
excuse me, I meant to say “You all could get in serious trouble for posting something like this, if turns out to be false.”
You should really not post something like this, unless you know without a doubt that this is true and you have sources. You all could get in serious trouble for posting something like this and it turns out to be false. The fact that he would announce at midnight seems incredibly fishy. To me it looks like a desperate ploy to get more readers.
Interesting. For what it counts, I would’ve supported the sales of the Roses’ pieces if and only if the University needed those few million.