Text on screen reads “Celebrating Brandeis at 75.” A castle is shown in the background.
Text reads “Celebrating our founding values.” Two men are shown laughing.
A man, one of the two just shown, sits in a room full of books. Text identifies him as Max Perlitsh ’52.
He says, “I’m a member of the first class to come to Brandeis in the fall of 1948.” A picture of the man receiving his diploma at graduation is shown. A picture of a graduation procession follows.
A woman says, “Brandeis is a unique place that sees the Jewish experience as a lens into exploring the human experience.” She is shown in the same room full of books. Text identifies her as Lisa Joffe P’23, Faculty. An archival photo shows dozens of people seated in a room, many wearing kippahs, facing a speaker at a podium.
A woman says, “Yeah, I kind of like the way Brandeis is founded, like being a place for people who didn’t necessarily have a place.” She is shown seated in an auditorium. Text identifies her as Jillian Franks GSAS PhD’29.
Max is shown again. He says “We came at a time when the campus was empty and void. In the beginning, there were no traditions, no school newspaper, no school governance. There were just devoted trustees, devoted faculty, who really enjoyed being with these teenage kids, who had come to campus to create a new university.”
Archival imagery shows aerial views of campus, headlines from newspapers announcing the university’s founding, and students and faculty around campus.
Two women seated next to each other are shown in the room of books. Text identifies them as Tali Shapira ’06 and Ellen Shapiro ’74 P’06, P’11. Tali holds up a photo of a group of women and says, “This is a photo taken before classes started, the beginning of the first year of Brandeis.” Ellen interjects, “Your great grandmother.” Tali repeats, “My great grandmother.”
The photo fills the screen. The women shown stand beneath a sign that says “Women of Brandeis.”
Ellen says, “There was a great party to celebrate the women’s committee of Brandeis, and I think lots of money was donated, not from that one event, but from many events, to the building of the library here.” An archival photo is shown of a group of women in a room full of boxes of books.
A man says, “I believe that the faculty at Brandeis is its secret sauce and it’s been that since the very beginning in 1948 through today.” He is seated in an auditorium. Text identifies him as Curtis Tearte ’73, Trustee.
A woman and man are shown seated in front of a piano. Text identifies them as Claudia Fine ’70, P’09 and Nick Brown ’10.
Claudia says, “I am the daughter of Irving Fine, who was a founding professor at Brandeis. He came to Brandeis because he embraced the idea of openness, integration, diversity, all of those wonderful values.
Nick says, “And he was extremely effective at translating his excellence as an artist into the classroom as an educator, as someone who would help his students reach their potential, and we’re still feeling the impacts of that today, I think, at Brandeis, even though everyone might not know his story as a critical player in the founding.”
Archival imagery of Irving Fine working with students is shown.
Tali and Ellen are shown again. Ellen says, “My grandfather, Abraham Shapiro, was one of the founders of Brandeis, and my uncle, Robert Shapiro, was in the first class. It was very exciting to know my grandfather helped start a university, where it was Jewish founded, supported, and that we would be accepted.” Archival imagery of Abraham Shapiro and the first class is shown.
Lisa is shown again. She says, “I’m really moved by the mission of the university to be a place that welcomes everyone, and I look forward to how the university’s going to elaborate and commit to that in the future.”
Jillian is shown again. She says, “My research is around prejudice and discrimination, so I thought this place would be a great place to support my work.”
Ruth Bader Ginsberg is shown delivering a speech at a podium with the Brandeis logo.
Max is shown again. He says, “Appreciate deeply the gift that Brandeis has made available to you, in showering you all with a degree that is going to open up the brightest future that you could ever imagine.”
Archival imagery of students in caps and gowns is shown. Contemporary footage of students in caps and gowns is shown. A campus building is shown.
Text reads, “Celebrating Brandeis at 75.” The Brandeis University logo is shown. Text reads, “Visit us at Brandeis.edu/75.”