Spring Break
Alumni kept out of Clinton event
by Holly Leighton
News | 12/4/07
Posted online at 10:53 PM EST on 12/3/07
/ Last updated at 11:17 PM EST on 12/3/07
Some alumni have expressed disappointment that they weren't allowed to attend former President Bill Clinton's speech last Monday.
The event was only open to Brandeis undergraduate students, graduate students, staff and faculty members. Alumni, however, have expressed that they too belong to this community. The main area of the gymnasium can hold up to 5,800 people University Spokeswoman Lorna Miles told the Justice last month.
"I think that the alumni should have been invited," graduate student Leah Abrams '06 wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "I understand that there may not be enough room, but I also do not know the entire reason for us not being invited."
Abrams said there was a lack of communication about the speech between the administration and alumni. "I wasn't notified that he was speaking at all," she wrote, noting that she only found out about the visit accidentally when she had a meeting on the Brandeis campus.
Another alum who commented on the Justice Web site expressed dissatisfaction with the rationing on the part of the administration.
According Miles, the main reason the administration didn't invite alumni stemmed from the impact that a former President's visit has on the town of Waltham, particularly traffic on South Street. It was decided that alumni would not be invited "when the President's staff told us that he was coming on a weekday," Miles wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
"[Alumni have been invited to past events] only if the event occurred on the weekend," Miles wrote. "Such as the visit of His Holiness Dalai Llama, which was held on a Saturday."
"Traffic flow is no excuse," one reader identified as "Brandeis 2006 Alum" commented on the Justice Web site. "I can hardly imagine that providing a bus from the nearest T station … would not be worth the good will it would potentially gain from alums."
Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan explained that a shortage of parking spaces on campus also limits the amount of people the University can allow at campus events.
The event was only open to Brandeis undergraduate students, graduate students, staff and faculty members. Alumni, however, have expressed that they too belong to this community. The main area of the gymnasium can hold up to 5,800 people University Spokeswoman Lorna Miles told the Justice last month.
"I think that the alumni should have been invited," graduate student Leah Abrams '06 wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "I understand that there may not be enough room, but I also do not know the entire reason for us not being invited."
Abrams said there was a lack of communication about the speech between the administration and alumni. "I wasn't notified that he was speaking at all," she wrote, noting that she only found out about the visit accidentally when she had a meeting on the Brandeis campus.
Another alum who commented on the Justice Web site expressed dissatisfaction with the rationing on the part of the administration.
According Miles, the main reason the administration didn't invite alumni stemmed from the impact that a former President's visit has on the town of Waltham, particularly traffic on South Street. It was decided that alumni would not be invited "when the President's staff told us that he was coming on a weekday," Miles wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
"[Alumni have been invited to past events] only if the event occurred on the weekend," Miles wrote. "Such as the visit of His Holiness Dalai Llama, which was held on a Saturday."
"Traffic flow is no excuse," one reader identified as "Brandeis 2006 Alum" commented on the Justice Web site. "I can hardly imagine that providing a bus from the nearest T station … would not be worth the good will it would potentially gain from alums."
Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan explained that a shortage of parking spaces on campus also limits the amount of people the University can allow at campus events.
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