Brandeis University

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Middlesex University was a medical school located in Waltham, Massachusetts, that was at the time the only medical school in Massachusetts that did not impose a quota on Jews. The founder, John Hall Smith, died in 1944. Smith's will stipulated that the school should go to any group willing to use it to establish a non-sectarian university.{{cite news |title= 'A School Of The Spirit' Graduates Its First |last= Gardner |first= R. H. |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= May 29, 1952 |page= 14 |id= {{ProQuest|541745484}} }} Within two years, Middlesex University was on the brink of financial collapse. The school had not been able to secure accreditation by the American Medical Association, which Smith partially attributed to institutional antisemitism in the American Medical Association.{{cite web | last= Reis | first= Arthur H. Jr. | title= The Founding | work= Brandeis Review, 50th Anniversary Edition | url= http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/founding.pdf | access-date= May 17, 2006 | pages= 42–43 | quote= Founder's son, C. Ruggles Smith, quoted: "From its inception, Middlesex was ruthlessly attacked by the American Medical Association, which at that time was dedicated to restricting the production of physicians, and to maintaining an inflexible policy of discrimination in the admission of medical students. Middlesex, alone among medical schools, selected its students on the basis of merit, and refused to establish any racial quotas. | archive-date= May 23, 2006 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060523233252/http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/founding.pdf | url-status= live }}

Smith's son, C. Ruggles Smith, was desperate for a way to save something of Middlesex University. He learned of a New York committee headed by Israel Goldstein that was seeking a campus to establish a Jewish-sponsored secular university. Smith approached Goldstein with a proposal to give the Middlesex campus and charter to Goldstein's committee, in the hope that his committee might "possess the apparent ability to reestablish the School of Medicine on an approved basis." While Goldstein was concerned about being saddled with a failing medical school, he was excited about the opportunity to secure a {{convert|100|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on}} "campus not far from New York, the premier Jewish community in the world, and only {{convert|9|mi|km}} from Boston, one of the important Jewish population centers." Goldstein agreed to accept Smith's offer, proceeding to recruit George Alpert, a Boston lawyer with fundraising experience as national co-chairman of the United Jewish Appeal.Cushing, Harry (March 30, 1956). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/906346277/ George Alpert... Railroad President] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630215751/https://www.newspapers.com/image/906346277/ |date=June 30, 2023 }}". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Buffalo Jewish Review. p. 3.

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Alpert had worked his way through Boston University School of Law and co-founded the firm of Alpert and Alpert. Alpert's firm had a long association with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, of which he was to become president from 1956 to 1961.{{cite news |title= George Alpert, 90; was a Founder and First Chairman of Brandeis |work= The Boston Globe |date= September 13, 1988 |page= 82 }}{{cite news |last= Lyall |first= Sarah |title= George Alpert, 90, Ex-President Of New Haven Line and a Lawyer |work= The New York Times |date= September 13, 1988 |page= D26 }} Alpert was chairman of Brandeis from 1946 to 1954, and a trustee from 1946 until his death. By February 5, 1946, Goldstein had recruited Albert Einstein, whose involvement drew national attention to the nascent university.{{cite web |last= Reis |first= Arthur H. Jr. |title= The Albert Einstein Involvement |work= Brandeis Publications 50th review |url= http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/einstein.pdf |access-date= May 4, 2006 |pages= 60–61 |quote= Source for Einstein agreeing to establishment of the foundation Feb. 5th, 1946, foundation incorporated Feb. 25; for Alpert quotation, "a man utterly alien to American principles of democracy, tarred with the Communist brush;" for Einstein's refusal to accept an honorary degree in 1953. |archive-date= July 17, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120717013410/http://www.brandeis.edu/communications/ |url-status= live }} Einstein believed the university would attract the best young people in all fields, satisfying a real need.{{cite news |title= Liberal University to Be Set Up by Jewish Body |work= The Baltimore Afro-American |date= August 31, 1946 |page= 10 |id= {{ProQuest|531588568}} }}

In March 1946, Goldstein said the foundation had raised $10 million that it would use to open the school by the following year.{{cite news |title= College Sought by Jewish Group |work= The New York Times |date= March 19, 1946 |page= 19 |id= {{ProQuest|107465002}} }} The foundation purchased Middlesex University's land and buildings for two million dollars. The charter of this operation was transferred to the foundation along with the campus. The founding organization was announced in August and named The Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning, Inc.{{cite news |title= New Jewish Unit Plans University |work= The New York Times |date= August 20, 1946 |page= 10 |id= {{ProQuest|107605957}} }} The new school would be a Jewish-sponsored secular university open to students and faculty of all races and religions.

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The trustees offered to name the university after Einstein in the summer of 1946, but Einstein declined, and on July 16, 1946, the board decided the university would be named after Louis Brandeis.{{cite web | last= Reis | first= Arthur H. Jr. | title= Naming the University | work= Brandeis Review, 50th Anniversary Edition | url= http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/einstein.pdf | access-date= May 3, 2006 | pages= 66–67 | archive-date= July 17, 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120717013410/http://www.brandeis.edu/communications/ | url-status= live }}

Einstein threatened to sever ties with the foundation on September 2, 1946.{{Explain|date=February 2025|reason=Why?}} Believing the venture could not succeed without Einstein, Goldstein quickly agreed to resign, and Einstein recanted. Einstein's near-departure was publicly denied.{{cite news |title= Goldstein Quits Einstein Agency |work= The New York Times |date= September 26, 1946 |page= 27 |id= {{ProQuest|107727508}} }}{{cite book | title = Brandeis University: A Host at Last | first = Abram L. | last = Sachar | year = 1995 | isbn = 0-87451-585-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/brandeisuniversi0000sach | url-access = registration | publisher = Brandeis University Press, distributed by University Press of New England |pages= [https://archive.org/details/brandeisuniversi0000sach/page/18 18]–22 }} Goldstein said that, despite his resignation, he would continue to solicit donations for the foundation. On November 1, 1946, the foundation announced that the new university would be named Brandeis University, after Louis D. Brandeis, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.{{cite news |title= Disclose Plans for New College |work= The New York Times |date= November 7, 1946 |page= 28 |id= {{ProQuest|107542398}} }} By the end of 1946, the foundation said it had raised over five hundred thousand dollars,{{cite news |title= Brandeis Fund Growing |work= The New York Times |date= Dec 19, 1946 |page= 37 |id= {{ProQuest|107429813}} }} and two months later it said it had doubled that amount.{{cite news |title= Brandeis University to Open in Fall of '48 |work= The New York Times |date= February 11, 1947 |page= 25 |id= {{ProQuest|107822860}} }}

The Brandeis board felt it was in no position to make the investment in the medical school that would enable it to receive accreditation, and closed it in 1947. Einstein wanted Middlesex University's veterinary school's standards to be improved before expanding to the school, while others in the foundation wanted to simply close the veterinary school, which, by the winter of 1947, had an enrollment of just about 100 students. A professional study of the veterinary school recommended dismissing certain instructors and requiring end-of-year examinations for the students, but the foundation declined to enact any of the recommendations, to the dismay of Einstein and a couple of the foundation's trustees.{{cite news |title= Einstein Gives Up Support of New College |agency= Associated Press |newspaper= The Baltimore Sun |date= June 22, 1947 |page= A2 |id= {{ProQuest|542673850}} }}

In early June 1947, Einstein made a final break with the foundation.{{cite news |title= Dr. Einstein Quits University Plan: Withdraws Support of Brandeis and Bars Use of His Name by Einstein Foundation |work= The New York Times |date= June 22, 1947 |page= 16 |id= {{ProQuest|107904030}} }}{{cite news |title= Einstein Severs Relations With University Fund |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= June 22, 1947 |page= M1 |id= {{ProQuest|151982804}} }} The veterinary school was closed, despite students' protests and demonstrations. According to George Alpert, a lawyer responsible for much of the organizational effort, Einstein had wanted to offer the presidency of the school to left-wing scholar Harold Laski,{{cite news |title= Brandeis University to Open As Planned |date= June 25, 1947 |work= The New York Times |page= 6 |id= {{ProQuest|107894324}} }} someone that Alpert had characterized as "a man utterly alien to American principles of democracy, tarred with the Communist brush." He said, "I can compromise on any subject but one: that one is Americanism." Two of the foundation's trustees, S. Ralph Lazrus and Otto Nathan, quit the foundation at the same time as Einstein. In response, Alpert said that Lazrus and Nathan had tried to give Brandeis University a "radical, political orientation."{{cite news |title= Left Bias Charged in University Row |date= June 23, 1947 |work= The New York Times |page= 24 |id= {{ProQuest|107902395}} }} Alpert also criticized Lazrus' lack of fundraising success and Nathan's failure to organize an educational advisory committee. Einstein said he, Lazrus, and Nathan "have always been and have always acted in complete harmony."{{cite news |title= Einstein Backs Two Who Quit University |date= June 30, 1947 |work= The New York Times |page= 9 |id= {{ProQuest|107893714}} }}

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On April 26, 1948, Brandeis University announced that Abram L. Sachar, chairman of the National Hillel Commission, had been chosen as Brandeis' first president.{{cite news |title= Sachar Heads University|date= April 27, 1948 |work= The New York Times |page= 3 |id= {{ProQuest|108194770}} }} Sachar promised that Brandeis University would follow Louis Brandeis' principles of academic integrity and service.{{cite news |title= Brandeis University Pledged to His Ideals |date= June 15, 1948 |work= The New York Times |page= 34 |id= {{ProQuest|108183254}} }} He also promised that students and faculty would never be chosen based on quotas of "genetic or ethnic or economic distribution" because choices based on quotas "are based on the assumption that there are standard population strains, on the belief that the ideal American must look and act like an eighteenth-century Puritan, that the melting pot of America must mold all who live here into such a pattern."{{cite news |title= Sachar Installed As Brandeis Head |first= John H. |last= Fenton |date= October 8, 1948|work= The New York Times |page= 22 |id= {{ProQuest|108273404}} }} Students who applied to the school were not asked their race, religion, or ancestry.{{cite news |title= Brandeis University |first= Drew |last= Pearson|newspaper= The Washington Post |date= October 17, 1948 |page= M15 |id= {{ProQuest|152041623}} }}

Brandeis decided its undergraduate instruction would not be organized with traditional departments or divisions, and instead it would have four schools, namely the School of General Studies, the School of Social Studies, the School of Humanities, and the School of Science.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Inaugural: University in Waltham, Mass., Establishes Four Schools |date= October 3, 1948 |work= The New York Times |page= E7 |id= {{ProQuest|108268080}} }} On October 14, 1948, Brandeis University received its first freshman class of 107 students.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Expanding |first= Benjamin |last= Fine |date= May 13, 1951 |work= The New York Times |page= B9 |id= {{ProQuest|112215962}} }} They were taught by thirteen instructors in eight buildings on a {{convert|100|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on}} campus.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Builds: Facilities Will Be Provided for Graduate Science Studies |date= January 31, 1954 |work= The New York Times |page= E9 |id= {{ProQuest|113152034}} }} Students came from 28 states and six foreign countries.{{cite news |title= Interracial Award Established At Brandeis University |work= Atlanta Daily World |date= August 8, 1950 |page= 2 |id= {{ProQuest|490919935}} }} The library was formerly a barn, students slept in the former medical school building and two army barracks, and the cafeteria was where the medical school had stored cadavers. Historians Elinor and Robert Slater later called the opening of Brandeis one of the great moments in Jewish history.{{cite book | title = Great Moments in Jewish History | first1 = Elinor | last1 = Slater | first2 = Robert | last2 = Slater | publisher = Jonathan David Company, Inc. | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-8246-0408-3 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/greatmomentsinje00slat/page/121 121–123] | url = https://archive.org/details/greatmomentsinje00slat/page/121 }}

Eleanor Roosevelt joined the board of trustees in 1949.{{cite news |title= Mrs. Roosevelt Joins Board of Brandeis U. |date= June 18, 1949 |work= The New York Times |page= 15 |id= {{ProQuest|105958940}} }} Joseph M. Proskauer joined the board in 1950.{{cite news |title= Proskauer on Brandeis Board |date= February 17, 1950 |work= The New York Times |page= 20 |id= {{ProQuest|111518559}} }} Construction of on-campus dormitories began in March 1950 with the goal of ninety percent of students living on campus.{{cite news |title= Brandeis U. to Expand: President Announces Plans to Build Student Dormitories |date= February 20, 1950 |work= The New York Times |page= 26 |id= {{ProQuest|111518559}} }}

Construction on an athletic field began in May 1950.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Starts Athletic Field |work= The New York Times |date= May 29, 1950 |page= 13 |id= {{ProQuest|111645250}} }} Brandeis' football team played its first game on September 30, 1950, a road win against Maine Maritime Academy.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Freshmen on Top |work= The New York Times |date= October 1, 1950 |page= 162 |id= {{ProQuest|111395437}} }} Its first varsity game was on September 29, 1951, with a home loss against the University of New Hampshire.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Loses Opener, 33-20 |work= The New York Times |date= September 30, 1951 |page= 128 |id= {{ProQuest|112140418}} }} Its first varsity win was a score of 24–13, an away game at Hofstra University on October 6, 1951.Zellner, Bob (October 6, 1951). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/712703472/ Much-Penalized Brandeis Downs Hofstra by 24-13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720225111/https://www.newspapers.com/image/712703472/ |date=July 20, 2023 }}". Newsday (Long Island, New York). p. 18. Brandeis Stadium opened in time for a home win against American International College on October 13, 1951.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Wins, 25-7 |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= October 14, 1951 |page= C5 |id= {{ProQuest|152355750}} }} During its first season, the football team won four and lost four games during the regular season and then lost to the University of Tampa in a post-season game.Roberts, Ernie (December 30, 1951). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/433527950/ De-Emphasis Trend Hits College Football] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630221259/https://www.newspapers.com/image/433527950/ |date=June 30, 2023 }}". The Boston Globe. p. 20. Construction of a 2,000-seat amphitheater began in February 1952.{{cite news |title= Brandeis U. Starts Its Amphitheatre |date= February 24, 1952 |work= The New York Times |page= 74 |id= {{ProQuest|112534800}} }}

The state legislature of Massachusetts authorized Brandeis to award master's degrees, doctorate degrees, and honorary degrees in 1951. Brandeis' first graduating class of 101 students received degrees on June 16, 1952.{{cite news |title= Brandeis to Hold First Graduation: 'Pilot' Class of 101 to Receive Degrees—Mrs. Roosevelt Will Deliver Address |date= June 15, 1952 |work= The New York Times |page= 64 |id= {{ProQuest|112280587}} }}{{cite news |title= Brandeis U. Begins Festival of Arts |first= Howard |last= Taubman |work= The New York Times |date= June 13, 1952 |page= 20 |id= {{ProQuest|112247624}} }} Leonard Bernstein, director of Brandeis' Center of Creative Arts, planned a four-day ceremony to commemorate the occasion. Held in the newly opened amphitheater, the ceremony included the world premier of Bernstein's opera Trouble in Tahiti.{{cite news |title= Bernstein Opera Has Its Premiere |first= Howard |last= Taubman |date= June 14, 1952 |work= The New York Times |page= 12 |id= {{ProQuest|112268443}} }} Eleanor Roosevelt and Massachusetts Governor Paul A. Dever spoke at the commencement ceremony.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Graduates 101 in Its First Class |date= June 17, 1952 |work= The New York Times |page= 25 |id= {{ProQuest|112287529}} }}

In 1953, Einstein declined the offer of an honorary degree from Brandeis, writing to Brandeis President Abram L. Sachar that "what happened in the stage of preparation of Brandeis University was not at all caused by a misunderstanding and cannot be made good any more."{{cite book |title= Brandeis University: A Host At Last |first= Abram L. |last= Sachar |publisher= Brandeis University Press |year= 1995 |page= [https://archive.org/details/brandeisuniversi0000sach/page/38 38] |url= https://archive.org/details/brandeisuniversi0000sach |url-access= registration |isbn= 9780874515855 }} Instead, at the graduation ceremony for Brandeis' second graduating class of 108 students, individuals given Brandeis' first honorary degrees included Illinois Senator Paul H. Douglas, Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, and Alpert.{{cite news |title= Douglas Gets Degree: Senator Honored at Brandeis—Urges Values in Red Fight |date= June 15, 1953 |work= The New York Times |page= 27 |id= {{ProQuest|112720176}} }} 1953 also saw the creation of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, one of the first academic programs in Jewish Studies at an American university. Among the founders were distinguished emigre scholars Alexander Altmann, Nathan Glatzer, and Simon Rawidowicz. Brandeis' graduate program, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, opened in fall 1954."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/172194412/ Arthur Berger to Teach at Brandeis University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630211124/https://www.newspapers.com/image/172194412/ |date=June 30, 2023 }}". The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 26, 1953.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Dedicates Its Graduate School |date= January 15, 1954 |work= The New York Times |page= 21 |id= {{ProQuest|113153688}} }} In the same year, Brandeis became fully accredited, joining the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. As of 1954, Brandeis had 22 buildings and a {{convert|192|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on}} campus.

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In 1954, Brandeis began construction on an interfaith center consisting of separate Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish chapels.{{cite news |title= Brandeis to Build Interfaith Center |date= May 13, 1954 |work= The New York Times |page= 26 |id= {{ProQuest|112935577}} }} Designed by the architectural firm of Harrison & Abramovitz, the three chapels surrounded a natural pond. Brandeis announced that no official chaplains would be named, and attendance at chapel services would not be required. The Roman Catholic chapel was named Bethlehem, meaning house of bread, and it was dedicated on September 9, 1955.{{cite news |title= Catholic Chapel at Brandeis Open: Cushing, at Dedication on Campus, Lauds University for Aid to Religion |first= John H. |last= Fenton |date= September 10, 1955 |work= The New York Times |page= 19 |id= {{ProQuest|113254552}} }} Dedicated on September 11, 1955, the Jewish chapel was named in memory of Mendel and Leah Berlin, parents of Boston surgeon David D. Berlin.{{cite news |title= 3 Brandeis Chapels will be Dedicated |date= October 23, 1955 |work= The New York Times |page= 111 |id= {{ProQuest|113339821}} }} Named in memory of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, the Protestant chapel was dedicated on October 30, 1955.

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In 1956, Brandeis received a one-million-dollar donation from New York industrialist Jack A. Goldfarb to build a library.{{cite news |title=Izler Solomon Named Symphony Head in 1956 |url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19560831-01.1.31 |access-date=3 November 2018 |publisher=The National Jewish Post |date=31 August 1956 |location=Indianapolis |page=32 |quote=It was learned this month that former Indianapolis resident Jack Goldfarb of New York City gave a million-dollar gift to build a library at Brandeis university in Waltham, Mass. The library will be named in his honor. |archive-date=3 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103210741/https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19560831-01.1.31 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title= Brandeis University Gets Gift of $1,000,000 for Library |work= The New York Times |date= April 12, 1956 |page= 49 |id= {{ProQuest|113609504}} }} The building, named the Bertha and Jacob Goldfarb Library in his honor, was designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, a firm which designed many campus buildings in the 1950s. Built of brick and glass, the library was designed to hold 750,000 volumes.

File:Louis Brandeis statue by Robert Berks.jpg' statue of Louis Brandeis stands atop the outcropping in Fellows Garden, in the center of campus (1956).]]

A nine-foot bronze statue of Justice Louis D. Brandeis is a campus landmark. The sculpture, created by sculptor Robert Berks, was unveiled in 1956 in honor of the 100th anniversary of Brandeis' birth.{{cite news |title= Memorial to Brandeis: 9-Foot Statue of Justice to Be Unveiled Nov. 13 |work= The New York Times |date= April 15, 1956 |page= 39 |id= {{ProQuest|113897312}} }}{{cite news |last1=Cardillo |first1=Julian |title=Louis Brandeis statue enlivens campus |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2016/april/louis-brandeis-statue-tbt.html |access-date=3 November 2018 |publisher=Brandeis University |date=28 April 2016 |archive-date=2 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702102634/http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2016/april/louis-brandeis-statue-tbt.html |url-status=live }} Berks' wife Dorothy had been the Justice's personal assistant for 39 years and wore his actual robes to model the statue.

After Brandeis University awarded an honorary doctorate to Israeli Premier David Ben-Gurion in 1960,{{cite news |title= Ben-Gurion Cites Spirit of Israel: Receiving Honorary Degree at Brandeis, He Stresses Philosophy and Science |first= Irving |last= Spiegel |work= The New York Times |date= Mar 10, 1960 |page= 9 |id= {{ProQuest|115037889}} }} Jordan boycotted Brandeis University, announcing that it would not issue currency permits to Jordanian students at Brandeis.{{cite news |title= Jordan Boycotts Brandeis U. |work= The New York Times |date= July 5, 1960 |page= 63 |id= {{ProQuest|115192047}} }}

Beginning in fall 1959, singer Eddie Fisher established two scholarships at the university, one for classical and one for popular music, in the name of Eddie Cantor.{{cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/1958/12/01/archive/schottland-to-head-social-welfare-school-at-brandeis-university |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |title=Schottland to Head Social Welfare School at Brandeis University |date=December 1, 1958 |access-date=May 10, 2016 |archive-date=July 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701012844/http://www.jta.org/1958/12/01/archive/schottland-to-head-social-welfare-school-at-brandeis-university |url-status=live }}

On May 16, 1960, Brandeis announced it would discontinue its varsity football team.{{cite news |title= Brandeis Quits College Gridiron |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= May 17, 1960 |page= S23 |id= {{ProQuest|542277219}} }} President Abram Sachar pointed to the cost of the team as one reason for the decision. Brandeis' football coach Benny Friedman said it was difficult to recruit football players who were also excellent students with so much competition in the Boston metropolitan area.{{cite news |title= Team Also Cited: Brandeis Athletic Director Says Football Expenses Outweighed Returns |first= Robert M. |last= Lipsyte |work= The New York Times |date= May 17, 1960 |page= 47 |id= {{ProQuest|114978291}} }} Brandeis said the discontinuation of varsity football would allow it to expand intercollegiate activity in other sports. During its nine years of varsity play, Brandeis' football team recorded 34 wins, 33 losses, and four ties. In 1985, Brandeis was elected to membership in the Association of American Universities, an association that focuses on graduate education and research.{{cite news |title= UF Invited Into Prestigious Association of Universities |date= July 9, 1985 |work= The Gainesville Sun |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ez9WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y-kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6157,2817515 |access-date= November 5, 2015 |archive-date= November 18, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211118150439/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ez9WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y-kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6157%2C2817515 |url-status= live }}

Brandeis became an epicenter of radical student activism and anti–Vietnam War protests during the counterculture of the 1960s.{{Cite news|last=Bronner|first=Ethan|date=1998-10-17|title=Brandeis at 50 Is Still Searching, Still Jewish and Still Not Harvard|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/17/us/brandeis-at-50-is-still-searching-still-jewish-and-still-not-harvard.html|access-date=2022-01-02|archive-date=2022-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102221859/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/17/us/brandeis-at-50-is-still-searching-still-jewish-and-still-not-harvard.html|url-status=live}} It was the National Student Strike Information Center during the student strike of 1970.

On January 8, 1969, about 70 black students entered then-student-center, Ford Hall, ejected everyone else from the building, and refused to leave.{{cite web | title=The Student Occupation of Ford Hall, January 1969 | work=Brandeis University Archives, Remembering Ford & Sydeman Halls | url=http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/exhibits/ford/occupation/index.html | access-date=2013-02-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127011528/http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/exhibits/ford/occupation/index.html | archive-date=2013-01-27 | url-status=dead }} The students' demands included the hiring of more black faculty members, increasing black student enrollment from four percent to ten percent of the student body,{{cite news |title= 70 Seize Hall at Brandeis: Faculty Condemns Action By Negro Students |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= January 9, 1969 |page= A8 |id= {{ProQuest|539247176}} }} establishing an independent department on African American studies,{{cite news |title= Students Resume Brandeis Classes: Protest by Negroes Goes On as Negotiations Continue |first= John H. |last= Fenton |work= The New York Times |date= January 11, 1969 |page= 17 |id= {{ProQuest|118533415}} }} and an increase in scholarships for black students.{{cite news |title= Negro Students Accuse Brandeis Of 'Racist Policies,' Seize Building |newspaper= The Washington Post|date= January 9, 1969 |page= A3 |id= {{ProQuest|147744840}}}} Over 200 white students staged a sit-in in the lobby of the administration building. President Morris B. Abram said that, although he recognized "the deep frustration and anger which black students here and all over the country feel at what must seem—and often is—the indifference and duplicity of white men in relation to blacks", the students' actions were an affront to the university. The faculty condemned the students' actions as well. On the fourth day of the protest, the Middlesex Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order, requiring the students to leave Ford Hall. While Abram did not allow the order to forcibly remove the students from Ford Hall to be enforced, 65 students had been suspended for their actions.{{cite news |title= Brandeis U. Head Suspends 65 in Campus Protest: Offers to Resign Escalate Demands |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= January 12, 1969 |page= 10 |id= {{ProQuest|143655739}} }} On January 18, the black students exited Ford Hall, ending the eleven-day occupation of the building.{{cite news |title= 64 Black Students End 'Occupation' at Brandeis |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= January 19, 1969 |page= 3 |id= {{ProQuest|147736439}} }} There had been no violence or destruction of property during the occupation, and Brandeis gave the students amnesty for their actions. Ronald Walters became the first chair of Afro-American studies at Brandeis later the same year.{{cite news |title= Ronald Walters, Rights Leader and Scholar, Dies at 72 |work= The New York Times |date= September 14, 2010 |first= Dennis |last= Hevesi |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/us/15walters.html |access-date= February 24, 2017 |archive-date= February 3, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170203122205/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/us/15walters.html |url-status= live }} Ford Hall was demolished in August 2000 to make way for the Shapiro Campus Center, which was opened and dedicated October 3, 2002.

{{Context|section|date=October 2024}}

In the 1970s, Brandeis faced a financial crisis as donations from American Jews decreased as they turned toward support for Israel and other causes.

Samuel O. Thier, president from 1991 to 1994, helped to restabilize the university.

In 1998, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl addressed the university as commencement speaker and dedicated the Center for German and European established the previous year.{{Cite web |title=CGES {{!}} Center for German and European Studies {{!}} Brandeis University |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/cges/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Bachelor of Arts in German Studies |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/grall/german/undergraduate/index.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2003-02-10 |title=CGES: Inaugural Speech |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/cges/speech.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030210131929/http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/cges/speech.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-02-10 |access-date=2025-01-13 }}

In January 2007, former President Jimmy Carter spoke at the university against the backdrop of controversy over his book Palestine:Peace Not Apartheid after being invited by students despite some campus opposition. {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbUA8ld_2yc |title=Speech to Brandeis University (Jan. 23, 2007) |date=2014-06-20 |last=The Carter Center |access-date=2025-01-13 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |title=Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Brandeis University |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/editorials_speeches/brandeis.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Carter Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Carter defends book; challenges Brandeis to send Mideast delegation |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/carter-defends-book-challenges-brandeis-to-send-mideast-delegation |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}} His speech was followed by a rebuttal remarks from Alan Dershowitz.{{Cite web |title=Excerpts from Alan Dershowitz's speech |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/excerpts-from-alan-dershowitzs-speech |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Dershowitz says Carter "oversimplifies |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/dershowitz-says-carter-oversimplifies |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}} Later that spring Norman Finkelstein and Daniel Pipes were invited to speak on campus by separate student groups.{{Cite web |last=Cohler-Esses |first=Larry |date=2007-02-23 |title=Post-Carter Showdown At Brandeis Over Speakers |url=https://www.jta.org/2007/02/23/ny/post-carter-showdown-at-brandeis-over-speakers |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Pipes lectures to calm crowd |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/04/pipes-lectures-to-calm-crowd |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Finkelstein calls Israel a human rights abuser, following brief protest |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/05/finkelstein-calls-israel-a-human-rights-abuser-following-brief-protest |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}

In December 2007 former President Bill Clinton spoke on campus and launched the Eli J. Segal Leadership program.{{Cite web |title=Call to action |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/12/call-to-action |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Bill Clinton calls on students to be social entrepreneurs |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2008/january/clintonstory.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=BrandeisNOW |language=en}}File:Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham MA.jpg)]]

File:Landsman Research Facility, Brandeis University.jpg

In 2014, Brandeis announced it would offer an honorary doctorate to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, "a staunch supporter of women's rights",{{cite web |title=Brandeis University Rescinds Honorary Degree From Ayaan Hirsi Ali Over Criticism of Islam |work=The Christian Post |first=Morgan |last=Lee |date=April 9, 2014 |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/brandeis-university-rescinds-honorary-degree-from-ayaan-hirsi-ali-over-criticism-of-islam-117659/ |access-date=May 21, 2014 |archive-date=May 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522015300/http://www.christianpost.com/news/brandeis-university-rescinds-honorary-degree-from-ayaan-hirsi-ali-over-criticism-of-islam-117659/ |url-status=live }} and an outspoken campaigner against female genital mutilation, honor killing and Islamic extremism in general. After complaints from the Council on American–Islamic Relations and internal consultation with faculty and students, Brandeis publicly withdrew the offer, citing that Ali's statements condemning Islam{{cite web |title='The Trouble Is the West': Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Islam, immigration, civil liberties, and the fate of the West |first=Rogier |last=van Bakel |date=November 2007 |website=Reason.com |publisher=Reason Foundation |url=http://reason.com/archives/2007/10/10/the-trouble-is-the-west/singlepage |access-date=2014-06-01 |archive-date=2014-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427233726/http://reason.com/archives/2007/10/10/the-trouble-is-the-west/singlepage |url-status=live}} were "inconsistent with the University's core values".{{cite news |title=Brandeis Cancels Plan to Give Honorary Degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Critic of Islam |first1=Richard |last1=Pérez-Peña |first2=Tanzina |last2=Vega |author-link=Tanzina Vega |date=April 8, 2014 |work=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/brandeis-cancels-plan-to-give-honorary-degree-to-ayaan-hirsi-ali-a-critic-of-islam.html |access-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414212112/http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/brandeis-cancels-plan-to-give-honorary-degree-to-ayaan-hirsi-ali-a-critic-of-islam.html |url-status=live}} 87 out of 511 faculty members at Brandeis signed a letter to the university president.

The university announced that the decision to withdraw the invitation was made after a discussion between Ayaan Ali and President Frederick Lawrence, stating that "She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights ... but we cannot overlook certain of her past statements".{{cite web |title=Statement from Brandeis University |publisher=Brandeis University |date=April 8, 2014 |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2014/april/commencementupdate.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140615170913/http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2014/april/commencementupdate.html |archive-date=June 15, 2014 |url-status=live}} According to Brandeis, Ali was never invited to speak at commencement, she was only invited to receive an honorary degree.{{cite web |title=Students' outcry prompts Brandeis to reconsider award |first=Emily |last=Stott |work=The Brandeis Hoot |date=April 11, 2014 |url=http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/14184 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034408/http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/14184 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}} Ali said that Brandeis' decision surprised her because Brandeis said they did not know what she had said in the past even though her speeches were publicly available on the internet, calling it a "feeble excuse".{{cite web |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on withdrawal of honorary degree |date=April 9, 2014 |work=The Kelly File |publisher=Fox News |first=Megyn |last=Kelly |format=transcript |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-kelly-file/transcript/2014/04/10/exclusive-ayaan-hirsi-ali-withdrawal-honorary-degree |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512224028/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-kelly-file/transcript/2014/04/10/exclusive-ayaan-hirsi-ali-withdrawal-honorary-degree |archive-date=2014-05-12 |url-status=dead |access-date=2014-05-24 }} Ali stated that the university's decision was motivated in part by fear of offending Muslims. She argued that the "spirit of free expression" referred to in the Brandeis statement has been betrayed and stifled.{{cite magazine |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'They Simply Wanted Me to be Silenced' |magazine=Time |date=April 9, 2014 |url=https://time.com/56111/ayaan-hirsi-ali-they-simply-wanted-me-to-be-silenced/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610152126/http://time.com/56111/ayaan-hirsi-ali-they-simply-wanted-me-to-be-silenced/ |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |url-status=live}}

While some commentators such as Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim chaplain and adjunct faculty of Islamic Studies at Duke University, applauded the decision and warned against "making renegades into heroes,"{{cite news |title=Hats off to Brandeis University! |work=The Chronicle |publisher=Duke Student Publishing Company |first=Abdullah |last=Antepli |date=April 10, 2014 |access-date=April 16, 2014 |url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/04/10/hats-brandeis-university |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708195244/http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/04/10/hats-brandeis-university |archive-date=2014-07-08 |url-status=dead}} other academic commentators such as the University of Chicago's Jerry Coyne{{cite web |title=Brandeis University cancels plans to give Ayaan Hirsi Ali an honorary degree |first=Jerry A. |last=Coyne |work=Why Evolution Is True |date=April 9, 2014 |access-date=April 16, 2014 |url=http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/brandeis-university-cancels-plans-to-give-ayaan-hirsi-ali-an-honorary-degree/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619185927/http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/brandeis-university-cancels-plans-to-give-ayaan-hirsi-ali-an-honorary-degree/ |archive-date=June 19, 2014 |url-status=live}} and the George Mason University Foundation Professor David Bernstein{{cite news |last=Bernstein |first=David |title=More on the Brandeis-Hirsi Ali controversy |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2014-04-10 |access-date=2014-04-16 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/10/more-on-the-brandeis-hirsi-ali-controversy/ |archive-date=2017-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517100257/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/10/more-on-the-brandeis-hirsi-ali-controversy/ |url-status=live}} criticized the decision as an attack on academic values such as freedom of inquiry and intellectual independence from religious pressure groups.

In 2017, a planned student performance of a play called "Buyer Beware" about Lenny Bruce by Brandeis alumnus Michael Weller was first postponed over concerns about racism, then prompting the playwright to withdraw the play in favor of a staging it elsewhere.{{Cite web |date=2017-11-17 |title=Brandeis Says It Had Planned To Stage Controversial Play |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/11/15/brandeis-play-controversy |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.wbur.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Kitty Bruce criticizes father's portrayal in 'Buyer Beware' |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2017/11/bruce-on-buyer-beware |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Wiater |first=Natalia |title='Buyer Beware' author discusses life and work CONVERSATION: Michael Weller '65 shared personal stories from his life in a conversation with the University |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2018/01/weller-talk |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Deb |first=Sopan |date=2017-11-06 |title=Brandeis Cancels Play About Lenny Bruce After Protests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/theater/brandeis-cancels-lenny-bruce-play.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Brandeis cancels play amid protests over racism — and gets more backlash - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/03/brandeis-cancels-campus-play-amid-student-protests-its-black-characters/G52k7m4X0H6s9A4cISyP4I/story.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Protest cancels play production |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2017/10/protest-cancels-play-production |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Unstaged play captures Lenny Bruce's relevance, edgy danger - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/27/unstaged-play-captures-bruce-relevance-edgy-danger/ZbpiwWdTSydP8arFi1CHSI/story.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}

The university adopted official free expression principles in 2018.{{Cite web |title=University adopts principles of free speech, expression |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2018/10/university-adopts-principles-of-free-speech-expression-brandeis-board-trustees |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Principles |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/free-expression/principles.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}} A new presidential taskforce to review the university's free expression guidelines was set up in 2024.{{Cite web |title=Task Force on free expression |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2024/04/ask-force-on-free-expression-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The Presidential Task Force on Free Expression |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/president/past/liebowitz-letters/2024-3-28-presidential-task-force-on-free-expression.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}

In 2021, a student group's "oppressive language list" was removed from the university website after it got outside attention for its suggestion to avoid the term "trigger warning."{{Cite web |last=McWhorter |first=John |date=2021-07-04 |title=Even Trigger Warning Is Now Off-Limits |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/brandeis-language-police-have-suggestions-you/619347/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-06-29 |title=Oppressive Language List {{!}} Holding Ourselves Accountable {{!}} Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center {{!}} Brandeis University |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629093450/https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist.html |archive-date=June 29, 2021 }}{{Cite web |date=2021-06-29 |title=Violent Language {{!}} Holding Ourselves Accountable {{!}} Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center {{!}} Brandeis University |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist_violent.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629093610/https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist_violent.html |archive-date=June 29, 2021 }}{{Cite web |title=PARC's Suggested Language List gains widespread media coverage |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2021/09/parcs-suggested-language-list-gains-widespread-media-coverage-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |last=Gersen |first=Jeannie Suk |date=2021-09-28 |title=What if Trigger Warnings Don't Work? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/what-if-trigger-warnings-dont-work |access-date=2025-02-16 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}

President Ronald Liebowitz announced his resignation in September 2024 following a faculty no-confidence vote amid budget concerns and controversy over the handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus -- the fifth university president to step down that year at least in part in connection with the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, according to the New York Times.{{Cite news |last=Saul |first=Stephanie |date=2024-09-25 |title=Brandeis President Steps Down Amid Budget Issues and Protests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/us/brandeis-university-president-resigns.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Bier |first=Eliza |title=University President Ronald Liebowitz shares plans to resign |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2024/10/university-president-ronald-liebowitz-shares-plans-to-resign-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gurvis |first=Jacob |date=2024-09-25 |title=Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz resigns after no-confidence vote that cited budget crisis and Gaza protests |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/09/25/united-states/brandeis-president-ron-leibowitz-resigns-after-no-confidence-vote-that-cited-budget-crisis-and-gaza-protests |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Knott |first=Katherine |title=Facing Budget Cuts and Faculty Pushback, Brandeis President Resigns |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2024/09/26/brandeis-president-steps-down-after-no-confidence |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}

The presidents of Brandeis University include:

{| class=wikitable

|+Presidents of Brandeis University

! colspan="1" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:bottom;"| Name

! style="text-align:center;" | Tenure

! style="text-align:center;" | Note

|-

| Abram L. Sachar

| style="text-align:center;" | 1948–1968

|

|-

|Morris B. Abram

| style="text-align:center;" | 1968–1970{{cite news |title= Abram, Pledging Student Role, Is Installed as 2d Brandeis Head |first= John H. |last= Fenton |work= The New York Times |date= October 7, 1968 |page= 30 |id= {{ProQuest|118336604}} }}

|

|-

| Charles I. Schottland

| style="text-align:center;" | 1970–1972{{cite news |title= Brandeis U. Names Third President |work= The New York Times |date= December 19, 1970 |page= 24 |id= {{ProQuest|118743887}} }}

|

|-

| Marver Bernstein

| style="text-align:center;" | 1972–1983{{cite news |title= Loses Fourth President: Bernstein, Political Scientist at Princeton, Is Named

|first= Robert |last= Reinhold |work= The New York Times |date= December 18, 1971 |page= 33 |id= {{ProQuest|119211061}} }}

|

|-

| Evelyn Handler

| style="text-align:center;" | 1983–1991{{cite news |title= Brandeis Installs Its 5th President |work= The New York Times|date= October 10, 1983 |page= A15 |id= {{ProQuest|424806105}}}}

|

|-

| Stuart Altman

| style="text-align:center;" | 1990–1991{{cite news |title=Interim President Chosen At Brandeis University |date=September 6, 1990 |work=Orlando Sentinel |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/09/06/interim-president-chosen-at-brandeis-university/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513101947/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-09-06/news/9009060613_1_brandeis-university-altman-university-of-california |archive-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=live }}

| interim

|-

| Samuel O. Thier

| style="text-align:center;" | 1991–1994{{cite news |title= Brandeis University Selects Samuel Thier As Its New President |work= The New York Times |date= May 5, 1991 |id= {{ProQuest|428082753}} }}

|

|-

| Jehuda Reinharz

| style="text-align:center;" | 1994–2010{{cite news |title= Professor to lead Brandeis: Reinharz to be named president March 2 |last= Sinert |first= Michael L. |work= Jewish Advocate |date= March 3, 1994 |page= 1 |id= {{ProQuest|205204310}} }}

|

|-

| Frederick M. Lawrence

| style="text-align:center;" | 2011–2015{{cite news |title= New Brandeis head: campuses are fertile ground for hate speech |last= Bruss |first= Andrew |work= Jewish Advocate |date= October 15, 2010 |page= 4 |id= {{ProQuest|759966789}} }}

|

|-

| Lisa M. Lynch

| style="text-align:center;" | 2015–2016{{Cite web |title=Research Portal |url=https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/profile/lisa_lynch/overview |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=scholarworks.brandeis.edu}}

| interim

|-

| Ronald D. Liebowitz

| style="text-align:center;" | 2016–2024{{Cite web |title=Announcing a Leadership Transition |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/trustees/letter-presidential-transition.html |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}

|

|-

|Arthur E. Levine

|2024–{{Cite web |title=Announcing a Leadership Transition |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/trustees/letter-presidential-transition.html |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}

|interim

|}

File:Brandeis University aerial 2.JPG]]

File:ShapiroCC.jpg

{{Main|Heller School for Social Policy and Management}}The Heller School for Social Policy and Management has programs in social policy, health policy and management, and international development. Researchers at the graduate school and research institution research policy in health; mental health; substance abuse; children, youth, and families; aging; international and community development; developmental disabilities; philanthropy; and work and inequalities.

Brandeis International Business School is a professional school dedicated to business, finance, economics and data analytics. The International Business School is an AACSB-accredited institution. The International Business School offers five graduate programs, two accelerated graduate programs, six dual-degree programs and undergraduate majors and minors in business and economics. The school was established in 1994 as the Graduate School of International Economics and Finance, offering a PhD in International Economics and Finance and Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance (MA). In 1998, the school launched the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Science in finance (MSF) programs. In 2003, the school changed its name to Brandeis International Business School. In 2018, the school launched the Master of Science in business analytics (MSBA) program.

File:Carl J Shapiro Science Center, Brandeis University, Waltham MA.jpg

With more than 4,000 enrollments a year,{{cite web|title=4,000 Students a Year|url=http://www.brandeis.edu/rabb/|website=www.brandeis.edu|access-date=5 June 2014|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529225511/http://www.brandeis.edu/rabb/|url-status=live}} the Rabb School of Continuing Studies develops educational offerings across four distinct divisions. It provides professional development opportunities through degree programs, personal enrichment and lifelong learning.

One of four graduate schools on campus, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) offers over 40 programs, 18 of which are doctoral programs. Brandeis graduate students are eligible to cross-register for courses at Boston College, Boston University, Tufts University, and the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at MIT. Brandeis is also a member of the Boston Library Consortium,{{cite web|title=Boston Library Consortium|url=http://www.blc.org/members/current-members|website=www.blc.org|access-date=5 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213034511/http://www.blc.org/members/current-members|archive-date=13 December 2013}} composed of 18 academic and research institutions in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

{{Main|Rose Art Museum}}

File:Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham MA.jpg

Established in 1961, the Rose Art Museum is a museum dedicated to 20th- and 21st-century art.

The Brandeis Library{{cite web|url=http://www.brandeis.edu/library/|title=Library|date=27 September 2018|website=Brandeis Library|access-date=27 September 2018|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913035157/http://www.brandeis.edu/library/|url-status=live}} provides resources and services to support research, scholarship, teaching, and learning on campus.

The library manages more than 1,500,000 physical volumes, and more than 600,000 electronic books, as well as electronic journals and online databases. As part of the library, the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department houses Brandeis University's unique and rare primary sources, which support teaching, research and scholarship at the university and beyond. The department comprises University Archives, containing materials related to Brandeis University, and Special Collections, including rare books, original manuscripts dating from the 13th to 21st centuries, unique primary source material, and a wide variety of visual material.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

{{Panorama

|image = File:Brandeis_University_Panorama.jpg

|height = 230

|caption = Campus buildings viewed from Starr Plaza (1997, Pressley Associates), left to right: Shapiro Campus Center (2002, Charles Rose architects); Gryzmish Center (1959, Hugh Stubbins); Irving Presidential Enclave (1959, Hugh Stubbins); Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center (1959, Hugh Stubbins). }}

The schools of the university include:

• College of Arts and Sciences
• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
• Heller School for Social Policy and Management
• Rabb School of Summer and Continuing Studies
• Brandeis International Business School

The College of Arts and Sciences comprises 24 departments and 22 interdepartmental programs, which, in total, offer 43 majors and 47 minors.

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, founded in 1959, has graduate programs in healthcare administration, social policy, and international development.{{cite web |url=http://www.heller.brandeis.edu/about/index.html |title=About the Heller School |publisher=heller.brandeis.edu |access-date=2014-04-16 |archive-date=2014-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416222527/http://heller.brandeis.edu/about/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/education/mat/ |title=Master of Arts in Teaching Program (MAT) |publisher=brandeis.edu |access-date=2014-04-16 |archive-date=2014-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415190437/http://www.brandeis.edu/programs/education/mat/ |url-status=live }} Internships, research assistantships and other hands-on experiences are available throughout the curriculum. The global and experiential dimensions of education at Brandeis are carried out through international centers and institutes, which sponsor lectures and colloquia and add to the ranks of distinguished scholars on campus.

The Brandeis University Press, a member of the University Press of New England, publishes books in a variety of scholarly and general interest fields. The Goldfarb Library at Brandeis has more than 1.6 million volumes and 300,000 e-journals. The library also houses a large United States Government archive. Brandeis University is a part of the Boston Library Consortium, which allows its students, faculty, and staff to access and borrow books and other materials from other BLC institutions including Tufts University and Williams College.

In 1980, Brandeis University established the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies,{{cite web |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/cmjs/ |title=Maurice & Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies |publisher=Brandeis.edu |access-date=2014-04-16 |archive-date=2014-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410132708/http://www.brandeis.edu/cmjs/ |url-status=live }} the first academic center devoted to the study of Jewish life in the United States. The Cohen Center's work spans basic research on Jewish identity to applied educational evaluation studies. The center's recent signature studies include research with participants in Taglit-Birthright Israel, investigations of synagogue transformation, analyses of Jewish summer camping, and socio-demographic studies of Jewish communities throughout the United States. CMJS research has altered the understanding of contemporary Jewish life and the role of Jewish institutions in the United States.

The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism was launched in September 2004 as the first investigative reporting center based at a United States university.{{cite web |last1=Lynch |first1=Lisa |title=Wind-Down of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism |publisher=Brandeis University |access-date=12 January 2019 |location=Waltham, Massachusetts |date=20 December 2018 |quote=the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism will be closing at the end of December |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/provost/letters/2018-2019/12-20-18-schuster-center.html |archive-date=17 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217171122/https://www.brandeis.edu/provost/letters/2018-2019/2018-12-20-schuster-center.html |url-status=live }} It was named for founding benefactors Elaine Schuster and Gerald Schuster.

The institute's major projects were:

• the Political & Social Justice Project
• the Justice Brandeis Innocence Project
• the Gender & Justice Project.{{cite web |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/ |title=The Elaine and Gerald Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism |publisher=Brandeis.edu |access-date=2014-04-16 |archive-date=2014-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420145115/http://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/ |url-status=live }}

The Schuster Institute closed at the end of 2018 due to financial considerations.

File:Brandeis-womens-studies-research-center.jpg

The Steinhardt Social Research Institute{{cite web |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/ssri/ |title=Steinhardt Social Research Institute |publisher=brandeis.edu |date=2013-09-30 |access-date=2014-04-16 |archive-date=2014-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410132712/http://www.brandeis.edu/ssri/ |url-status=live }} was created in 2005 from a gift from Michael Steinhardt as a forum to collect, analyze, and disseminate data about the Jewish community and about religion and ethnicity in the United States. The first mission of SSRI was to interpret the inherent problems with the National Jewish Population Survey of 2000 (NJPS). SSRI has done a Jewish Population Survey of the Greater Boston area, the results of which were released on November 9, 2006.{{cite news | url=https://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/10/jewish_population_in_region_rises/ | work=The Boston Globe | title=Jewish population in region rises | date=2006-11-10 | first=Michael | last=Paulson | access-date=2020-02-20 | archive-date=2016-03-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082836/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/10/jewish_population_in_region_rises/ | url-status=live }}

The Institute collects and organizes existing socio-demographic data from private, communal, and government sources and will conduct local and national studies of the character of American Jewry and Jewish organizations. The work of the institute is done by a multidisciplinary staff of faculty and scholars, working with undergraduate and graduate students, and augmented by visiting scholars and consultants. The institute works in close collaboration with the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies.

The WSRC, located in the Epstein Building, was founded in 2001 by Professor Emerita of Sociology Shulamit Reinharz. It is home to three general programs:

• The Scholars Program, which consists of about 70 academic scholars from around the world who study gender through an interdisciplinary lens
• The Student-Scholar Partnership Program, which pairs Brandeis University undergraduate students with WSRC scholars for semester-long, paid research assistantships
• The Arts Program, which oversees the Kniznick Gallery, devoted to feminist artwork

The Wien International Scholarship Program{{cite web |title= Wien International Scholarship Program |publisher=Brandeis University |url= http://www.brandeis.edu/wien/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120319233452/http://www.brandeis.edu/wien/ |archive-date= March 19, 2012 }} was instituted by Brandeis University for international undergraduate students. It was established in 1958 by Lawrence A. and Mae Wien. The family had three objectives: to further international understanding, to provide foreign students an opportunity to study in the United States, and to enrich the intellectual and cultural life at Brandeis. The Wien Scholarship offers full or partial tuition awards; these awards are need-based and require the applicants to present outstanding academic and personal achievement. Each year, the recipients of the scholarship take a week-long tour of a destination in the United States. In previous years, the students have visited the United Nations in New York City, and did relief work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In April 2008, the university hosted a three-day-long celebration for the 50th anniversary of the program.

{{Infobox US university ranking

| THES_W = 251–300

| THE_WSJ = 109

| QS_W = 661–670

| USNWR_NU = 63

| USNWR_W = 409

| Wamo_NU = 119

| Forbes = 105

| ARWU_W = 301–400

}}

U.S. News & World Report ranked Brandeis No. 63 in its 2024 annual list of Best National Universities, and Times Higher Education ranked Brandeis No.10 in its "world’s best small universities"{{Cite web |date=2024-08-07 |title=The world's best small universities 2024 |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-small-universities |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Student |language=en}} category. Acceptance to Brandeis was characterized as "most selective".{{Cite web|title = Brandeis University {{!}} Best College {{!}} US News|url = https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/brandeis-university-2133|website = usnews.com|access-date = 2015-09-09|archive-date = 2011-09-23|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110923093614/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/brandeis-university-2133|url-status = live}}

Its doctoral program in neuroscience and neurobiology was ranked tied for No. 2 among national universities by the National Research Council in 2010.{{Cite news|title = Doctoral Programs by the Numbers|url = http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124747/|newspaper = The Chronicle of Higher Education|date = 2010-09-30|access-date = 2015-08-30|issn = 0009-5982|archive-date = 2015-09-05|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150905205405/http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124747/|url-status = live}} The Brandeis International Business School was ranked No. 1 by Financial Times from 2010 through 2013 for its Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance Program.{{Cite web|title = Business school ranked No. 1 by Financial Times {{!}} BrandeisNOW|url = http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2013/june/ibsranking.html|website = BrandeisNOW|access-date = 2015-08-30|archive-date = 2015-09-08|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150908002144/http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2013/june/ibsranking.html|url-status = live}}

In 2025, the university had a ranking of 231 of 257 top colleges in a free speech ranking conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and College Pulse, after ranking at 148 in 2024 and at 125 in 2022/2023.{{Cite web |title=Free Speech Rankings |url=https://rankings.thefire.org/rank/school/brandeis-university |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=rankings.thefire.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=2024 College Free Speech Rankings {{!}} The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2024-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.thefire.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=2022-2023 College Free Speech Rankings {{!}} The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2022-2023-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.thefire.org |language=en}}

The university received an A on the "Campus Antisemitism Report Card" from the Anti-Defamation League in 2024 and 2025.{{Cite web |title=Brandeis University {{!}} ADL |url=https://www.adl.org/campus-antisemitism-report-card/brandeis-university |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=www.adl.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Anti-Defamation League gives Brandeis University top grade in this year’s antisemitism report card rankings |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/stories/2025/march/of-note/antisemitism-report-card.html |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Brandeis Anti Defamation League report card grade |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2024/04/brandeis-anti-defamation-league-report-card-grade-brandeis |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=ADL report card finds some campuses fixing responses to antisemitism |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-report-card-finds-campuses-fixing-responses-to-antisemitism/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}

File:Slosberg Music Center, Brandeis University.jpg

• Archon, the yearbook (1950 to 2023) {{Cite web |title=The Student Union Senate holds its first meeting of the semester, updating club statuses |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2023/10/the-student-union-holds-its-first-meeting-of-the-semester-updating-club-statuses-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Student Union Allocations Board publicizes Marathon decision, 1.4 million dollars distributed in club funding |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2023/05/student-union-allocations-board-publicizes-marathon-decision-1-4-million-dollars-distributed-in-club-funding-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Will Archon Yearbook be reinstated this year after its 2023 disbandment? |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2025/04/will-archon-yearbook-be-reinstated-this-year-after-its-2023-disbandment |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=The Justice |language=en}}
• The Barrister News Ltd was a politically neutral broadside weekly newspaper with nationally syndicated features, published 1985–1991.{{cite web |author=Eliot Wilczek |url=http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/archives/periodicals/barrister.html |title=The Barrister | Archives and Special Collections, Brandeis University |publisher=Lts.brandeis.edu |access-date=2013-12-09 |archive-date=2012-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304151650/http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/archives/periodicals/barrister.html |url-status=dead }}
• The Blowfish, a satirical newspaper founded in February 2006, is published every other Thursday. The first issue appeared inside The Hoot, and every issue since then has been published independently.
• The Justice, which was founded in 1949 (one year after the university's inception) is an administratively independent weekly newspaper distributed every Tuesday during term.{{Cite web |title=The Justice |url=https://www.thejustice.org/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=The Justice |language=en}}
• The Brandeis Hoot, founded in 2005, is an independent weekly newspaper published on Fridays.{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-02-14 |title=The Brandeis Hoot – Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass. |url=https://brandeishoot.com/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=brandeishoot.com |language=en-US}}
• Novus Guide, incoming student guide published until 2008 {{Cite web |title=Union reps to propose rollover Union funds |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2008/03/union-reps-to-propose-rollover-union-funds |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=The Justice |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Union officials may drop Novus guide |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/03/union-officials-may-drop-novus-guide |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=The Justice |language=en}}

• The Louis Lunatic, founded in the winter of 2004, is a student-run sports magazine released each semester, discussing Brandeis and national sports.
• Gravity, a humor magazine founded in 1990
• Laurel Moon, a literary magazine launched in 1991
• Artemis, a feminist magazine published intermittently in the 1980s-1990s and revived during the fall 2013 semester.
• Under the Robe, an arts and entertainment social tabloid published by The Barrister 1985–1988
• Where the Children Play, a literature and arts magazine founded in 1994 by Phil Robinson and Abigail Myers

• Brandeis Economic & Finance Review, founded by Jordan Caruso in 2010, is a student-run online and print publication dedicated to issues in business, economics, and finance. Nobel Laureate Robert Solow contributed an original article for the Fall 2010 printed publication.
• Brandeis International Journal, a student-run semesterly publication on international affairs, which became the Brandeis Journal of Politics.
• Brandeis University Law Journal, founded in 2008, is the only undergraduate-edited legal publication not affiliated with a law school in the United States.{{cite web |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/legal-studies/undergraduate-opportunities/law-journal.html |title=Brandeis University Law Journal |access-date=2021-07-07 |archive-date=2021-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115193817/https://www.brandeis.edu/legal-studies/undergraduate-opportunities/law-journal.html |url-status=live }}
• The Brandeis Scope reports on research occurring on the Brandeis University campus and affiliated laboratories in the sciences.
• Louis Magazine, a defunct journal of intellectual discourse, 1999–2002
• The Pulse, reports on advances in medicine; published by the Pre-Health Society
• The Open-Air Journal, a literary journal that publishes academic and creative student work in addition to weekly columns; published by students in the Heller School.

Brandeis is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity".{{cite web|url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=165015|title=Carnegie Classifications – Institution Profile|publisher=Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research|access-date=March 30, 2020|archive-date=January 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127164811/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=165015|url-status=live}} In FY 2017, Brandeis spent $68.4 million on research and was ranked 174 in the nation by total R&D expenditure.{{cite web |title=Rankings by total R&D expenditures |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |website=nsf.gov |publisher=National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113144205/https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |archive-date=13 January 2017 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=NSF – NCSES Academic Institution Profiles – Brandeis University : Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2017 |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=reportsall&fice=2133 |website=ncsesdata.nsf.gov |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718065718/https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=reportsall&fice=2133 |url-status=live }} These include sponsored research funds from sources including the National Institutes of Health; the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Health and Human Services as well as a range of foundations.{{cite web|url=http://www.brandeis.edu/ora/about/FY15ByFunder.html|title=- Brandeis University|website=www.brandeis.edu|access-date=2015-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117121656/http://www.brandeis.edu/ora/about/FY15ByFunder.html|archive-date=2015-11-17|url-status=dead}}

The university's Division of Science encompasses seven departments (Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology), five interdepartmental programs (Biochemistry & Biophysics, Biological Physics, Biotechnology, Genetic Counseling, Molecular & Cell Biology, and Neuroscience), six science centers (Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory, National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology, Benjamin and Mae Volen National Center for Complex Systems, and W.M. Keck Institute for Cellular Visualization), and more than 50 laboratories{{cite web|url=http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/research/index.html|title=Life Sciences Website|website=www.bio.brandeis.edu|access-date=2015-11-16|archive-date=2015-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112052537/http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/research/index.html|url-status=live}} that investigate fundamental life processes ranging from the structure and function of individual macromolecules to the mechanisms that control the behavior of whole organisms.

Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates investigate areas such as neuronal development and plasticity, signal transduction, immunology, the molecular basis of genetic recombination, and the three-dimensional structure of macromolecular assemblies. Brandeis science faculty include 12 National Academy of Science members,National Academy Members, http://www.brandeis.edu/about/faculty/national.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117161022/http://www.brandeis.edu/about/faculty/national.html |date=2015-11-17 }} three Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators,Howard Hughes Medical

Institute HHMI Investigators and Professors http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/browse?kw=brandeis&sort_by=field_scientist_last_name&sort_order=ASC {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117143855/http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/browse?kw=brandeis&sort_by=field_scientist_last_name&sort_order=ASC |date=2015-11-17 }} two Howard Hughes Medical Institute professors, two MacArthur Foundation Fellows,MacArthur Fellows, https://www.macfound.org/fellows/650/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117064550/https://www.macfound.org/fellows/650/ |date=2015-11-17 }} and 15 American Association for the Advancement of Sciences Fellows.{{cite web|url=http://www.brandeis.edu/about/faculty/aaa-s.html|title=Distinguished Faculty|website=www.brandeis.edu|access-date=2015-11-16|archive-date=2015-11-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117152116/http://www.brandeis.edu/about/faculty/aaa-s.html|url-status=live}}

Brandeis undergraduate students have the opportunity to work with faculty, postdoctoral students and graduate students to conduct original laboratory research.{{cite web|url=http://www.brandeis.edu/research/students.html|title=Student Research|website=www.brandeis.edu|access-date=2015-11-16|archive-date=2016-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101130038/http://www.brandeis.edu/research/students.html|url-status=live}} Brandeis also offers a number of funding resources to support independent undergraduate research projects. In 2008, Brandeis established a Science Posse program, a merit-based scholarship program that admits students based on their academic, leadership and communication skills, and their interests in studying science. Founded by Irving Epstein, the Henry F. Fischbach Professor of Chemistry, and supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant, the Science Posse program is focused on increasing the recruitment and retention of students from traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences. The program recruits, trains, and provides mentoring and other services for 10 inner-city Atlanta students each year who are interested in studying science at the undergraduate level."[https://web.archive.org/web/20140915181351/https://www.hhmi.org/research/broadening-access-science-science-posse Broadening Access to Science: Science Posse]". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. May 2014. Archived from [https://www.hhmi.org/research/broadening-access-science-science-posse the original] on September 15, 2014.

In 2014, the National Science Foundation renewed funding for Brandeis' Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), which was established in 2008. This center supports interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary materials research and education that address fundamental problems in science and engineering that are important to society."[https://www.mrsec.org/mrsec-program-overview MRSEC Program Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723143007/https://www.mrsec.org/mrsec-program-overview |date=2020-07-23 }}". Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers. In particular, the center uses simplified components to create new materials that have some of the functionalities found in living organisms.

{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"

|+ style="font-size:90%" |Student body composition as of May 2, 2022

|-

! Race and ethnicity{{cite web|title=College Scorecard: Brandeis University|url=https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?165015-Brandeis-University|publisher=United States Department of Education|access-date=May 8, 2022|archive-date=June 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630214746/https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?165015-Brandeis-University|url-status=live}}

! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total

|-

| White

|align=right| {{bartable|44|%|2||background:gray}}

|-

| Foreign national

|align=right| {{bartable|20|%|2||background:orange}}

|-

| Asian

|align=right| {{bartable|15|%|2||background:purple}}

|-

| Hispanic

|align=right| {{bartable|8|%|2||background:green}}

|-

| Other{{efn|Other consists of Multiracial Americans & those who prefer to not say.}}

|align=right| {{bartable|7|%|2||background:brown}}

|-

| Black

|align=right| {{bartable|6|%|2||background:mediumblue}}

|-

! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |Economic diversity

|-

| Low-income{{efn|The percentage of students who received an income-based federal Pell Grant intended for low-income students.}}

|align=right| {{bartable|16|%|2||background:red}}

|-

| Affluent{{efn|The percentage of students who are a part of the American middle class at the bare minimum.}}

|align=right| {{bartable|84|%|2||background:black}}

|}

The university has an active student government, the Brandeis Student Union,{{cite web|url = http://union.brandeis.edu/|title = Brandeis University Student Union|website = union.brandeis.edu|access-date = 2014-04-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140417004657/http://union.brandeis.edu/|archive-date = 2014-04-17|url-status = dead}} as well as more than 270 student organizations.{{cite web| url=http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/| title=Club Center| publisher=My Brandeis| access-date=26 April 2009| archive-date=4 May 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504235357/http://my.brandeis.edu/clubs/| url-status=live}} Fraternities and sororities are not officially recognized by Brandeis University, as they are contrary to a central tenet of the university, namely, that student organizations be open to all students, with membership determined by competency or interest. According to an official handbook, "exclusive or secret societies are inconsistent with the principles of openness to which the University is committed."{{cite web |title=2007–2008 Rights & Responsibilities Handbook, Appendix B: University Policy on Fraternities and Sororities |publisher=Brandeis University |access-date=2008-03-17 |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/rr/html/rr_appendix.html |archive-date=2008-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706034103/http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/rr/html/rr_appendix.html |url-status=live }} Brandeis became the first university to ban Students for Justice in Palestine from campus, occurring shortly after a vigil hosted by SJP relating to Palestinian lives lost in the Israel-Hamas War.{{cite web | url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2023/11/im-an-israeli-american-who-attended-brandeis-the-censorship-of-palestinian-students-betrays-everything-i-was-taught | title=I'm an Israeli-American who attended Brandeis: The censorship of Palestinian students betrays everything I was taught }}{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/brandeis-university-bans-pro-palestinian-student-group/3183990/ | title=Brandeis University bans pro-Palestinian student group | date=November 7, 2023 }}

Brandeis has 11 a cappella groups, six undergraduate-run theater companies, one sketch comedy troupe (Boris' Kitchen, founded in 1987),{{cite web|url=http://borissketchcomedy.com|title=Boris' Kitchen|website=Boris' Kitchen|access-date=2022-01-02|archive-date=2015-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209224823/http://borissketchcomedy.com/|url-status=dead}} four improv-comedy groups, and many other cultural and arts clubs, as well as student activism groups that advocate for causes including environmentalism, immigration reform, LGBTQ rights, feminism, and anti-racism. Brandeis is also home to what has been cited as one of the country's few undergraduate-run law publications.{{cite web |title=Q&A with ALDF Staff Attorney about Pursuing a Career in Animal Law |publisher=Animal Legal Defense Fund |access-date=2011-01-07 |url=http://www.aldf.org/article.php?id=1441 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119133337/http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1441 |archive-date=2010-11-19 |url-status=dead }} Of particular note is the Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society (B.A.D.A.S.S.), which consistently ranks as one of the top 10 debate teams in the United States, and participates across the globe in the World Universities Debating Championships each year. During the 2012–2013 school year, B.A.D.A.S.S. was the second most successful team overall on the American Parliamentary Debate Association Circuit.{{cite web |url=http://www.apdaweb.org/standings |title=Standings (2013–2014) |publisher=Apdaweb |access-date=2013-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103024238/http://apdaweb.org/standings |archive-date=2014-01-03 |url-status=dead }}

Cholmondeley's coffeehouse, commonly referred to as "Chums", is located in Brandeis' Usen Castle. Chums is a popular site for student performances and concerts, including Tracy Chapman, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Matt Pond PA, and Genesis (notable as their first American performance). Early footage of Chums appears in the short documentary film, Coffee House Rendezvous.{{cite video |last=Steeg |first=Ted |title=Coffee House Rendezvous |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2NoKCg702g |url-status=dead |publisher=Coffee Information Service |year=1969 |time=5:10 |access-date=2014-01-13 |archive-date=2014-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625004144/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2NoKCg702g }} Cholmondley's is named after a notoriously ill-tempered Basset hound that was the on-campus pet for Ralph Norman, the campus photographer during the first years of Brandeis. The dog roamed the campus after dark, growling at students, often nipping at their cuffs and making a general nuisance of himself. After his death, the coffee house was named for him, not so much in remembrance but in celebration.{{cite news| url=https://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/10/18/threes_a_charm/| title=Oppenheimer at Brandeis| date=18 October 2007| publisher=Globe Newspaper Company| access-date=26 April 2009| first1=Catherine| last1=Elcik| archive-date=4 June 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604135358/http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/10/18/threes_a_charm/| url-status=live}} In 2015, in an email to student workers of the coffee house, Brandeis administration announced the immediate closure of Chums Coffeehouse, leaving said student workers unemployed. After significant pushback from the student body and alumni alike, the administration determined to make the closure temporary while the space underwent renovations.{{cite news |url=http://brandeishoot.com/2015/03/20/student-coffeehouse-undergoes-sudden-reorganization/ |title=Student coffeehouse undergoes sudden reorganization |website=brandeishoot.com |author=Charlotte Aaron |date=March 20, 2015 |access-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521064826/http://brandeishoot.com/2015/03/20/student-coffeehouse-undergoes-sudden-reorganization/ |url-status=live }}

Brandeis University's Campus Sustainability Initiative seeks to reduce the university's environmental and climate change impact. The university's accomplishments in the arena of sustainability include the creation of a student-organized on-campus Farmers' Market, the implementation of a single-stream recycling program, and the transition to GreenE certified wind power for 15% of the school's electricity needs.{{cite web

|title = Sustainability Accomplishments

|publisher = Brandeis University

|url = http://www.brandeis.edu/campussustainability/newsevents/accomplishments.html

|access-date = 2009-06-08

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110615130320/http://www.brandeis.edu/campussustainability/newsevents/accomplishments.html

|archive-date = 2011-06-15

}} Brandeis also offers an environmental studies academic program, which includes courses such as Greening the Ivory Tower: Improving Sustainability of Brandeis and Community, which serves as an incubator for student led sustainability projects.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brandeis.edu/programs/environmental/undergrad/greeningcourse/index.html|title=Greening Class {{!}} Environmental Studies Program {{!}} Brandeis University|website=www.brandeis.edu|access-date=2019-05-02|archive-date=2019-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502181009/https://www.brandeis.edu/programs/environmental/undergrad/greeningcourse/index.html|url-status=live}} Student projects have included greening campus offices, running after-school environmental education programs for children in the Waltham schools, and cleaning up local streams and ponds.{{cite web|url=http://www.brandeis.edu/campussustainability/greeningclass/fall2008.html|title=Greening Class Projects 2008|publisher=Brandeis University|access-date=2009-06-08}}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} In addition, a student-led project in 2014 established a rooftop farm atop the Gerstenzang science building consisting of 1,500 potted milk crates.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/11/barren-brandeis-rooftop-transformed-into-feast-for-senses/zEv2ig7sV4BBhjQxVzyTiJ/story.html|title=Barren Brandeis rooftop transformed into feast for senses|first=Jon|last=Mael|date=12 August 2015|work=The Boston Globe|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-02|archive-date=2019-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502181013/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/11/barren-brandeis-rooftop-transformed-into-feast-for-senses/zEv2ig7sV4BBhjQxVzyTiJ/story.html|url-status=live}}

Students also have the option of taking courses with a "Community Engaged Learning" (CEL) aspect. Community-engaged learning is an aspect of the university's broad-based commitment to experiential learning.

Emergency medical services are provided by the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps, nicknamed BEMCO, a Massachusetts-certified EMT-Basic volunteer student organization{{cite book |title=BEMCo 25th Anniversary Gala: Order of Ceremonies |last= Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps|author-link= Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps |year=2008 |publisher= Brandeis University |location= Waltham, MA |page=2 }} which does not charge a fee for any of its emergency services.{{cite web|title=Article VIII: Union Accredited Organizations |publisher=Brandeis University Student Union |access-date=2008-09-08 |url=http://union.brandeis.edu/bylaws.php#8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703224010/http://union.brandeis.edu/bylaws.php |archive-date=July 3, 2008 }}

Security escort services are provided around the campus and into Waltham by the student-run "Branvan," which runs on a daily schedule from 4:00 pm to 2:30 am on weekdays and from noon to 2:30 am on weekends.

The university is {{convert|9|mi|km}} west of Boston and is accessible through Brandeis/Roberts station on the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line, a free shuttle that services Boston and Cambridge (Harvard Square) Thursday through Sunday,{{cite web |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/publicsafety/safety/escort/schedule.html |title=Van and Shuttle Service |access-date=6 December 2008 |department=Department of Public Safety |publisher=Brandeis University |archive-date=15 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215014251/http://www.brandeis.edu/publicsafety/safety/escort/schedule.html |url-status=live }} the nearby Riverside subway station (above ground) on the Green Line, and the 553 MBTA bus.{{cite web |url=http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/bus/routes/?route=553 |title=553 – Roberts – Downtown Boston via Newton Corner & Central Sq., Waltham |access-date=6 December 2008 |publisher=MBTA |archive-date=13 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713070519/http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/bus/routes/?route=553 |url-status=live }}

File:Brandeis University Admissions Bldg.jpg|Undergraduate Admissions Center

File:Brandeis University Shapiro Campus Center.jpg|Shapiro Campus Center

{{Main|Brandeis Judges}}

Brandeis fields 19 Division III varsity athletic programs. Brandeis athletic teams compete in the University Athletic Association (UAA).

Brandeis has won NCAA team championships in men's soccer (1976)"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/563100195/ Brandeis U. Wins Soccer Championship: Jays Third] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720225606/https://www.newspapers.com/image/563100195/ |date=July 20, 2023 }}". The Sunday News (Lancaster, Pennsylvania). p. 47. and men's cross country (1983),"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/182728189/ Profs run 2nd to Brandeis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720225916/https://www.newspapers.com/image/182728189/ |date=July 20, 2023 }}". Courier-Post (Camden, New Jersey). p. 2C. as well as 24 individual titles. Brandeis teams have earned 17 NCAA Division III Tournament berths and won eight Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association (ECAC) New England crowns in the last decade. Nine teams have earned national rankings, with men's and women's basketball and men's and women's soccer all ascending to the top 10 in the nation during that span.{{cite web|title=D3soccer.com Men's Top 25, Week 3|url=http://www.d3soccer.com/top25/men/2013/week3|website=www.d3soccer.com|access-date=25 June 2014|archive-date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626184752/http://www.d3soccer.com/top25/men/2013/week3|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division III Women's – National – Poll 3 – September 17, 2013|url=http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/2274/NCAADivisionIII/women/National/Poll3|website=www.nscaatv.com|access-date=25 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140625155811/http://www.nscaatv.com/rankings/2274/NCAADivisionIII/women/National/Poll3|archive-date=25 June 2014}}{{cite web|title=D3hoops.com men's Top 25, Week 3|url=http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2007-08/week3|website=www.d3hoops.com|access-date=25 June 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129133704/http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2007-08/week3|url-status=live}} In 2017, the men's team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth year in a row, and reached the Final Four for the second straight year. It was the fourth straight year they finished ranked a top ten team in the country. Also earning national rankings in '13-14 were women's cross country{{cite web|title=USTFCCCA NCAA Division III National Coaches' Poll|url=http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/rankings/div3/2013-xc/Div3_XC_2013_Week8_National-Summary.pdf|website=www.ustfccca.org|access-date=25 June 2014|archive-date=11 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411150050/http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/rankings/div3/2013-xc/Div3_XC_2013_Week8_National-Summary.pdf|url-status=live}} and men's and women's tennis.{{cite web|title=Division III Men's National Rankings – March 27|url=http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/2013-14_ITA_Division_III_Men_s_Rankings/Division_III_Men_s_National_Rankings_-_March_27.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403132648/http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/2013-14_ITA_Division_III_Men_s_Rankings/Division_III_Men_s_National_Rankings_-_March_27.htm|website=www.itatennis.com|archive-date=3 April 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Division III Women's National Rankings Administered by the ITA|url=http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/2013-14_ITA_Division_III_Women_s_Rankings/Division_III_Women_s_National_Rankings_-_April_10.htm|website=www.itatennis.com|access-date=25 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420024104/http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/2013-14_ITA_Division_III_Women_s_Rankings/Division_III_Women_s_National_Rankings_-_April_10.htm|archive-date=20 April 2014}}

Brandeis also sponsors 20 club sports. Among them, ultimate frisbee, crew, archery and women's rugby have had success on a national level. The program's many intramural sports are open to students, faculty and staff.

{{Main|List of Brandeis University people}}

{{Cleanup gallery|date=April 2024}}

File:Roderick MacKinnon, M.D..jpg|Roderick MacKinnon (BA, 1978) Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2003

File:Drew Weissman Life Science medalist.jpg|Drew Weissman (BA, MA, 1981) Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023

File:Edward Witten.jpg|Edward Witten (BA, 1971) Theoretical physicist and Fields Medal recipient

File:Leslie Lamport.jpg|Leslie Lamport (PhD, 1972) Turing Award–winning computer scientist and inventor of the first algorithm for reading the state of an arbitrary distributed system

File:Uhlenbeck Karen 1982 (cropped).jpg|Karen Uhlenbeck (PhD, 1968) First (and to-date only) woman to win the Abel Prize in Mathematics

File:Eve Marder.jpg|Eve Marder (BA, 1965) recipient of the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience (2016) and National Medals of Science (2023).

File:Robert Zimmer By Eric Guo.jpg|Robert Zimmer (BA, 1968) Mathematician and president of the University of Chicago from 2006 to 2021

File:Thomas Friedman 2005 (5).jpg|Thomas Friedman (BA, 1975) Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner

File:Margo Jefferson 2015.jpg|Margo Jefferson (BA, 1970) Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winner

File:Vbalki.jpg|V. Balakrishnan (physicist) (PhD, 1970) Indian theoretical physicist

File:Mitch Albom's book signing 2010-09-02.jpg|Mitch Albom (BA, 1979) New York Times Best Selling Author of Tuesdays with Morrie

File:Angela Davis crop.png|Angela Davis (BA, 1965) American political activist, philosopher, academic, and author

File:Adam Cheyer, 2008.png|Adam Cheyer (BA, 1988) Co-founder of Siri and former director of engineering for the iPhone

File:Christie Hefner.jpg|Christie Hefner (BA, 1974) Former CEO of Playboy Enterprises.

File:Debra Messing at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.jpg|Debra Messing (BA, 1990) Emmy Award–winning actress

File:David I. Kertzer historian.jpg|David Kertzer (PhD 1974) Pulitzer Prize–winning historian (2014).

File:Sidney blumenthal 2006.jpg|Sidney Blumenthal (BA, 1969) Journalist and political operative known for his association with President Clinton

Among the better-known graduates are co-creators of the television show Friends David Crane and Marta Kauffman, political activists Abbie Hoffman and Angela Davis, journalists Thomas Friedman and Paul Solman, Congressman Stephen J. Solarz, physicist and Fields medalist Edward Witten, mathematician and Abel Prize recipient Karen Uhlenbeck, novelist Ha Jin, political theorist Michael Walzer, actresses Debra Messing and Loretta Devine, philosopher Michael Sandel, olympic silver medalist fencer Tim Morehouse, social and psychoanalytic theorist Nancy Chodorow, author Mitch Albom, filmmakers Debra Granik and Jonathan Newman, music producer Jon Landau,{{Cite web|title = Jon Landau '68 {{!}} Brandeis Magazine|url = http://www.brandeis.edu/magazine/2013/summer/featured-stories/bq-landau.html|website = Brandeis Magazine|access-date = 2015-09-05|archive-date = 2015-09-05|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150905100844/http://www.brandeis.edu/magazine/2013/summer/featured-stories/bq-landau.html|url-status = live}} and computer scientist Leslie Lamport.

Among the distinguished faculty, present and past, are mathematician Heisuke Hironaka, a Fields medalist, biologists and Nobel laureates Michael Rosbash and Jeffrey C. Hall, composers Arthur Berger, Leonard Bernstein, Martin Boykan, Eric Chasalow, Irving Fine, Donald Martino, David Rakowski, Harold Shapero, and Yehudi Wyner, social theorist Herbert Marcuse, psychologist Abraham Maslow, linguist James Pustejovsky, human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt, Anita Hill, historian David Hackett Fischer, economist Thomas Sowell, chemist S Katharine Hammond, diplomat Dennis Ross, children's author Margret Rey, former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, sociologist Morrie Schwartz, poets Olga Broumas and Adrienne Rich, author Stephen McCauley, virologist and author of Fields Virology Bernard N. Fields and Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Eileen McNamara.

{{Portal|United States|Schools}}

• List of Brandeis University people
• National Center for Jewish Film
• Our Generation Speaks
• Rosenstiel Award

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{ref begin}}

• {{cite book |editor1-last=Pasternack |editor1-first=Susan |title=From the Beginning: A Picture History of the First Four Decades of Brandeis University |date=1988 |publisher=Brandeis University |isbn=978-0962954504}}
• {{cite book |last1=Sachar |first1=Abram L. |title=Brandeis University: A Host at Last |date=October 15, 1995 |publisher=Brandeis University Press |isbn=978-0874515855}} (a scholarly history of the school)
• {{cite journal |last1=Whitfield |first1=Stephen J. |last2=Krasner |first2=Jonathan B. |title=Jewish liberalism and racial grievance in the sixties: The ordeal of Brandeis University |journal=Modern Judaism |date=February 2015 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=18–41 |doi=10.1093/mj/kju019 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}

{{ref end}}

{{commons category|Brandeis University}}

• {{official website|http://www.brandeis.edu/}}
• [http://www.brandeisjudges.com/ Official athletics website]
• [http://www.thejustice.org/ Website of The Justice campus newspaper]

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