Editing Brandeis University (section)

===Founding===
[[File:MiddlsexUniversityMASeal.png|thumb|150px|Seal of the former [[Middlesex University (Massachusetts)|Middlesex University]]]]
[[File:Brandeis-Usen Castle.JPG|thumb|[[Usen Castle]], a building on campus|left]]

[[Middlesex University (Massachusetts)|Middlesex University]] was a medical school located in Waltham, Massachusetts, that was at the time the only medical school in Massachusetts that did not impose a [[Jewish quota|quota on Jews]]. The founder, John Hall Smith, died in 1944. Smith's will stipulated that the school should go to any group willing to use it to establish a non-sectarian university.<ref name= spirit>{{cite news |title= 'A School Of The Spirit' Graduates Its First |last= Gardner |first= R. H. |work= The Baltimore Sun |date= May 29, 1952 |page= 14 |id= {{ProQuest|541745484}} }}</ref> Within two years, Middlesex University was on the brink of financial collapse. The school had not been able to secure accreditation by the [[American Medical Association]], which Smith partially attributed to institutional antisemitism in the American Medical Association.<ref name=reisfounding>{{cite web | last= Reis | first= Arthur H. Jr. | title= The Founding | work= Brandeis Review, 50th Anniversary Edition | url= http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/founding.pdf | access-date= May 17, 2006 | pages= 42–43 | quote= Founder's son, C. Ruggles Smith, quoted: "From its inception, Middlesex was ruthlessly attacked by the American Medical Association, which at that time was dedicated to restricting the production of physicians, and to maintaining an inflexible policy of discrimination in the admission of medical students. Middlesex, alone among medical schools, selected its students on the basis of merit, and refused to establish any racial quotas. | archive-date= May 23, 2006 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060523233252/http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/founding.pdf | url-status= live }}</ref>

Smith's son, C. Ruggles Smith, was desperate for a way to save something of Middlesex University. He learned of a New York committee headed by [[Israel Goldstein]] that was seeking a campus to establish a Jewish-sponsored secular university. Smith approached Goldstein with a proposal to give the Middlesex campus and charter to Goldstein's committee, in the hope that his committee might "possess the apparent ability to reestablish the School of Medicine on an approved basis." While Goldstein was concerned about being saddled with a failing medical school, he was excited about the opportunity to secure a {{convert|100|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on}} "campus not far from New York, the premier Jewish community in the world, and only {{convert|9|mi|km}} from Boston, one of the important Jewish population centers."<ref name="reisfounding"/> Goldstein agreed to accept Smith's offer, proceeding to recruit George Alpert, a Boston lawyer with fundraising experience as national co-chairman of the [[United Jewish Appeal]].<ref>Cushing, Harry (March 30, 1956). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/906346277/ George Alpert... Railroad President] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630215751/https://www.newspapers.com/image/906346277/ |date=June 30, 2023 }}". ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency''. Buffalo Jewish Review. p. 3.</ref>

[[File:Brandeis University sign.jpg|thumb|right|Brandeis University sign]]

Alpert had worked his way through [[Boston University School of Law]] and co-founded the firm of Alpert and Alpert. Alpert's firm had a long association with the [[New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad]], of which he was to become president from 1956 to 1961.<ref name=alpert-obit>{{cite news |title= George Alpert, 90; was a Founder and First Chairman of Brandeis |work= The Boston Globe |date= September 13, 1988 |page= 82 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Lyall |first= Sarah |title= George Alpert, 90, Ex-President Of New Haven Line and a Lawyer |work= The New York Times |date= September 13, 1988 |page= D26 }}</ref> Alpert was chairman of Brandeis from 1946 to 1954, and a trustee from 1946 until his death.<ref name="alpert-obit"/> By February 5, 1946, Goldstein had recruited [[Albert Einstein]], whose involvement drew national attention to the nascent university.<ref name="reis">{{cite web |last= Reis |first= Arthur H. Jr. |title= The Albert Einstein Involvement |work= Brandeis Publications 50th review |url= http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/einstein.pdf |access-date= May 4, 2006 |pages= 60–61 |quote= Source for Einstein agreeing to establishment of the foundation Feb. 5th, 1946, foundation incorporated Feb. 25; for Alpert quotation, "a man utterly alien to American principles of democracy, tarred with the Communist brush;" for Einstein's refusal to accept an honorary degree in 1953. |archive-date= July 17, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120717013410/http://www.brandeis.edu/communications/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Einstein believed the university would attract the best young people in all fields, satisfying a real need.<ref name="setup">{{cite news |title= Liberal University to Be Set Up by Jewish Body |work= The Baltimore Afro-American |date= August 31, 1946 |page= 10 |id= {{ProQuest|531588568}} }}</ref>

In March 1946, Goldstein said the foundation had raised $10 million that it would use to open the school by the following year.<ref name= sought>{{cite news |title= College Sought by Jewish Group |work= The New York Times |date= March 19, 1946 |page= 19 |id= {{ProQuest|107465002}} }}</ref> The foundation purchased Middlesex University's land and buildings for two million dollars.<ref name= setup/> The charter of this operation was transferred to the foundation along with the campus. The founding organization was announced in August and named The Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning, Inc.<ref name= unit>{{cite news |title= New Jewish Unit Plans University |work= The New York Times |date= August 20, 1946 |page= 10 |id= {{ProQuest|107605957}} }}</ref> The new school would be a Jewish-sponsored secular university open to students and faculty of all races and religions.<ref name= unit/>

[[File:Rabb Graduate Center, Brandeis University.jpg|thumb|right|Rabb Graduate Center (1965, [[Benjamin Thompson (architect)|Benjamin Thompson]])]]
The trustees offered to name the university after Einstein in the summer of 1946, but Einstein declined, and on July 16, 1946, the board decided the university would be named after [[Louis Brandeis]].<ref>{{cite web | last= Reis | first= Arthur H. Jr. | title= Naming the University | work= Brandeis Review, 50th Anniversary Edition | url= http://www.brandeis.edu/publications/review/50threview/einstein.pdf | access-date= May 3, 2006 | pages= 66–67 | archive-date= July 17, 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120717013410/http://www.brandeis.edu/communications/ | url-status= live }}</ref>

Einstein threatened to sever ties with the foundation on September 2, 1946.{{Explain|date=February 2025|reason=Why?}} Believing the venture could not succeed without Einstein, Goldstein quickly agreed to resign, and Einstein recanted.<ref name="einstein-quits" /> Einstein's near-departure was publicly denied.<ref name="quits">{{cite news |title= Goldstein Quits Einstein Agency |work= The New York Times |date= September 26, 1946 |page= 27 |id= {{ProQuest|107727508}} }}</ref><ref name="sachar">{{cite book | title = Brandeis University: A Host at Last | first = Abram L. | last = Sachar | year = 1995 | isbn = 0-87451-585-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/brandeisuniversi0000sach | url-access = registration | publisher = Brandeis University Press, distributed by University Press of New England |pages= [https://archive.org/details/brandeisuniversi0000sach/page/18 18]–22 }}</ref> Goldstein said that, despite his resignation, he would continue to solicit donations for the foundation.<ref name="quits" /> On November 1, 1946, the foundation announced that the new university would be named Brandeis University, after Louis D. Brandeis, associate justice of the [[United States Supreme Court]].<ref name="disclose">{{cite news |title= Disclose Plans for New College |work= The New York Times |date= November 7, 1946 |page= 28 |id= {{ProQuest|107542398}} }}</ref> By the end of 1946, the foundation said it had raised over five hundred thousand dollars,<ref>{{cite news |title= Brandeis Fund Growing |work= The New York Times |date= Dec 19, 1946 |page= 37 |id= {{ProQuest|107429813}} }}</ref> and two months later it said it had doubled that amount.<ref name="to-open">{{cite news |title= Brandeis University to Open in Fall of '48 |work= The New York Times |date= February 11, 1947 |page= 25 |id= {{ProQuest|107822860}} }}</ref>

The Brandeis board felt it was in no position to make the investment in the medical school that would enable it to receive accreditation, and closed it in 1947. Einstein wanted Middlesex University's veterinary school's standards to be improved before expanding to the school,<ref name="einstein-quits" /> while others in the foundation wanted to simply close the veterinary school,<ref name="sachar" /> which, by the winter of 1947, had an enrollment of just about 100 students.<ref name="to-open" /> A professional study of the veterinary school recommended dismissing certain instructors and requiring end-of-year examinations for the students, but the foundation declined to enact any of the recommendations, to the dismay of Einstein and a couple of the foundation's trustees.<ref name="gives-up">{{cite news |title= Einstein Gives Up Support of New College |agency= Associated Press |newspaper= The Baltimore Sun |date= June 22, 1947 |page= A2 |id= {{ProQuest|542673850}} }}</ref>

In early June 1947, Einstein made a final break with the foundation.<ref name="einstein-quits">{{cite news |title= Dr. Einstein Quits University Plan: Withdraws Support of Brandeis and Bars Use of His Name by Einstein Foundation |work= The New York Times |date= June 22, 1947 |page= 16 |id= {{ProQuest|107904030}} }}</ref><ref name="severs">{{cite news |title= Einstein Severs Relations With University Fund |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= June 22, 1947 |page= M1 |id= {{ProQuest|151982804}} }}</ref> The veterinary school was closed, despite students' protests and demonstrations.<ref name="sachar" /> According to George Alpert, a lawyer responsible for much of the organizational effort, Einstein had wanted to offer the presidency of the school to left-wing scholar [[Harold Laski]],<ref name="as-planned">{{cite news |title= Brandeis University to Open As Planned |date= June 25, 1947 |work= The New York Times |page= 6 |id= {{ProQuest|107894324}} }}</ref> someone that Alpert had characterized as "a man utterly alien to American principles of democracy, tarred with the Communist brush."<ref name="reis" /> He said, "I can compromise on any subject but one: that one is Americanism."<ref name="sachar" /> Two of the foundation's trustees, S. Ralph Lazrus and Otto Nathan, quit the foundation at the same time as Einstein.<ref name="einstein-quits" /> In response, Alpert said that Lazrus and Nathan had tried to give Brandeis University a "radical, political orientation."<ref name="charged">{{cite news |title= Left Bias Charged in University Row |date= June 23, 1947 |work= The New York Times |page= 24 |id= {{ProQuest|107902395}} }}</ref> Alpert also criticized Lazrus' lack of fundraising success and Nathan's failure to organize an educational advisory committee.<ref name="charged" /> Einstein said he, Lazrus, and Nathan "have always been and have always acted in complete harmony."<ref>{{cite news |title= Einstein Backs Two Who Quit University |date= June 30, 1947 |work= The New York Times |page= 9 |id= {{ProQuest|107893714}} }}</ref>