The MIT Free Speech Alliance was founded in fall 2021 in response to the cancellation of Prof. Dorian Abbot. Prof. Abbot was invited to MIT to give the John Carlson Lecture, on the topic of the habitability of planets outside the Solar System. He had attracted enemies at the University of Chicago who targeted him for his stance on affirmative action and DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs in universities. Those programs have nothing to do with the habitability of planets, but it was argued that no person with his views should be allowed to give the Carlson Lecture. Two weeks before the day of the lecture, his invitation was rescinded. The cancellation not only outraged MIT faculty and alumni, but resulted in widespread criticism in the press of MIT's intolerance and politicization, extending even to suppression of science for the sake of political correctness.
Several alumni organized a mass Zoom meeting, and that meeting led to the creation of the MIT Free Speech Alliance. The Alliance is composed of alumni spanning the decades, as well as students and faculty. MFSA membership has grown to over 1,000, mainly alumni, and it continues to grow. MFSA hopes to turn back the tide of cancel culture at MIT, a culture that has resulted to widespread self-censorship on campus. In response to the problem, with input from MFSA and other interested parties, MIT's faculty developed and adopted the Statement on Freedom of Expression in late 2022, a declaration of the right to free speech on campus comparable to the Chicago Principles many other universities have adopted.
In spring 2023, MFSA also hosted a famous DEI debate at MIT. This event was unprecedented in its open and polite discussion of the diversity-equity-inclusion movement and race-based college admissions -- the topic over which Prof. Abbot had been cancelled just a year and a half earlier. This was followed by other debates on controversial topics--- gender changing and racism in STEM--- in the following semesters.
In spring 2024 came a notable advance in freedom of thought. The new President of MIT, Sally Kornbluth, announced that after consultation with the Provost and other high administrators she was banning the use of DEI statements in hiring faculty. Many MIT departments, including engineering departments, had required job candidates to submit statements on their involvement or lack thereof in efforts to promote DEI, statements which were clearly designed to weed out candidates who opposed DEI programs. These would no longer be permitted. Eliminating DEI statements was one of MFSA's main goals for the year. We think, perhaps pridefully, that MFSA's very existence and constructive discussions with the Administration played a part in this.
MFSA is not resting. Now in our third year, we remain vigilant on the battlefields as we expand our initiatives and offerings. From conferences and guest speakers to debates and open letters, MFSA is MIT's frontline advocate for free speech and open inquiry.