Students, faculty and alumni at Brandeis University have been holding protests since Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz announced on Jan. 26 that the board of trustees voted to sell off the contents of the Rose Art Museum, the school’s equivalent to Northwestern’s Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art.
Although Reinharz sent out an e-mail on Feb. 5 apologizing for creating community outrage and pledging to further incorporate the museum into the university curriculum, the situation still poses questions to other universities in the current economic crisis. This could set a pattern for art collections at other universities, said artist Roger Kizik, a former preparator at the Rose.
But David Robertson, director of the Block Museum, said NU students shouldn’t worry about the future of the museum.
“At the Block we always continue to validate the museum’s role on campus and with undergraduates,” said Robertson, who is also president of the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries. “Northwestern University leadership repeatedly supports us and applauds our achievements.”
The Brandeis administration made its original decision at least partly based on the university’s struggling finances, holding the discussions in a closed-door session and only notifying the university community after the board had voted unanimously for the measure.
“We are in debt,” said Brandeis student Hannah Kirsch, who has been covering the events as deputy editor of The Justice, the university’s newspaper. “The administration’s take is to use the capital from the sale of the art to get out of debt.”
Universities in Massachusetts are particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in the economy due to the state’s Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act, which prohibits institutions from accessing their endowments if the balance falls below the principal. While several states have revised their laws to allow universities to dip into the funds but with certain restrictions, Massachusetts schools still fall under the older law.
Brandeis was also hit hard by the Bernard Madoff scandal, Kirsch said. Brandeis’ biggest donor, Carl Shapiro, lost a significant amount, as did a number of smaller donors. While Shapiro promised to fulfill this year’s financial commitments, gifts to the university are expected to decrease in coming years, Kirsch said.
But there are legal problems with the board’s plan, Robertson said. By law, donated art cannot be sold if doing so would violate the terms of the agreement under which it was given to the museum, he said. According to Robertson, the ACUMG worked to protest the decision.
“We have taken a number of actions, including corresponding with the Brandeis president and the Massachusetts attorney general,” he said. “The (Brandeis) faculty has come forward and pressed for more transparent leadership.”
Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts attorney general, began a review of the decision Jan. 27.
In Reinharz’s e-mail repealing the museum decision to the Brandeis community, he referenced the legal difficulties with selling the art.
“The statements gave the misleading impression that we were selling the entire collection immediately, which is not true,” Reinharz wrote. “The university may have the option, subject to applicable legal requirements and procedures, to sell some artworks if necessary, but I assure you that other options will also be considered.”
Fortunately, NU is not in this position, Robertson said.
“By taking funding from the Block, you would be making a statement about cultural experiences for students,” said Christie Thompson, a Medill freshman.
