MFSA has been tracking the events on campus and monitoring MIT's response, especially regarding the free issues that this controversy has crystallized. You can find a compilation of our commentary here. This information is also available on our website under MFSA Commentary.
We issued our first statement, advocating the free speech perspective, on October 27, 2024.
We issued a second statement on November 15, 2023, noting that the right to free expression does not prevent MIT from instituting reasonable regulations on time, place, and manner and disciplining those who refuse to follow them.
We were interviewed by the national press in December following President Kornbluth’s testimony before Congress. We used that opportunity to reiterate our principled support for freedom of expression, no matter the speaker or viewpoint.
We issued a more extensive response to MIT’s handling of the campus protests on January 19, 2024, in a statement which also addressed President Kornbluth’s December 5 congressional testimony and made a series of initial recommendations for improving the climate for free expression at MIT.
On May 8th, we issued a statement that the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Kresge oval had moved past the protected expression of viewpoint into unprotected civil disobedience. We stated that the encampment was "unsustainable, and it must end." Two days later MIT used local police to clear the encampment and arrest the students who had refused to leave.
In the coming weeks we are planning a fuller critique of MIT’s response in policy and in practice to the speech, demonstrations and harassment on campus. We will also provide a more comprehensive set of recommendations for concrete actions that MIT can take to build a more tolerant and civil environment. We are confident that MIT can and will learn from the experience of this crisis and we intend to help support constructive changes.