<p>Obviously 10,000 is only a minute amount of money that would barely make a dent in the financial mess that Brandeis is in. The point is that if $10,000 can be raised in a few days by reaching out to people with minimal relationship to Brandeis, there should be other sources of funding that perhaps remain untapped and seemingly the members of the University Board of Trustees, all of whom I am sure are fine and educated people may have not been given alternate scenarios or perhaps a true cost/benefit analysis of the long-term impact of this decision. To me this is a short-sighted decision that will perhaps embroil the university in legal struggles for years to come at significant costs for what purpose. The reputation of Brandeis has been so diminished by this decision as well as its implementation. We all know of schools that have gone under-two family members who live in close proxity to Brandeis are graduates of the missing Boston University School of Nursing, all of can relate to colleges and universities in which whole departments and programs have been elilminated as Brandeis considered eliminating the classics department 2-3 years ago, Dartmouth wrestled with the same issues as the Brandeis Swim Team/pool several years ago, Tulane eliminated their enginering program as well as several sports in wake of Katrina- we all realize we live in difficult times, schools have difficult decisions -this is simply the wrong decision for Brandeis to make because it sends a message devaluing the place of art on the Brandeis campus, it disrespects the legacies of those who made donations as well as those whose art has been accessioned by the Rose. It damages the reputation and the credibility of Brandeis as a serious, top tier liberal art university.</p>