MFSA Brings Student, Faculty, Administrative Leaders Together at Second Annual Free Expression Conference
MFSA Brings Student, Faculty, Administrative Leaders Together at Second Annual Free Expression Conference
October 16, 2024
The second annual MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA) conference was held on September 26, 2024. The MFSA conferences highlight approaches to improve freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity and academic freedom on the MIT campus. This year’s conference panelists included MIT faculty free speech leaders, MIT administrators, students, select officials from peer institutions, and noted free-speech experts and public intellectuals. The conference was attended by broad cross-section of the MIT community, including MIT President Sally Kornbluth.
“This year’s conference was a demonstrable success, and we thank all members of the MIT community who came out to take part, said MFSA President Wayne Stargardt ’74, whose remarks opened and closed the proceedings. “Bringing together this group of change-makers from all levels of MIT for a day of engaging discussions cements our purpose, and shows that there’s a significant role for alumni to play in pushing MIT forward on free expression.”
The conference was keynoted by Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, who spoke on “Human Rationality and Academic Freedom.” Pinker’s theme was that people behave across the spectrum between rationality and irrationality, and universities need to do better to preserve themselves as key “rationality-promoting institutions” in our national culture.
The conference’s opening panel focused on MIT’s Committee on Academic Freedom and Campus Expression (CAFCE). Faculty co-chairs Michael Sipser (Mathematics), and Anette (Peko) Hosoi (Mechanical Engineering), were joined by doctoral student and CAFCE member Angie Jo (Political Science). The panel discussed, among other issues, the challenges CAFCE’s work faced as a result of the frequent protests at MIT last year, which raised complicated questions on free expression in real time.
Karl Reid, MIT’s Vice President for Equity & Inclusion, led a panel on Fostering Civil Discourse at MIT, a key element of his new role at the Institute. The session panelists, drawn from MIT’s Media Lab, Concourse learning community, Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life, and Office of Residential and Community Life, discussed different approaches, “soft” and technology-based, for modeling civil and respectful discourse. All panelists placed a particular emphasis on listening rather than speaking, and on practicing goal-directed, reasoned speech and not just unfettered expressions of emotions.
A third panel drew on the wisdom of a group of senior administrators from other institutions. The participants in this panel included Jason Merchant, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Chicago, David Reingold, Senior Vice President for Policy Planning at Purdue University, Ramsey White, Trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Joseph De Gearo, Dean of Students at Adelphi University. The panelists emphasized several strategies that can improve the free speech culture on all campuses.
Attorney and author Harvey Silverglate, co-founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) spoke on First Amendment law, in detail and in philosophy. He noted that the United States was founded as a society that values freedom over mental comfort, and that an inevitable result of freedom is hearing people say things that make one uncomfortable.
The final panel of the conference consisted of a discussion among MIT students, moderated by Spencer Sindhusen ’27, Co-President of the MIT Open Discourse Society. This panel served as a model of civil discussion and disagreement over a contentious issue, specifically over how students should express themselves about the conflict in Gaza. The students agreed that critical thinking on any issue requires both humility and active listening to other viewpoints.
Karl Reid, MIT’s Vice President for Equity & Inclusion, led a panel on Fostering Civil Discourse at MIT, a key element of his new role at the Institute. The session panelists, drawn from MIT’s Media Lab, Concourse learning community, Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life, and Office of Residential and Community Life, discussed different approaches, “soft” and technology-based, for modeling civil and respectful discourse. All panelists placed a particular emphasis on listening rather than speaking, and on practicing goal-directed, reasoned speech and not just unfettered expressions of emotions.
A third panel drew on the wisdom of a group of senior administrators from other institutions. The participants in this panel included Jason Merchant, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Chicago, David Reingold, Senior Vice President for Policy Planning at Purdue University, Ramsey White, Trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Joseph De Gearo, Dean of Students at Adelphi University. The panelists emphasized several strategies that can improve the free speech culture on all campuses.
Attorney and author Harvey Silverglate, co-founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) spoke on First Amendment law, in detail and in philosophy. He noted that the United States was founded as a society that values freedom over mental comfort, and that an inevitable result of freedom is hearing people say things that make one uncomfortable.
The final panel of the conference consisted of a discussion among MIT students, moderated by Spencer Sindhusen ’27, Co-President of the MIT Open Discourse Society. This panel served as a model of civil discussion and disagreement over a contentious issue, specifically over how students should express themselves about the conflict in Gaza. The students agreed that critical thinking on any issue requires both humility and active listening to other viewpoints.
All conference sessions were recorded and will be available for viewing on the MFSA’s website and YouTube channel in the near future.
Contact: Peter Bonilla, Executive Director, peter@mitfreespeech.org
The MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA) has over 1,100 members. Founded by MIT alumni in October 2021 following the cancellation of Dorian Abbot’s Carlson Lecture. MFSA is a member of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, together with sister organizations at Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Virginia, among other institutions. MFSA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is independent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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The MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA) has over 1,100 members. Founded by MIT alumni in October 2021 following the cancellation of Dorian Abbot’s Carlson Lecture. MFSA is a member of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, together with sister organizations at Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Virginia, among other institutions. MFSA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is independent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Read at Permalink.