An Update on the Rose Art Museum

"Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want, Gene. Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about."
- Mr. Holland's Opus

That quote from Mr. Holland's Opus occurs when Mr. Holland learns they're shutting down the music department because of budget cuts. I've heard a lot of people today (Alumni, current students, parents, donors and outsiders) express very strong feelings about the situation. It is a shame we are in this economic crisis. And measures need to be taken to make sure that Brandeis does not continue to fall behind. But this was done all the wrong ways. Brandeis never planned ahead and was caught flat footed and that's why we (and that's an extremely collective "we") are losing the Rose Art Museum; a decision that was made without any input from anyone outside the Board.

My biggest problem is that there was never any effort to save it. If Brandeis had come to myself and my fellow Alumni saying that the budget deficit was so great that they would have to get rid of the Rose Art Museum and all of the collection, I'm sure that my fellow Alumni, students, parents and outside donors would get behind this mission. Look at the outpouring of support in the aftermath. There was never any effort made to take a community that is known to be great organizers behind a cause and give them that cause to organize behind. We're really big at getting behind causes--trust me.

Another problem that I have with this whole situation is the mismanagement of financial planning done at Brandeis. Long before most of us ever knew who Bernie Madoff was, we all knew that the economy wasn't doing so well. And although we didn't have a large endowment, we were accumulating more than we ever had before under Jehuda, Brandeis' CEO. But Brandeis wasn't used to having all this money, and so like a rapper who had finally made it big, they wanted to spend that money on big, fancy things without ever worrying what would hapeen when the cash ran out. Since I came to the school in 2002, I can't even count the amount of new construction that has gone on. And even through this economic climate, Brandeis has gone full speed ahead with construction of a new C-Store, a new admissions building, a new science quad, brand new Rosenthal suites, among many others. There is no area of campus that hasn't been updated at some point since 2002.

But any child who has ever played Monopoly knows that just because you have the money, doesn't mean you just go out and buy houses...because God-forbid you ever come upon tough economic times, you're going to have to sell something back for half the price. And that's EXACTLY what Brandeis is doing now. This is not even remotely a good business decision when they're getting 50 cents on the dollar for these pieces of art. And unlike closing the pool which can be reopened at any time, you cannot just get these unique pieces of art back when your finances look better.

Here's the worst scenario: what's going on right now. The alumni, students, parents, donors, faculty and public are all blindsided. People who gave money to the Rose or donated art are furious and refuse to ever give again. Alumni are upset and stop donations. The school somehow makes $10 million but there's a budget shortfall next year...so there goes X and X could equal an unsucessful sports team or the music program or the Bran Van or The Justice or WBRS...(this is not so unlikely, since the economy isn't getting better anytime soon). And of course, they won't tell anyone they're doing it next time too until it's done (the stupidity of that is astounding--people are still upset about the fact they ended the football program without telling everyone and that happened in the '60s). This leads to even more backlash from donors.

Here's my solution for Brandeis. I have found out that you cannot sell some of the pieces of art without selling them all, so that option is out of the picture. But since keeping the Museum open isn't making money for Brandeis (and has been described by some as a money pit), temporarily shut down the Museum. Don't sell any art. Reach out to the alumni, parents, students, concerned public, teachers, etc and tell them this: We need to raise $x million. For current students, we're going to do this by raising your tuition dollars by ~$500 next year. That's less than $50 a month. Let's say that raises $2 million. We say to the students: "listen, we understand you guys paid a certain amount of money to have a spring concert, but we're going to have to cancel it this year and the money will go to keeping the Rose Art Museum open for a big fundraising night. We're having a danceathon DJ'ed by WBRS, with prizes for whoever can donate the most money". We then reach out to the rest of the population interested in seeing the Rose succeed and say: "listen, we read your petitions and Facebook groups and letters and such and we'll keep the Rose open as long as you can all raise $8 million by April 15th." 1100 people so far have signed that petition. Many others are out there who are interested in helping (including, I'm sure, wealthy individuals outside Brandeis' regular donor list who would be interested in helping the arts). And lastly, Mr. Reinharz, we're going to start charging you rent for that free house that Brandeis has provided for you. We like you and all, but we sort of need the money so we can save another building--this one on campus.

I think it's doable. Or at least can get us close. And it's a helluva lot better than what's going on right now.

In other Rose news:

The online petition has blown past the goal of 1,000 signatures.

Savetheroseart.org has continuous updates on the situation and is a great resource for information on the topic including a page with the voice of the Alumni and parents. And I've pasted the website creators' letter below.

And a Facebook Group has been set up as well.

Let's hope this campaign continues going strong. Thanks for all the support so far!

Dear Fellow Brandesians,

Thank you for the overwhelming support of this website, the Facebook groups, blogs and petition site. Everyone's involvement speaks highly to the deep connections we all have with our alma mater and our determination to support it during these trying times. The sixties are over, yet the legacy of activism of the Brandeis students and alumni base remains strong. Our combined involvement on and off campus is what made Brandeis such a wonderful place to live and study.

We have been in close contact with several administrators at the School as well as those at the Rose Art museum. There have been some updates since the last post on the site. Many of us have suggested that Brandeis only sell a select few pieces of art to raise money, while still keeping the museum and the vast majority of the art. According to a Facebook post we were informed that, legally, its all or nothing. If the museum sells just a few pieces of art, it must go into a special fund for art acquisitions. Only by liquidating the entire collection can they use the money from the sale of art to "pay the bills."

We are asking visitors to our page and the Facebook groups to make a pledge toward saving the Rose Art. We will be posting the results of our combined efforts on this website. Many have applauded our ultimate goal, yet the road ahead remains steep. We have to come together as one to help our alma mater. One of the greatest funding shortfalls facing Brandeis is that of scholarship funds. As a scholarship recipient myself, I know first-hand how important that is to the University for attracting the best minds and making it one of the most distinguished universities in the world. I would have not been able to attend Brandeis had it not been for the scholarships I was awarded. As you make your pledge please select whether you would like that money to go toward the scholarship fund if we fail to save the Rose Art Museum.

Thank you all for your overwhelming support!

Sincerely,

Endri Tolka '03, Taher Baderkhan '03, Vidian Tolka '00