Justice 

A complete education is not just the accumulation of knowledge. It is also the development of one’s soul and individual ideology. 

That is why Brandeis University has made a commitment to social justice an integral part of its mission. We believe that the betterment of one's self is not just a personal endeavor but also a means through which to better serve society and humanity.

This commitment to social justice dates to Brandeis' earliest days, when the university counted among its faculty first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and welcomed to campus a 27-year-old civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr. It continued through the 1960s and 1970s, with protests against South African apartheid and America's participation in the Vietnam War.

Today, Brandeis remains a hotbed of student activism. Here are just a few examples of student activities and initiative that give voice to the university's social-justice mission:

1More than 200 members of STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) participated in an International Solidarity Fast to raise money for the victims of political genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. In a related matter, the executive committee of the Brandeis Board of Trustees voted unanimously to keep the university’s endowment free of any holdings in companies doing business in Sudan to protest the Khartoum government’s genocide in the country’s Darfur region.

2Thanks to a student initiative backed by the Campus Fair Trade Brigade, Fair Trade coffee is now sold at dining facilities across the Brandeis campus. Fair Trade helps farmers who work in developing countries to receive fair prices for their goods.

3As part of the university's Volunteer Vacation Program, 12 Brandeis students traveled to the coastal town of Gulfport, Miss., in 2006 to participate in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, while 13 additional students spent their vacation week in New York City to help with the meals program offered by the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Organization.

4The Student Global AIDS Campaign arranged for counselors from Boston Medical Center’s Project Umbrella to administer free HIV tests on campus. More than 300 students availed themselves of the service.

5As part of the American Jewish World Service's Spring Break Alternative Program, 15 Brandeis students traveled to El Salvador in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan. The students assisted La Coordinadora del Bajo Lempa in a number of agricultural and cleanup initiatives on Isla de Mendez, one of the country’s hardest-hit areas.