Brandeis officials tell the Globe's Geoff Edgers that they may not have to sell the university's art collection after all, but they are definitely closing the Rose Art Museum this summer. And the reason, according to Edgers' story? "Marty Krauss, Brandeis provost ... said university officials believed they could not operate a museum, which is expected to abide by a code of ethics limiting the reasons it can sell off art, and then sell art to pay for needs other than the museum." So they may not sell off their art, but they're definitely going to close the place where they exhibit it, so they have the freedom to sell it if they want. The end result could be an important art collection in storage - or hanging on the walls of the presdent's office. And all this because the endowment has fallen 25 percent - to just over half a billion dollars. Is it just me, or does this sound nuts? It will be interesting to see how many students turn out for today's 1 p.m. protest.
Marty Krauss is not known for her clear thinking. In 2007 she notified a professor that he was guilty of racial harrassement because he had used the word "wetback" in his classroom. In fact he did do so - in order to criticize the use if the term! Not only was the decision idiotic, there was an complete lack of due process.
Posted by: Stewart Trickett | February 10, 2009 at 01:36 PM