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Twenty nine members of the university faculty urged university administrators to keep the Rose Art Museum open as a public museum until June 30, 2010 in an open letter to President Jehuda Reinharz and Provost Marty Krauss on Wednesday.

The letter lists four concerns about the future of the museum; that the exhibitions currently in the rose close on May 19 and that there are no other exhibitions planned, that students are no longer able to pre-enroll in Rose internships and that the contract of Museum Director Michael Rush ends on June 30 and has not yet been renewed.

“We are thus concerned that the Museum will be effectively closed as of June 30, 2009,” the letter reads.

In response to the letter, President Reinharz told The Hoot that “I don’t think we could be more transparent in the way we have handled the Rose,” pointing out that Krauss is currently leading a Committee on the Future of the Rose Art Museum comprised of students, faculty, trustees and Rose staff to decide the museum’s future.

Reinharz said that he will not “constrain the committee” by telling them to keep the Rose open for an additional year if that is not what they recommend.

“What do we have a committee for if we are going to make constraints to bind their hands?” he asked. “We are going to let the committee do their work.”

While the Rose Committee is charged with making a recommendation for the future of the museum, ultimately, the fate of the Rose will be determined by the Board of Trustees.

Reinharz did say “if the committee gives their recommendation for the rose before the summer at a time that we cannot discuss the decision with the community, we will postpone the final decision until the fall.”

“I know of no institution that has been as democratic in its process as Brandeis has,” Reinharz said.