Rejecting antisemitism

Dear members of the MIT community,

I hadn’t intended to start the year with a message like this, but on Monday, an incident occurred that I found troubling. I cannot be the arbiter of every disagreement about speech at MIT, and I do not expect to write often about such things. But as we start a new year together, it’s important that you hear directly from me.

On Monday, as first-year students entered Kresge Auditorium for an orientation event, several other students were handing out flyers. “Welcome to MIT!” the flyers announce, next to a drawing of Tim the Beaver, MIT’s mascot. The flyers go on to comment on the conflict in the Middle East and the State of Israel in particular, and they list more than 20 additional resources.

I want to make three points very clearly.

First, in case anyone is unsure, these flyers were not created or distributed by anyone in the administration, and they do not speak for MIT.

Second, while I have repeatedly defended freedom of expression, I must tell you that I found some of the websites cited on the flyers deeply concerning. I was particularly disturbed to see that the flyers featured a URL for something called the Mapping Project, which catalogs hundreds of Jewish and other organizations in the Boston area – from a council of synagogues to universities, businesses and museums – and then provides their addresses and, in some cases, lists the names of key officials. The goal of this effort is, in its own words, “to reveal the local entities and networks that enact devastation, so we can dismantle them. Every entity has an address, every network can be disrupted.” I believe the Mapping Project promotes antisemitism.

Like every other form of racial and religious prejudice and hate, antisemitism is totally unacceptable in our community. It cannot be justified, and it is antithetical to MIT’s values.

Finally: We design orientation to introduce students to our campus and help them feel at home – all of them. Yet over the last two days I have heard from students who felt the flyers sent the message that they are not welcome at MIT.

Do we really want to draw lines on Day One and risk making any of our newest students question whether they belong here? Every student, and every member of our faculty and staff, belongs here. You are welcome here.

And, to the Class of 2028, we are grateful you chose to join us at MIT.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth
President