Home Care In Brandeis, CA

The significant digits behind the university's health and safety protocols for the campus community this fall.

Brandeis University spent the spring and summer implementing comprehensive plans for a safe and successful campus experience for all this fall.

From signs and sanitizer to COVID-19 tests and Zoom, it’s a different campus this semester. But the community is still the same: vibrant, welcoming and diverse. Read more at Plans for Fall 2020.

Brandeis has 1,841 students living on campus this semester, including 767 students in the Class of 2024

To keep the community safely socially distanced, campus operations and facilities services installed hundreds of plexiglass barriers, assigned seating stickers, and applied physical distancing stickers in buildings.

Fifty social distancing lawn circles have also been installed at Massell, North Quad and Chapels Field.

The campus also features 73 lawn signs reminding community members to wear masks, keep socially distant and complete health assessments. In addition, 600 red floor arrow stickers lead to testing sites, and hundreds of signs detail state indoor occupancy limits and elevator occupancy limits.

A total of 4,438 have been administered as of Aug. 19. Health officials estimate the university will administer 90,000 tests by the end of the semester.

The average turnaround time for tests is 12 to 48 hours.

Each testing site can administer 120 COVID-19 tests per hour and features more than 60 trained staff.

Brandeis has purchased more than 250,000 protective masks for essential workers and 100,000 ounces of hand sanitizer for the university community. This is in addition to the many masks and supplies of hand sanitizer individual departments, centers, laboratories, and other groups on campus also have available.

Hand sanitizer stations have also been installed at the entrance of every building and in every classroom.

The campus features 39 classrooms for hybrid and in-person learning, as well as eight auxiliary tents for learning or dining.

Three tents have banquet seating, and there are approximately 50 existing outdoor table and chair set ups.

In addition, the Usdan Student Center will use Levin Ballroom and the International Lounge for overflow seating, while Sherman Dining Hall will make use of Hassenfeld Conference Center for more space as needed.

Crews have removed more than 3,000 pieces of furniture throughout campus to de-densify buildings.

Brandeis owns 7,200 licensed professional Zoom accounts.

New to the university community are the 767 members of the class of 2024. Here's a closer look at the class.

The first-year class hails from 36 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and 33 countries around the world.

Top 10 states represented in the Class of 2024: Massachusetts, New York, California, New Jersey, Florida, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Georgia.

The average SAT score for the Class of 2024 is 1401, and the average ACT score is 32. The average high school GPA is 3.97.

Also, 16.4% of the newest Brandeisians are first-generation college students.

Fall classes start Aug. 26 with enhanced health and safety protocols. More information can be found at thePlans for Fall 2020 website.

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The Brandeis University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine is no more. The chapter was notified yesterday that, due to comments made by the national organization in support of Hamas, “which the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the campus chapter “must be unrecognized,” according to a copy of the notification letter provided to FIRE.

This troubling decision came on the same day Brandeis President Ronald Liebowitz published an op-ed in the Boston Globe calling on university leaders to “find their moral compass and no longer allow speech that constitutes harassment or threat of violence to flourish on our campuses.”

Specifically, he added, “Chants and social media posts calling for violence against Jews or the annihilation of the state of Israel must not be tolerated.” The list of phrases Liebowitz wants banned include “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which, he said, “calls for the erasure of the Jewish state,” as well as support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, which he described as “blatant demonstration of antisemitism.”

In its letter to the Brandeis chapter of SJP, the university justified the derecognition, saying “a genuine threat or harassment” is not protected by the university’s Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression, which were adopted in 2018.

Yet, as evidence of this supposed misconduct, Liebowitz provides only speech protected by those very principles. Brandeis is a private university and therefore is not bound by the First Amendment, but its current free speech policies claim the school has “a responsibility to encourage the airing of the widest range of political and scholarly opinions and to prevent attempts to shut down conversations, no matter what their topic.”

And as FIRE reminds Brandeis in a letter today, “It is settled law that denying student group recognition based on viewpoint, speech, or fear of disruption violates free speech principles, particularly with regard to campus chapter groups’ ties to a national organization.”

Now is the time for the school’s leadership to stand on principle. If you only support the free speech that you approve of, then you don’t support free speech at all.

Criminal conduct such as making true threats, inciting unlawful conduct, and providing material support to terrorist groups, is not protected by the First Amendment or analogous free expression promises, like the one at Brandeis. In fact, according to Brandeis’ own free speech policies in the student handbook — which are legally binding under Massachusetts law — the chants Liebowitz cites as offensive are nonetheless protected political speech.

Nor is there any indication that actions by members of Brandeis SJP rose to the level of peer harassment, which the Supreme Court defined in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education as words or actions that are “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive the victims of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.”

SJP’s alleged comments do not approach this high bar and are fully protected by the university’s free speech promises. As the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights further clarified, discriminatory harassment “must include something beyond the mere expression of views, words, symbols, or thoughts that some person finds offensive.” Even more problematic, Brandeis appeared to have based its decision on the advocacy of the national SJP organization, punishing students for words they didn’t even say.

Brandeis University

School Ranking

138 of 248

Due Process

Sexual misconduct: D

Non-sexual misconduct: C

Title IX: B

Speech Code

Yellow

Free Speech Climate

Overall score: 45

More Info

The decision to ban SJP not only contravenes the university’s free speech promises, but also the free speech philosophy espoused by the university’s namesake, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who said in his concurring opinion in Whitney v. California that the “freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile.”

In comments to FIRE, Brandeis SJP members expressed shock and disbelief at the decision, emphasizing they are not affiliated with the national SJP group.

“We want to affirm that we are our own independent organization and we have not participated in any of the National SJP events since Oct. 7 and have not released anything that could be harmful towards any member of the community,” the chapter said in an email to FIRE.

Now is the time for the school’s leadership to stand on principle. If you only support the free speech that you approve of, then you don’t support free speech at all.

FIRE urges Brandeis to reverse this illegal derecognition and publicly recommit to the institution’s laudable free expression policies.

Sagie Tvizer ’19 might be the most famous Community Advisor at Brandeis

Sagie Tvizer ’19 might be the most famous Community Advisor at Brandeis.

On Aug. 14, the Plainsboro, New Jersey native became the first person in university history to move into Skyline, Brandeis’ newest residence hall.

Skyline, which will primarily house sophomores, gets its name from the panorama of Boston and surrounding communities visible from many of its windows. The new building encompasses an impressive array of features meant to accommodate student housing, academic work and social interaction across four fully-accessible floors. A slideshow of photos showcases Skyline's features and architectural charm.

Tvizer, a politics and history double major, is also a Community Advisor (CA) for Skyline’s second floor residents. Skyline’s inaugural inhabitants are in good hands: Tvizer has been a CA for three years and prides himself on paying close attention to his residents’ needs.

BrandeisNOW caught up with Tvizer to get his perspective on Skyline and serving as a CA:

BrandeisNOW: What made you want to be a CA?

Sagie Tvizer: I was definitely inspired, I think, by my CAs during my first year. They both made me feel so welcome even though I was nervous and anxious about starting college. They really created a sense of community and I think I’ve always wanted to pass that on.

BNOW: What are your thoughts on being the first resident of Skyline?

ST: It’s really exciting. I have a little dream of someday being a professor at Brandeis and telling my students on the first day, “’sup, I was the first resident of Skyline.”

Photo/Mike Lovett

BNOW: Was Skyline high on the list of places CAs wanted to be placed?

ST: Oh yes, everyone had Skyline on their list. When I tell my friends about how I was picked to be a Skyline CA they think it’s really cool. Being a senior in this place is exciting. I also think it’s special that Skyline is on land that was formerly part of the Castle, which was a centerpiece of the Brandeis campus. Now Skyline can take that role as a centerpiece of the campus, which makes being the building’s first resident really cool.

BNOW: What do you like most about Skyline?

ST: I like the community spaces and the new multi-purpose room with the kitchen and the audio/visual equipment. I think it affords a lot of freedom for students to hang out or put on programs that don’t have to be restricted by space.

BNOW: Does your room have a view of the Boston skyline?

ST: There are views of the Boston skyline throughout the building, on just about every floor and hallway. I can see it from my window, but you have to crane your neck just a little bit.

BNOW: Do you plan on working the building’s character into programming for your residents?

ST: Two words: puns, and puns. I’m going to make some puns about Skyline for my residents. I also want to have door decorations centered on skylines and bulletin boards with educational programming about events and campus resources.

Photo/Mike Lovett

BNOW: What sort of puns?

ST: You’re putting me on the spot for a pun. How about “Skyline, Sky-fine?” Maybe not that one, I suppose it’s a bit cringe-worthy.

BNOW: How far can you take the Skyline theme?

ST: This is my first time not working with first-years as a CA. I do want to put skylines of different cities as door decorations for all my residents. In that vein, I am also interested in working with the Office of Study Abroad to construct programming that could be helpful for sophomores looking to go overseas in their junior or senior years.

BNOW: What makes for a good CA?

ST: I think a good CA has a really solid sense of what residents need. You have to be empathetic, observant and present.

BNOW: What’s the coolest thing in your room?

ST: I have bubbles. But these aren’t one-dollar bubbles, they’re 10-dollar bubbles, so they don’t pop easily. They’re very high end. When you see bubbles coming out of my doorway, it means I’m home and you can stop by and say hi or ask for help.

BNOW: Do you have an idea for your first CA event?

ST: I’ll probably break Skyline in with an ice-cream party. I think it’s one of the best ways to mobilize new residents to meet their peers. I might do something educational too that’s centered on healthy eating or sustainability. But the key is the ice-cream.

BNOW: Though Skyline is primarily a sophomore residence hall, do you see it being a social hub for other students, too?

ST: I most definitely do. Again, that multi-purpose room really is an exciting feature. I think it will welcome all sorts of clubs and teams in, which means more than just sophomores will use the space. Everyone is welcome and that’s exciting.

Sally Warner and Noel Gutiérrez Brizuela

Sally Warner is an associate professor of Climate Science at Brandeis. Noel Gutiérrez Brizuela is a Ph.D. Candidate in Physical Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. This article is republished from The Conversation.

When a hurricane hits land, the destruction can be visible for years or even decades. Less obvious, but also powerful, is the effect hurricanes have on the oceans.

In a new study, we show through real-time measurements that hurricanes don’t just churn water at the surface. They can also push heat deep into the ocean in ways that can lock it up for years and ultimately affect regions far from the storm.

Heat is the key component of this story. It has long been known that hurricanes gain their energy from warm sea surface temperatures. This heat helps moist air near the ocean surface rise like a hot air balloon and form clouds taller than Mount Everest. This is why hurricanes generally form in tropical regions.

What we discovered is that hurricanes ultimately help warm the ocean, too, by enhancing its ability to absorb and store heat. And that can have far-reaching consequences.

How hurricanes draw energy from the ocean’s heat. Kelvin Ma via Wikimedia

When hurricanes mix heat into the ocean, that heat doesn’t just resurface in the same place. We showed how underwater waves produced by the storm can push the heat roughly four times deeper than mixing alone, sending it to a depth where the heat is trapped far from the surface. From there, deep sea currents can transport it thousands of miles. A hurricane that travels across the western Pacific Ocean and hits the Philippines could end up supplying warm water that heats up the coast of Ecuador years later.

For two months in the fall of 2018, we lived aboard the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson to record how the Philippine Sea responded to changing weather patterns. As ocean scientists, we study turbulent mixing in the ocean and hurricanes and other tropical storms that generate this turbulence.

Skies were clear and winds were calm during the first half of our experiment. But in the second half, three major typhoons – as hurricanes are known in this part of the world – stirred up the ocean.

Microstructure profilers are used to measure ocean turbulence. This one is designed and built by the Ocean Mixing Group at Oregon State University. Sally Warner

We measure ocean turbulence with an instrument called a microstructure profiler, which free-falls nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters) and uses a probe similar to a phonograph needle to measure turbulent motions of the water.

Imagine the tropical ocean before a hurricane passes over it. At the surface is a layer of warm water, warmer than 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), that is heated by the sun and extends roughly 160 feet (50 meters) below the surface. Below it are layers of colder water.

The temperature difference between the layers keeps the waters separated and virtually unable to affect each other. You can think of it like the division between the oil and vinegar in an unshaken bottle of salad dressing.

As a hurricane passes over the tropical ocean, its strong winds help stir the boundaries between the water layers, much like someone shaking the bottle of salad dressing. In the process, cold deep water is mixed up from below and warm surface water is mixed downward. This causes surface temperatures to cool, allowing the ocean to absorb heat more efficiently than usual in the days after a hurricane.

For over two decades, scientists have debated whether the warm waters that are mixed downward by hurricanes could heat ocean currents and thereby shape global climate patterns. At the heart of this question was whether hurricanes could pump heat deep enough so that it stays in the ocean for years.

These illustrations show what happens to ocean heat before, during, after and many months after a hurricane passes over the ocean. Sally Warner

By analyzing subsurface ocean measurements taken before and after three hurricanes, we found that underwater waves transport heat roughly four times deeper into the ocean than direct mixing during the hurricane. These waves, which are generated by the hurricane itself, transport the heat deep enough that it cannot be easily released back into the atmosphere.

Once this heat is picked up by large-scale ocean currents, it can be transported to distant parts of the ocean.

The heat injected by the typhoons we studied in the Philippine Sea may have flowed to the coasts of Ecuador or California, following current patterns that carry water from west to east across the equatorial Pacific.

At this point, the heat may be mixed back up to the surface by a combination of shoaling currents, upwelling and turbulent mixing. Once the heat is close to the surface again, it can warm the local climate and affect ecosystems.

For instance, coral reefs are particularly sensitive to extended periods of heat stress. El Niño events are the typical culprit behind coral bleaching in Ecuador, but the excess heat from the hurricanes that we observed may contribute to stressed reefs and bleached coral far from where the storms appeared.

Coral reefs are essential habitat for fish and other sea life, but they are threatened by rising ocean temperatures. James Watt via NOAA

It is also possible that the excess heat from hurricanes stays within the ocean for decades or more without returning to the surface. This would actually have a mitigating impact on climate change.

As hurricanes redistribute heat from the ocean surface to greater depths, they can help to slow down warming of the Earth’s atmosphere by keeping the heat sequestered in the ocean.

Scientists have long thought of hurricanes as extreme events fueled by ocean heat and shaped by the Earth’s climate. Our findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, add a new dimension to this problem by showing that the interactions go both ways — hurricanes themselves have the ability to heat up the ocean and shape the Earth’s climate.

The Midyear class of 2023 has arrived on campus for orientation

By Julian Cardillo '14

If moving into college was an Olympic sport, Brandeis orientation leaders, community advisors and community living staff would be gold medalists.

Needless to say, the 133 Midyears that arrived for move-in day and orientation were in good hands as they pulled into Brandeis, unpacked personal belongings and settled into their new homes.

Here’s how it all went down as the newest Brandeisians moved into their new home:

Photo/Mike Lovett

Step 1: Unpack the vehicle

Community Advisors and Orientation Leaders (CAs and OLs, for short) first greeted new students and their families. From there, they helped unload each car in groups of five and six with assembly line-like efficiency.

Out of open trunks came suitcases, books, laundry baskets, toiletries, lamps, mini-fridges, boxed foods and every imaginable dorm-room accoutrement.

The cars are emptied in almost no time. One group did it in 16.8 seconds flat.

“The key is bringing energy to the move-in process,” Monica Stamler ’21, a Midyear who is entering her third semester as a CA, told BrandeisNOW. “We can do a car in way less than a minute if we have all hands on deck. You gotta stay organized.”

Step 2: Up the stairs and down the hall

Toting all the belongings from the car to the new student’s room typically takes just one trip.

Then comes the big moment: the room reveal.

Photo/Mike Lovett

Alexandra Diener ’23, a Midyear from Needham, Massachusetts, arrived at her front door, inserted her key and stepped into her new space at Brandeis. Diener, who studied abroad through Brandeis’ program in London in the fall, said she was ecstatic with her new digs.

“I am very happy with the size of my room, this is pretty cool,” said Diener, who moved into a single in the Village. “I’m excited to be a part of campus, join clubs and meet everyone.”

Photo/Mike Lovett

Step 3: Make yourself at home

Midyears wrapped up move-in by setting up their rooms and settling into their new home at Brandeis.

The Midyear class of 2023, like the rest of Brandeis, drew top students from diverse backgrounds. The class hails from 22 U.S. states and six countries and features an average high school GPA 3.76.

Up next, the newest Brandeisians will connect during Midyear student orientation, which runs through the start of spring semester classes on Jan. 13, with activities and events to transition students into academic and social life at Brandeis.