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."

#1: Marty Zelnik '61 -

Great news:

 

I have a conference call set up in January to speak with our Athletic Director. The  topic of discussion will be :

"What are the roadblocks, if any, of adding a Club Football or JV Football team at Brandeis?"

This is a friendly informational call, which was graciously set up by our AD, to openly discuss the topic.

I am extremely excited to learn more about the Athletics Department process during this call and how they feel about this proposal.

As you all know, I feel that we MUST have the support of the Athletic Director and staff and hope to win their support.

 

Please continue to spread the word to those who might also support and sign the petition.

 

I truly feel that Brandeis needs a Football program to be the University it wants to be. Football is part of our Society and many other Universities are adding programs this year!

 

I welcome comments and suggestions as we are in the early stages of this process still and I am learning about the process more each day.

 

Happy Holidays to all and I will update the site as we progress.

 

All the best,

Scott M. Khourie 98