Brandeis and IDC radio stations to try exchange

Presidents of the schools will be interviewed live on 'BRS Wednesday

President Fred Lawrence and IDC President Uriel Reichman in Israel last summer.

The leaders of Brandeis and the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel, are attempting to foster an exchange and partnership between the radio stations at the two campuses.

The idea arose in discussions between President Fred Lawrence and IDC President Uriel Reichman last summer, when Lawrence visited leading Israeli universities during his first trip to the country as president of Brandeis.

The first tangible development in the partnership will take place Wednesday, when Reichman – visiting Brandeis as part of a current U.S. tour – joins Lawrence to answer questions from students at both universities. "The joint interview with the president of Brandeis is the beginning of a new chapter of partnership and collaboration," the IDC president said.

Student participants from Brandeis include Student Union President Herbie Rosen ’12 and members of the board of the campus radio station, WBRS. Students at the IDC also will participate via Skype, according to Jamele Adams, associate dean of student life.

"This is an exciting opportunity for both WBRS and Brandeis as a whole," said acting WBRS general manager Alexandria Chum. "It is a chance to communicate with students across the globe, and to connect beyond an academic level. I'm excited to see where this new-found partnership will take us, and I'm looking forward to working with other students on future projects between the IDC and WBRS."

Brandeis students are invited to attend the program, which will take place in the Multipurpose Room of Shapiro Campus center from noon to 1 p.m. It also can be heard live on 100.1 FM Waltham and wbrs.org, and subsequently will be posted on the WBRS website.

Daniel Terris, who in his capacity of vice president for global affairs oversaw arrangements for Lawrence’s trip last summer, said the two presidents, senior administrators and members of the faculties discussed possibilities for faculty exchanges, joint research and student exchanges.

“We were talking about ways of getting our students together and ways of doing it virtually,” Terris said recently, “and the idea came up of an exchange of radio programs. They do a lot of programs in English and in Hebrew.”

Details of the radio stations’ partnership have not been worked out; Terris said possibilities range from an ongoing exchange of taped programming in both directions to joint production efforts. 

While on campus, Reichman also will have lunch with Lawrence, the deans and members of the faculty, meet with an IDC alumnus of Ethiopian origin who is now a student at the International Business School and talk with Lawrence about next steps in developing the universities’ relationship.

Reichman served in the paratroopers of the Israel Defense Forces from 1960 to 1963, earning the rank of lieutenant. As a commander in the IDF Reserves, he fought in the Six Day War, War of Attrition and Yom Kippur War.

He received LL.B. and LL.M. degrees with honors from the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a doctoral degree in law from the University of Chicago Law School. He was a lecturer, senior lecturer and tenured professor at the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University.

Reichman founded the Interdisciplinary Center, the first private institution of higher education in Israel, in 1994. He has served as its president for 12 of the ensuing years.