The Boston Globe’s Geoff Edgers produces a smoking gun in the Rose Museum controversy. According to this quote, Brandeis is closing the museum in a pre-emptive attempt to remove themselves from the strictures of museum ethics:

Marty Krauss, Brandeis provost, also shed light on the reasoning behind the closure, which is scheduled for late summer. In an interview, she said university officials believed they could not operate a museum, which is expected to abide by a code of ethics limiting the reasons it can sell off art, and then sell art to pay for needs other than the museum. Closing the 48-year-old museum entirely would provide the university more freedom, Krauss said.

She said school officials have no regrets following the firestorm of criticism the university has received after announcing the dramatic move. At the informational meeting yesterday, administrators disclosed that the school’s endowment had fallen roughly 25 percent, from $712 million to $549 million.

“We knew this would be controversial,” she said. “We also firmly believe we’re doing this for the right reason. This is a bold move to ensure the future of the university.”

The Art Law Blog was the first to raise suspicions that Brandeis was making this move in the context of the brouhaha over the National Academy Museum painting sales. Edgers’s story seems to confirm that.

Brandeis May Keep Art, Says President (Boston Globe)