Brandeis Magazine

President Arthur Levine

This letter is inspired by the too-often-forgotten words of philosopher Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I completed my first year as Brandeis president in November — a good moment to stop and look around.

I have been a college president for more than 20 years at three institutions and have worked as a consultant with another 200. Yet at Brandeis, I saw things I had never seen before.

I saw faculty, administrators and the Board of Trustees work hand in hand to reimagine our university.

I saw this community take on the daunting task of reinventing the liberal arts, leading Brandeis — and, by extension, higher education — into the future.

I saw our faculty reject the status quo, reorganize the university, make the liberal arts practical and rethink general education, to ensure students gain the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a global digital knowledge economy.

And I saw change enacted at an astonishing pace. In just five months, Brandeis developed and approved a plan, with 88% of the faculty and the entire Board of Trustees voting
in favor of it. Four months later, the plan was underway.

In July, four new schools combining the liberal arts and applied learning were established, and founding deans appointed. Our professional schools joined undergraduate liberal-arts programs to strengthen the fields that fuel them and integrate practical application into the liberal arts.

Last fall, work began on the Center for Careers and Applied Liberal Arts, which will provide every Brandeis student with both an academic and a career adviser, create opportunities to apply the liberal arts in the real world, and introduce a second transcript that highlights career-aligned competencies and microcredentials. The center will also launch a lab exploring the use of new technologies, including AI, in teaching and learning. Brandeis is currently piloting these changes and will implement the new program when the Class of 2030 enters next fall.

I saw the Board of Trustees invest $25 million in reinventing the liberal arts and launch the silent phase of the university’s first comprehensive campaign in 16 years. I saw Jordan
Tannenbaum ’72, who previously led the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s $1.3 billion capital campaign, return to Brandeis to lead ours, and former trustee Lewis Brooks ’80, P’16, come back to lead the Center for Careers and Applied Liberal Arts.

I also saw Brandeis reaffirm its historical roots as a nonsectarian Jewish university — confronting antisemitism and discrimination in a time when hate is being fomented, championing our shared responsibility to repair the world, advancing cutting-edge teaching and research, and building a Center for Jewish Life.

I saw much more: The largest alumni gift in Brandeis history. The groundbreaking for a new state-of-the-art residence hall. And, best of all, confirmation that Brandeis — its students, faculty and staff — remains the same university I fell in love with half a century ago.

As I took stock of all that Brandeis has accomplished in such a short time, I was struck by a stark contrast: the growing and deliberate assault on America’s universities, long the envy of the world, and a driving force behind this nation’s scientific and economic leadership. This pressure is not abstract; it is an everyday reality for research universities across the country. This makes Brandeis’ momentum and clarity of purpose all the more meaningful.

It has been an extraordinary year for Brandeis, and for me. At a moment of real challenge for higher education, I have seen this community move with resolve, imagination and shared purpose. For that, I am deeply grateful.

And, yes, Ferris was right.

Cordially,

Arthur Levine ’70
President