Letter: Brandeis president apologizes for handling of museum issue

Rasky Baerlein earning their keep already!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he meant that the museum would remain open but as a student studio and gallery space.

I wish the musuem would burn down with the art in it. I'm so sick of this story.

What does this mean?!

Semantics. Nothing's really changed. He just wants the bad press to go away.

Time to step down. He's become an embarrassment.

Good for you, Mr. President... anyone who admits to a mistake is A-OK in my book. I suppose I have to say that murderers and such are excluded. But he thought he was doing the right thing and then realized that the community didn't agree. So he said, I'm sorry". You don't find too many people in high positions who say that, unfortunately. President Obama said it, and I think much more highly of him for doing so. How many or you have bosses who refuse to admit that they 'screwed up'? Hopefully, the climate has changed and we all will feel fine about admitting mistakes. It's no big deal. Say I 'screwed up' and earn a little respect from your workers.

Start marketing the "I Screwed Up" T-Shirts...it has already clinched the "overused catchphrase of 2009" Award

How very diplomatic. This means that they will do EXACTLY as they've already said, shut down the Rose as publicly accessible museum, and sell the collection. The addition of a few adjectives does nothing to mitigate their commitment to and the stupidity of their decision.

Classic PR move. In face of backlash acknowledge your critics, act contrite, throw out vague words to obscure the issue, and finally, make no substantive changes. He's using predictable advice from the PR firm he hired. Which painting do we sell to pay for this wasteful expense?

Closing the museum and culling artworks from the collection would be a sensible response to the financial crunch that Brandeis University faces. The Board of Trustees is to be congratulated for being proactive, avoiding delay and delusion, and making tough choices about what constitutes the university's core mission and what is valuable but ancillary. Reinharz is correct that the process of reaching the decision and announcing it were handled badly, but the substance of the decision was wise.

It sounds like complete backtracking on earlier statements. The trustees and the university thought they could get away with it. When they saw they couldn't, the back room meetings lead to this statement. A victory for the students and staff of the university, and also for the arts community. However, the wording here is still vague enough to still have the sale and the closing.

I heard Reinharz interviewed on WBUR this morning. This guy is lying as fast as he can. It's a wonder his pants aren't on fire. I'd say the odds are pretty good there's a new president in this university's future.

Closing the museum and deaccessioning the art is a poorly thought out reaction to short-term financial stress. Reinharz has given a thumb in the eye to donors (who are now on notice not to donate anything of value to the school) and his middle finger to the wider Brandeis community that cares about the future and reputation of the school.

I have to commend the President for admitting his grave error in going along with the boards decision of closing off the museum and selling off the art.
I was so shocked and perplexed the morning I found out the disturbing news from Brandeis. I wasb watching the morning news on NBC, when across the screen I read about the closing of the Rose Art Museum and the sale of the contemporary art work. This museum has always been a treasure for not only the university, but the outside community as well. I understand how difficult the economic situation is, but this doesn’t seem to me the most appropriate place to cut costs or lose money. It is such a bad market for selling off art at this time. The prices one can anticipate to fetch at this time for the art is far less than the actual value. The art you own is so amazing and valuable. The museum is a highly esteemed organization that is enjoyed by many. What has made it so fantastic is the dedication of your knowledgeable staff, docents, and the people who have committed themselves monetarily and/or with their time to make the Rose Art Museum what it is today. One of the goals of any place of higher education is to try to educate and offer experiences that provide for growth and stimulation for as many people as possible. Bringing together both staff and students of Brandeis along with the community for the purpose of education and engagement is a wonderful thing.The Rose is a significant part of many lives. This museum would be sadly missedbeensadly missed.

Time to step down Jehuda! You screwed up enough already. We are all sick of your crooked ways!

Brandeis hired a new PR firm. FIrst order of business... 10% pay cuts for President and COO. Second order of business... apology for mishandling the situation but not changing the strategy.

"In retrospect, I wish I had handled the initial statements I made in a far more direct way. "

This is one of those "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" non-apology apologies. The operative word is "handled." Mr. Reinharz regrets only that the way he said things got him brought him a s**tstorm. No word about regretting the content of the statements, i.e., the abrupt closing of the Rose Art Museum.

But wait...!

"The Museum will remain open, but in accordance with the Board’s vote, it will be more fully integrated into the University’s central educational mission. We will meet with all affected University constituencies to explore together how this can best be done."

Is this a real reconsideration of the closing of the Rose, or just some oily bureaucratic language--to say that the building will remain open and something will take place within it, and to disguise the fact that the Rose Art Museum will be, for all intents and purposes, gone. Given Mr. Reinharz's track record in this matter, I'd guess oily bureaucratic language.

No one, of course, wants to see the Rose Art Museum close. Nor is it possible to argue that the announcements regarding same were handled well. Still, I'm struck by the lack of alternatives suggested in these comments, or in the press generally. Brandeis has slowly admitted to something like an $80 million shortfall over the next several years. This isn't a short-range or small problem, especially given that, incredibly, it has come to light that the university has traditionally relied on donations (from Palm Beach, no less!) just to pay its operating costs every year - donations which have dried up, and will remain scarce for some time to come. And it seems to me that the university even now may be putting the best light on the situation as possible, because that's simply the way large organizations always behave. I am also struck by the odd lack of familiarity with the Rose's art betrayed by many of the people complaining about its sale (I don't really know the collection either - but I certainly won't miss it). If someone would step up and say, "Brandeis should disband the sociology department to save the art!" or "Brandeis should clearly close the new athletics facility to save the art!" that might be a contribution to the dialogue. But that's not what is being said.

The mission statement of Brandeis is a "commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and its transmission from generation to generation." The last academic subject referenced is the sciences, and the first are the humanities and the arts. Surely the statement was given a lot of attention. Lets stay true to the original intent. My idea is that every alum or interested party give at least the amount of $ of their age or the year they graduated. This way, we concentrate on more people, not more money. I will help if people are interested.

Reinharz, indeed, should have been up front from the beginning of this matter. He should have pre-empted New York Legal two days ago, which issued a list of all the Madoff victims: Brandeis University is listed toward the beginning of the massive document. So stop treating this like it's Brandeis Community College - the direction that it's going - but fire Reinharz immediately and the Board, or those who have been colleagues of Madoff, and revise the budget accordingly - even with cuts. I've never seen such academic abhorrence.

Reinharz is simply an idiot. What an awful decision. It's a perfect example of the Peter Principle. Universities often hires Presidents who are narrow minded and out of touch with everyone around them. Reinharz takes the cake. Fire him before it gets worse (although I'm not sure it can).