Editing Brandeis University (section)

=== 21st century ===
In January 2007, former [[Jimmy Carter|President Jimmy Carter]] spoke at the university against the backdrop of controversy over his book [[Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid|''Palestine:Peace Not Apartheid'']] after being invited by students despite some campus opposition. <ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbUA8ld_2yc |title=Speech to Brandeis University (Jan. 23, 2007) |date=2014-06-20 |last=The Carter Center |access-date=2025-01-13 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Brandeis University |url=https://www.cartercenter.org/news/editorials_speeches/brandeis.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Carter Center |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Carter defends book; challenges Brandeis to send Mideast delegation |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/carter-defends-book-challenges-brandeis-to-send-mideast-delegation |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref> His speech was followed by a rebuttal remarks from [[Alan Dershowitz]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Excerpts from Alan Dershowitz's speech |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/excerpts-from-alan-dershowitzs-speech |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dershowitz says Carter "oversimplifies |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/01/dershowitz-says-carter-oversimplifies |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref> Later that spring [[Norman Finkelstein]] and [[Daniel Pipes]] were invited to speak on campus by separate student groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohler-Esses |first=Larry |date=2007-02-23 |title=Post-Carter Showdown At Brandeis Over Speakers |url=https://www.jta.org/2007/02/23/ny/post-carter-showdown-at-brandeis-over-speakers |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pipes lectures to calm crowd |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/04/pipes-lectures-to-calm-crowd |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Finkelstein calls Israel a human rights abuser, following brief protest |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/05/finkelstein-calls-israel-a-human-rights-abuser-following-brief-protest |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref>

In December 2007 former President [[Bill Clinton]] spoke on campus and launched the Eli J. Segal Leadership program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Call to action |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2007/12/call-to-action |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bill Clinton calls on students to be social entrepreneurs |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2008/january/clintonstory.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=BrandeisNOW |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham MA.jpg|right|thumb|The Volen Center for Complex Systems (1994, [[CannonDesign]])]]
[[File:Landsman Research Facility, Brandeis University.jpg|thumb|right|Landsman Research Facility (completed 2005, dedicated 2008), home to a superconducting magnet.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rahman |first1=Nashrah |title=Research facility dedicated to donors |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2008/11/research-facility-dedicated-to-donors |website=The Justice |access-date=21 January 2019 |date=11 November 2008 |archive-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121064743/https://www.thejustice.org/article/2008/11/research-facility-dedicated-to-donors |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

In 2014, Brandeis announced it would offer an honorary doctorate to [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]], "a staunch supporter of [[women's rights]]",<ref>{{cite web |title=Brandeis University Rescinds Honorary Degree From Ayaan Hirsi Ali Over Criticism of Islam |work=The Christian Post |first=Morgan |last=Lee |date=April 9, 2014 |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/brandeis-university-rescinds-honorary-degree-from-ayaan-hirsi-ali-over-criticism-of-islam-117659/ |access-date=May 21, 2014 |archive-date=May 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522015300/http://www.christianpost.com/news/brandeis-university-rescinds-honorary-degree-from-ayaan-hirsi-ali-over-criticism-of-islam-117659/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and an outspoken campaigner against [[female genital mutilation]], [[honor killing]] and [[Islamic extremism]] in general. After complaints from the [[Council on American–Islamic Relations]] and internal consultation with faculty and students, Brandeis publicly withdrew the offer, citing that Ali's statements condemning Islam<ref>{{cite web |title='The Trouble Is the West': Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Islam, immigration, civil liberties, and the fate of the West |first=Rogier |last=van Bakel |date=November 2007 |website=Reason.com |publisher=Reason Foundation |url=http://reason.com/archives/2007/10/10/the-trouble-is-the-west/singlepage |access-date=2014-06-01 |archive-date=2014-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427233726/http://reason.com/archives/2007/10/10/the-trouble-is-the-west/singlepage |url-status=live}}</ref> were "inconsistent with the University's core values".<ref>{{cite news |title=Brandeis Cancels Plan to Give Honorary Degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Critic of Islam |first1=Richard |last1=Pérez-Peña |first2=Tanzina |last2=Vega |author-link=Tanzina Vega |date=April 8, 2014 |work=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/brandeis-cancels-plan-to-give-honorary-degree-to-ayaan-hirsi-ali-a-critic-of-islam.html |access-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414212112/http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/brandeis-cancels-plan-to-give-honorary-degree-to-ayaan-hirsi-ali-a-critic-of-islam.html |url-status=live}}</ref> 87 out of 511 faculty members at Brandeis signed a letter to the university president.

The university announced that the decision to withdraw the invitation was made after a discussion between Ayaan Ali and President Frederick Lawrence, stating that "She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights ... but we cannot overlook certain of her past statements".<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement from Brandeis University |publisher=Brandeis University |date=April 8, 2014 |url=http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2014/april/commencementupdate.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140615170913/http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2014/april/commencementupdate.html |archive-date=June 15, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to Brandeis, Ali was never invited to speak at commencement, she was only invited to receive an honorary degree.<ref>{{cite web |title=Students' outcry prompts Brandeis to reconsider award |first=Emily |last=Stott |work=The Brandeis Hoot |date=April 11, 2014 |url=http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/14184 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034408/http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/14184 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Ali said that Brandeis' decision surprised her because Brandeis said they did not know what she had said in the past even though her speeches were publicly available on the internet, calling it a "feeble excuse".<ref name="foxnews.com">{{cite web |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on withdrawal of honorary degree |date=April 9, 2014 |work=The Kelly File |publisher=Fox News |first=Megyn |last=Kelly |format=transcript |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-kelly-file/transcript/2014/04/10/exclusive-ayaan-hirsi-ali-withdrawal-honorary-degree |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512224028/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/the-kelly-file/transcript/2014/04/10/exclusive-ayaan-hirsi-ali-withdrawal-honorary-degree |archive-date=2014-05-12 |url-status=dead |access-date=2014-05-24 }}</ref> Ali stated that the university's decision was motivated in part by fear of offending Muslims.<ref name="foxnews.com"/> She argued that the "spirit of free expression" referred to in the Brandeis statement has been betrayed and stifled.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'They Simply Wanted Me to be Silenced' |magazine=Time |date=April 9, 2014 |url=https://time.com/56111/ayaan-hirsi-ali-they-simply-wanted-me-to-be-silenced/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610152126/http://time.com/56111/ayaan-hirsi-ali-they-simply-wanted-me-to-be-silenced/ |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

While some commentators such as Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim chaplain and adjunct faculty of Islamic Studies at Duke University, applauded the decision and warned against "making renegades into heroes,"<ref>{{cite news |title=Hats off to Brandeis University! |work=The Chronicle |publisher=Duke Student Publishing Company |first=Abdullah |last=Antepli |date=April 10, 2014 |access-date=April 16, 2014 |url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/04/10/hats-brandeis-university |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708195244/http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/04/10/hats-brandeis-university |archive-date=2014-07-08 |url-status=dead}}</ref> other academic commentators such as the University of Chicago's [[Jerry Coyne]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Brandeis University cancels plans to give Ayaan Hirsi Ali an honorary degree |first=Jerry A. |last=Coyne |work=Why Evolution Is True |date=April 9, 2014 |access-date=April 16, 2014 |url=http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/brandeis-university-cancels-plans-to-give-ayaan-hirsi-ali-an-honorary-degree/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619185927/http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/brandeis-university-cancels-plans-to-give-ayaan-hirsi-ali-an-honorary-degree/ |archive-date=June 19, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the George Mason University Foundation Professor [[David Bernstein (law professor)|David Bernstein]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Bernstein |first=David |title=More on the Brandeis-Hirsi Ali controversy |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2014-04-10 |access-date=2014-04-16 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/10/more-on-the-brandeis-hirsi-ali-controversy/ |archive-date=2017-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517100257/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/10/more-on-the-brandeis-hirsi-ali-controversy/ |url-status=live}}</ref> criticized the decision as an attack on academic values such as freedom of inquiry and intellectual independence from religious pressure groups.

In 2017, a planned student performance of a play called "Buyer Beware" about [[Lenny Bruce]] by Brandeis alumnus [[Michael Weller]] was first postponed over concerns about racism, then prompting the playwright to withdraw the play in favor of a staging it elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-17 |title=Brandeis Says It Had Planned To Stage Controversial Play |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/11/15/brandeis-play-controversy |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.wbur.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kitty Bruce criticizes father's portrayal in 'Buyer Beware' |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2017/11/bruce-on-buyer-beware |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiater |first=Natalia |title='Buyer Beware' author discusses life and work CONVERSATION: Michael Weller '65 shared personal stories from his life in a conversation with the University |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2018/01/weller-talk |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Deb |first=Sopan |date=2017-11-06 |title=Brandeis Cancels Play About Lenny Bruce After Protests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/theater/brandeis-cancels-lenny-bruce-play.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Brandeis cancels play amid protests over racism — and gets more backlash - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/03/brandeis-cancels-campus-play-amid-student-protests-its-black-characters/G52k7m4X0H6s9A4cISyP4I/story.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Protest cancels play production |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2017/10/protest-cancels-play-production |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Unstaged play captures Lenny Bruce's relevance, edgy danger - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/27/unstaged-play-captures-bruce-relevance-edgy-danger/ZbpiwWdTSydP8arFi1CHSI/story.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref> 

The university adopted official free expression principles in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=University adopts principles of free speech, expression |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2018/10/university-adopts-principles-of-free-speech-expression-brandeis-board-trustees |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Principles |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/free-expression/principles.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}</ref> A new presidential taskforce to review the university's free expression guidelines was set up in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Task Force on free expression |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2024/04/ask-force-on-free-expression-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Presidential Task Force on Free Expression |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/president/past/liebowitz-letters/2024-3-28-presidential-task-force-on-free-expression.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.brandeis.edu |language=en}}</ref>

In 2021, a student group's "oppressive language list" was removed from the university website after it got outside attention for its suggestion to avoid the term "trigger warning."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McWhorter |first=John |date=2021-07-04 |title=Even Trigger Warning Is Now Off-Limits |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/brandeis-language-police-have-suggestions-you/619347/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-29 |title=Oppressive Language List {{!}} Holding Ourselves Accountable {{!}} Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center {{!}} Brandeis University |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629093450/https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist.html |archive-date=June 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-29 |title=Violent Language {{!}} Holding Ourselves Accountable {{!}} Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center {{!}} Brandeis University |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist_violent.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629093610/https://www.brandeis.edu/parc/accountability/oppressivelanguagelist_violent.html |archive-date=June 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PARC's Suggested Language List gains widespread media coverage |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2021/09/parcs-suggested-language-list-gains-widespread-media-coverage-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gersen |first=Jeannie Suk |date=2021-09-28 |title=What if Trigger Warnings Don't Work? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/what-if-trigger-warnings-dont-work |access-date=2025-02-16 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

President Ronald Liebowitz announced his resignation in September 2024 following a faculty no-confidence vote amid budget concerns and controversy over the handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus -- the fifth university president to step down that year at least in part in connection with the [[2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses]], according to the ''New York Times''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Saul |first=Stephanie |date=2024-09-25 |title=Brandeis President Steps Down Amid Budget Issues and Protests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/us/brandeis-university-president-resigns.html |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bier |first=Eliza |title=University President Ronald Liebowitz shares plans to resign |url=https://www.thejustice.org/article/2024/10/university-president-ronald-liebowitz-shares-plans-to-resign-brandeis |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Justice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gurvis |first=Jacob |date=2024-09-25 |title=Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz resigns after no-confidence vote that cited budget crisis and Gaza protests |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/09/25/united-states/brandeis-president-ron-leibowitz-resigns-after-no-confidence-vote-that-cited-budget-crisis-and-gaza-protests |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Knott |first=Katherine |title=Facing Budget Cuts and Faculty Pushback, Brandeis President Resigns |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2024/09/26/brandeis-president-steps-down-after-no-confidence |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}</ref>