Reinharz speaks

Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz tries to explain his institution’s predicament to the Boston Globe:

“We’ve always been extremely ambitious,” Reinharz said yesterday during an interview in his office. “We’ve always lived on the edge. We’ve taken chances.”

Reinharz said he had been trying to wean the university off donor support of day-to-day operations, but each year about $14 million of the $330 million annual operating budget comes directly from fund-raising.

Further down in the same piece, Reinharz confirms what many of the commentators have suspected, closing the museum was meant to free the university’s hand in selling a few select works:

Reinharz also appeared to backpedal from last week’s announcement about the museum’s closing, emphasizing that Brandeis intends to sell only “a minute number” of its 7,180 works “if and when it is necessary.”

“It’s not like we faced some sort of a problem and the first thing we did is run to the Rose and take off the paintings and sold them,” Reinharz said. “We’re going to take our time. We’re not unaware of the fact that the art market is depressed. It’s not like we were born yesterday. Everything is depressed. Housing is depressed. The arts is depressed. Everybody is depressed.”

Donation Drop Puts Brandeis in a Bind (Boston Globe)