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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Women's and Gender Studies event was well promoted at Brandeis
Letters to the Editor | 10/23/07
Posted online at 11:23 PM EST on 10/22/07
/ Last updated at 1:16 AM EST on 10/22/07
To the Editor:
I'm writing on behalf of the Women's and Gender Studies Program to address some inaccuracies in the article on Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun's visit as well as what might be a misunderstanding in one of the editorials regarding publicity for the event.
In "Power of the Individual," (Oct. 16 issue) Claire Moses reports that Ambassador Braun's visit "was held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Women's and Gender Studies Center." In fact, the Women's and Gender Studies Program, as distinct from a center, is celebrating its 30th anniversary over the entire 2007 to 2008 academic year. Ambassador Braun's visit was the first public event in that celebration. Moses further puts turnout for the lecture at about 50 people. WGS staff counted 110 people in attendance, far fewer than the Shapiro Campus Center Theater holds, but more than twice as many as "about 50."
The editorial "Poor publicity for speakers" (Oct. 16 issue) quite rightly acknowledges that "most guest speakers are hardly as influential as the first black female senator and former candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun." But it then laments the "poor publicizing of a very important event."
Just to set the record straight regarding publicity, during the second week of September, 720 postcards were sent by campus mail to Brandeis faculty and visiting faculty; additionally, 440 postcards were sent to individuals on the WGS mailing list.
Flyers for the event were sent to all Brandeis program administrators as well as to off-campus programs and later were posted around campus. E-mail messages were sent to 180 people on campus with an affiliation with WGS; this group included graduate and undergraduate students and WGS core and affiliate faculty.
The lecture was announced on the Brandeis calendar listing, picked up for the reporter from the calendar, given a media advisory from Brandeis Media Relations and featured on the Brandeis home page with a photo of Ambassador Braun.
Finally, publicity extended off campus to include the "Women's Studies Around Boston" newsletter, the Center for New Words Web site, the Boston Globe Calendar listing and the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies e-mail list.
I should also point out that the Justice was sent an announcement of the lecture on Sept. 11, 2007. I'm somewhat surprised that, with so much advance notice, no mention was made of this important event in any issue of the Justice prior to Oct. 12, 2007. This is even more curious considering that Bill Clinton's talk this coming December was front-page news in the Justice in mid-October.
I can't address the matter of campuswide e-mail messages except to say that I, for one, don't have access to that list or to the policies governing its use. Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight.
-James Mandrell
The writer is the chair of the Women's and Gender Studies Program.
I'm writing on behalf of the Women's and Gender Studies Program to address some inaccuracies in the article on Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun's visit as well as what might be a misunderstanding in one of the editorials regarding publicity for the event.
In "Power of the Individual," (Oct. 16 issue) Claire Moses reports that Ambassador Braun's visit "was held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Women's and Gender Studies Center." In fact, the Women's and Gender Studies Program, as distinct from a center, is celebrating its 30th anniversary over the entire 2007 to 2008 academic year. Ambassador Braun's visit was the first public event in that celebration. Moses further puts turnout for the lecture at about 50 people. WGS staff counted 110 people in attendance, far fewer than the Shapiro Campus Center Theater holds, but more than twice as many as "about 50."
The editorial "Poor publicity for speakers" (Oct. 16 issue) quite rightly acknowledges that "most guest speakers are hardly as influential as the first black female senator and former candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun." But it then laments the "poor publicizing of a very important event."
Just to set the record straight regarding publicity, during the second week of September, 720 postcards were sent by campus mail to Brandeis faculty and visiting faculty; additionally, 440 postcards were sent to individuals on the WGS mailing list.
Flyers for the event were sent to all Brandeis program administrators as well as to off-campus programs and later were posted around campus. E-mail messages were sent to 180 people on campus with an affiliation with WGS; this group included graduate and undergraduate students and WGS core and affiliate faculty.
The lecture was announced on the Brandeis calendar listing, picked up for the reporter from the calendar, given a media advisory from Brandeis Media Relations and featured on the Brandeis home page with a photo of Ambassador Braun.
Finally, publicity extended off campus to include the "Women's Studies Around Boston" newsletter, the Center for New Words Web site, the Boston Globe Calendar listing and the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies e-mail list.
I should also point out that the Justice was sent an announcement of the lecture on Sept. 11, 2007. I'm somewhat surprised that, with so much advance notice, no mention was made of this important event in any issue of the Justice prior to Oct. 12, 2007. This is even more curious considering that Bill Clinton's talk this coming December was front-page news in the Justice in mid-October.
I can't address the matter of campuswide e-mail messages except to say that I, for one, don't have access to that list or to the policies governing its use. Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight.
-James Mandrell
The writer is the chair of the Women's and Gender Studies Program.
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