Rush_support_letter

OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF MICHAEL RUSH

//(NOTE: SIGNATURES ARE BEING GATHERED]//

April 22, 2009

Dear President Reinharz and Provost Krauss,

We, the undersigned Brandeis faculty members, are writing to seek clarification on the employment status of Dr. Michael Rush, the Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose Art Museum. The Provost's message of April 17 would seem to imply that Dr. Rush will no longer be employed as Director after June 30, 2009. Now that the University has affirmed that "the Rose Art Museum will remain a museum open to the public with professionally trained staff" we are at a loss to understand why Dr. Rush would be terminated.

During his time at Brandeis, Michael Rush has curated and overseen an extraordinary series of contemporary art exhibitions, of the highest intellectual and artistic standards. He has brought great critical acclaim and prestige to the University. He has been a brilliant interlocutor with faculty and students, facilitating a wide range of important, interdisciplinary symposia and roundtables, deeply enriching the intellectual fabric of the University. During the recent controversy over the future of the Museum and its collection, he has conducted himself with dignity and integrity, encouraging thoughtful discussion of the difficult decisions faced by the institution during this period of financial hardship. During the difficult time ahead, we need a figure of Michael Rush's intellectual stature, accomplishments and passionate commitment to guide the Museum and engage in fund-raising as the Museum continues to play a leading role in the academic and cultural life of the University.

We thus encourage you to act quickly to retain Dr. Rush as Director of the Rose Art Museum for the coming academic year (2009-10).

Respectfully,

Mark Auslander (Anthropology) Marty Boykan (Music) Marc Brettler (Near Eastern and Judaic Studies) Olga Broumas (English and American Literature) Bernadette Brooten (Near Eastern and Judaic Studies) Mary Baine Campbell (English and American Literature) Eric Chasalow (Music) David Cunningham (Sociology) Robin Dash (Education) Irina Dubinina (Russian Language) Helen Featherstone (Education) Gordie Fellman (Sociology) Elizabeth Ferry (Anthropology) Dian Fox (Romance Studies) Michael T. Gilmore (English) Jane Hale (Romance Studies) Donald Hindley (Politics) Pat Johnston (Classics) Peter Kalb (Fine Arts) Jane Kamensky (History) Nina (Cornelia) Kammerer (Heller School) Thomas King (English and American Literature) Susan Lanser (English and American Literature) Harry Mairson (Computer Science) Sophia Malamud (Anthropology & Language and Linguistics) Wayne Marshall (Music & African and Afro-American Studies) Robert Meyer (Physics) Paul Morrison (English and American Literature) Leonard Muellner (Classical Studies) Michael Randall (Romance Studies and Comparative Literature) Dirck Roosevelt (Education) Ellen Schattschneider (Anthropology) Nancy Scott (Fine Arts) Dawn Skorczewski (English and American Literature) Marion Smiley (Philosophy) Melissa Stimell (Legal Studies Program) Ramie Targoff (English and American Literature) Jonathan Unglaub (Fine Arts) Beverly Woodward