Please Bring Back Brandeis University Football --Petition--

The 1957 Brandeis Football team was recently enshrined in the Brandeis Athletics Hall of Fame. Below you will find a portion of the nomination letter written by Tony Lahnston,'60, who played on that team and was the porimary force behind the successful nomination of that team. These two pargarpahs are in no way meant to endorse the return of football to the Brandeis campus, but they are provded as a way to document what football had accomplkished at the time...beore ot was dropped.

"The impact of the 1957 Brandeis football team cannot just be measured in wins and losses, nor can it be measured in terms of individual accomplishments and honors. This team had a major positive impact on – and contribution to -- the quality of campus life. In 1957, attending a home football game and rooting on this power house team was what almost ALL of the undergraduates did. Brandeis football, school spirit, and campus unity were all focused on the afternoon home game. Most of the Brandeis community…students, faculty, administrators… enthusiastically supported the 1957 football team. In addition, many residents from Waltham were in attendance in addition to hundreds of Brandeis students."

"One other significant contribution by the 1957 Brandeis football team (as well as other football teams that preceded it), was that it furthered the message that then President Abraham Sacher and the founding trustees wanted to promulgate. The football team, with its diverse demographics, helped establish that Brandeis was a “pansectarian” university that extended its vision to all ethnic and religious segments of society. The 1957 Brandeis football team and its incredible array of student athletes truly epitomized the vision of Sachar, Friedman, and so many others."