Your help in setting the tone for our community

August 29, 2024
Cynthia Barnhart, Provost | Melissa Nobles, Chancellor | Glen Shor, Executive Vice President and Treasurer |

Dear faculty and staff colleagues,

Last academic year, the tragic situation in the Middle East caused deep pain for many people at MIT and had serious repercussions for our campus, in ways that tested the Institute's processes and frayed the bonds of our community. Because the crisis persists – with all its attendant human suffering – we must prepare for similar challenges this year.

Vice Chancellor for Student Life Suzy Nelson wrote to students earlier today to share policy updates and valuable resources designed to help students live and learn together, even when they hold different views on sensitive and sometimes deeply personal issues. Suzy emphasized the shared responsibility we have for upholding freedom of expression while also living up to the core expectation of decency and mutual respect.

It’s important that you read her message, below, so that you have the most up-to-date information.

But we are also writing to ask directly for your support and engagement in helping to set the tone for our whole community, especially if you work with students. In important ways, they take their cues from all of us. By living our values and modeling what it means to treat each other with deliberate respect no matter how much we may disagree, you can help make sure MIT remains a place we can all be proud of.

Together, we have the power to guide our community through a time in which the character of higher education is being called into question – guided by our mission, our values, and our long record of service to the nation and the world.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Barnhart
Provost

Melissa Nobles
Chancellor

Glen Shor
Executive Vice President and Treasurer

Dear students,

Whether you are new to the community or continuing your MIT journey, welcome to campus!

There’s plenty of good student life news to share: the wonderful Graduate Junction residence is now open, the Alumni Pool is freshly renovated, and Concord Market in W20 will open in the spring. I’ll send further positive updates in the coming weeks.

But as we begin a new academic year, I write to address something more serious.

Last year, the ongoing war in the Middle East caused anguish for many members of our community and, for some, deep personal grief. These tragic events spurred significant frictions on campus and highlighted differences of viewpoint and experience. As we come together for the new semester, it’s vital to remember that, whatever the differences among us, we all share an interest in making MIT “a humane and welcoming place where people from a diverse range of backgrounds can grow and thrive – and where we all feel that we belong.”

A community like this one uplifts us all. But creating this community doesn’t happen automatically; each of us privileged to be at MIT bears responsibility for it. So please take the time to read through the policies, guidelines, and support resources below, which are designed to help us live up to that responsibility.

Background on policy changes

Over the summer, in response to faculty, staff, and student calls for greater clarity, we updated several policies related to free expression and demonstrations. All of these policies apply universally, regardless of the viewpoint being expressed. I describe them in detail below – but here are some important highlights:

  • MIT supports free expression, but there are time, place, and manner restrictions.
  • Demonstrations may not disrupt Institute activities, block or obstruct access to Institute facilities, or interfere with or intimidate Institute personnel performing their regular duties and responsibilities.
  • Unauthorized space takeovers on MIT property are prohibited, including encampments.
  • Discrimination and harassment (such as doxing) are prohibited at MIT, including during demonstrations and counter-demonstrations.
  • Students need to opt in to receive dormspam messages.
  • The residential postering policy has been updated.
  • You have options for reporting concerns.

These rules and policies exist so every community member can thrive, study, work, and live in a welcoming environment. Our rules also enable the Institute to operate safely and fairly and fulfill its mission. Violations of campus policies therefore must and will be addressed through our discipline system. This includes referrals to the Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response Office (IDHR) and the Committee on Discipline (COD). Over the summer, we focused on ways to make the IDHR investigation process more efficient and timely, and we will continue that work throughout the year. The COD is also working to expedite the process for resolving violations of time, place, and manner rules and to define escalating consequences for repeat offenses. 

Distinguishing between offensive speech and harassment

While some policies are straightforward, free speech rules are more nuanced. As an MIT student, you will likely be exposed to language and ideas you find disagreeable, troubling, or offensive. Likewise, your opinions may upset or offend others. While such interactions may be uncomfortable, protecting the right to free expression is essential to the pursuit of knowledge and the open exchange of ideas, the bedrock of our academic and research mission.

However, MIT policies restrict speech that rises to the level of threats or harassment. While that sounds like common sense, real-life cases can often be unclear, in part because there is rarely an obvious “bright line” between harsh speech and harassment. While it’s important to familiarize yourself with COD rules, the fact is that we cannot address all disagreeable speech through discipline. That makes it especially important to treat each other with decency, remembering that disagreement does not justify disrespect.

As we engage with each other this year and speak out on issues and causes of importance, I hope our words and actions reflect a shared desire to understand and further strengthen the bonds of community.

Sincerely,

Suzy Nelson
Vice Chancellor for Student Life

Support resources

As the Middle East conflict continues, staff will contact students we believe may be directly affected and offer support to address specific needs. GradSupport (for grad students) and Student Support Services (for undergrads) stand ready to help with any issue affecting your well-being or academics. Please visit DoingWell for a list of additional campus supports.

If you feel you have experienced discrimination or discriminatory harassment, please contact the Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response Office for assistance and support.

Additional information for careful review

Rules for Campus Protests and Demonstrations

We have clarified our rules for campus protests and demonstrations in the following ways:

  • Simplified event registration
  • Identified spaces where demonstrations are allowed and where they are prohibited
  • Made clear that only members of our community may host or organize demonstrations
  • Clarified guidance about the involvement of people not affiliated with MIT in demonstrations
  • Banned unauthorized space takeovers on campus

Above all, our rules reaffirm that harassment, discrimination, retaliation, unreasonable invasion of personal privacy (including doxing), defamation, threats, violence, disorderly conduct, targeting of groups or individuals, or infringing the intellectual property rights of others are prohibited at MIT, including during demonstrations. These rules apply to faculty, staff, postdocs, and students universally, regardless of viewpoint.

Off-campus misconduct may also be a basis for MIT disciplinary action if the Institute considers that such alleged misconduct may have violated Institute policy and expectations of civility, integrity, and respect. The chair of the COD will determine, on a case-by-case basis, if it is appropriate to address a report of this kind.

Institute Bulletin Board/Postering/Display Spaces Policy

This summer, in response to recommendations from CAFCE, the following updates to policy have been made:

  • Details about large banners or large flags, including temporary displays
  • Display of incidental signage (e.g., “No Food or Drink,” “Leave Packages With …”)
  • Simplified reporting of concerns

Residence Hall Postering Policy

A group including heads of house, student leaders, and Division of Student Life staff met last fall to align postering practices in the residences with broader Institute policies, which include:

  • Rules for developing house postering policies
  • The need to identify the person or organization responsible for a poster
  • Restrictions on flags, banners, and posters in windows
  • Methods for reporting postering concerns

Dormspam

Heads of house, student leaders, and staff met to discuss ways to address concerns about giving users more agency over their interactions with dormspam, a set of informal residence-based email lists. Changes include:

  • House residents will be automatically added to lists used for official announcements but may choose to subscribe to their dormspam list
  • House teams will work more closely with student officers to manage dormspam
  • A student-staff team will manage the how-to-dormspam website and its content
  • Processes for reporting concerns will be clarified

Additional policies

Although these policy and report links are not directly related to the information above, it’s still essential that you know, understand, and follow them.

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