Brandeis Magazine

Michael Ratner, an attorney and board chair of the Center for Constitutional Rights, has co-authored “Hell No,” a book that reports on U.S. government attacks on dissent and protest while offering suggestions to those who oppose such policies and actions. The book explores the current situation of attacks upon and criminalization of dissent and protest, from the surveillance of activists to the disruption of demonstrations, from the labeling of protesters as “terrorists” to the jailing of those the government claims are giving “material support” to its perceived enemies. Retiring faculty member Frank Bloch, M.A.’77, Ph.D.’78, was recognized during Vanderbilt’s commencement ceremony when the university honored his years of service and bestowed on him the title of emeritus faculty. Frank joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1979 as the first director of the law school’s legal clinic. As director of clinical education at Vanderbilt, a position he filled until 2001, he supervised the law school’s clinical-education program, developed its clinical curriculum and managed its in-house clinical law office. An internationally recognized expert in disability and Social Security law, Frank has written numerous publications and dozens of articles, book chapters and essays. Congratulations to Nancy Foner, who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a distinguished professor of sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Marian Solomon Lubinsky has retired and lives in Manhattan. She writes, “I spend a great deal of time at various museums and the 92nd Street Y. Living in New York, I see more of my Brandeis friends.”