Commencement was supposed to be about us.

Commencement was supposed to be about us. However, with the selection of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, commencement has been hijacked to serve as part of a debate about Middle Eastern politics. Whether this was the intention is not important: in our eyes and the eyes of the world, Brandeis commencement is a stage for partisan politics, not a celebration of graduating seniors.

Many of us in the Brandeis community are concerned that our administration has chosen Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren as commencement speaker; he is a divisive choice that politicizes what should be a day of celebration for graduates. His selection will clearly be perceived as a partisan political choice that marginalizes a significant part of the Brandeis and Jewish communities who do not feel the same as him.

Please sign our petition against Michael Oren as speaker!