The Justice

To the Editor:

In "Culture X Ignores Largest Culture on Campus," (April 15 issue) Cindy Kaplan grossly misrepresents the intentions of the Culture X coordinators. We did not ignore anyone in planning, scheduling or performing this event for the hundreds of students who came to see it, many of whom would identify as observing Shabbat. It is irrational to say that we ignored the largest culture on campus when this year's show included many Jewish students and, notably, two Jewish groups: B'yachad and Jewish Fella Acapella. To say that any culture was deliberately ignored at Culture X is deeply offensive both to the organizers of the show and to those performers who were on stage that night representing their cultures.

Any successful event organizer would also recognize that when planning an event it is important to take every group's comfort and attendance into consideration. Yes, the first act was conducted during Shabbat. Yes, certain people may not have been able to enjoy the entire show; however, other students faced a similar dilemma. Culture X was concurrent with the Boris' Kitchen show for an hour and the Wien Scholars reception. Ramnavami, the birth of the Lord Rama, a Hindu religious holiday, was celebrated at many temples that night, and students who chose to go to temple, did, in fact, miss Culture X, without an "uproar." When planning an event on Brandeis campus you recognize that not everyone is going to be able to attend; the organizers are responsible for making the best decision for their event. Culture X tickets sold out 36 hours after we announced their sale on campus. Clearly, we made the right decision for Culture X.

Culture X is different from any other event on this campus because it is all-encompassing. For that one evening we are allowed to exist beyond labels that define our ethnicities and religions. It's truly heartbreaking when someone goes out of their way to destroy the larger picture, reminds us that we cannot always celebrate our differences and then uses our celebrations to divide us.

We are very proud of being at Brandeis; we are proud of Brandeis, proud of its majority, proud of its minority, proud of its arts and proud of our show. But unlike other so-called open-minded individuals on this campus, we do not use every occasion at our disposal to deconstruct the community into fragments and do not divide along the lines of majority/minority, observant/non-observant. When Culture X 2008 was planned, it was planned for Brandeis. Not for you, for me, for them or for those people. It was planned for us, and any criticism that suggests otherwise takes away from the hard work, talent and dedication that over a hundred people put in for a single night.





-Brian Paternostro '08, Ameeka Pannu '08, Meredyth Gonzalez '09 and Debra Cho '08

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools