MIT Health budget cuts cause MIT Spouses & Partners Connect to close after 53 years of service
Budget cuts caused the MIT Health Community Wellness program to end on May 23
Photo courtesy of Ilja Hedemann
On May 10, MIT Spouses & Partners Connect (MS&PC) Program Manager Jennifer Recklet Tassi announced in an MS&PC email newsletter that MIT Health was to close MS&PC and the Language Conversation Exchange (LCE) due to budget cuts. Additionally, the getfit and Step Your Way programs were also discontinued, according to an MIT Health letter. In an email statement to The Tech, spokesperson Abby Abazorius wrote that the program closures “were carefully considered to ensure they would not impact any part of MIT Health’s core clinical mission.”
Staff member Recklet Tassi and Program Assistant Viktoriia Palesheva were notified that their roles would end on May 23. “Our hearts are heavy, but we want you to know that it has been our honor and pleasure to be part of your life at MIT,” Recklet Tassi wrote. On May 21, the program held a farewell event; nearly 100 people attended, honoring the work of Tassi and Palesheva.
Founded in 1972 by former MIT Medical psychologist Dr. Charlotte Green Schwartz, MS&PC was established to provide a support group for the wives of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members. Schwartz’s research on the international community at MIT made her realize that families needed support in relocating to the Boston area. Originally called the “Wives Group,” the name was changed in 2000 to MIT Spouses & Partners. In 2022, MS&PC celebrated its 50th anniversary.
MS&PC welcomed anyone with a partner affiliated with MIT and had a large international population. Many had to navigate learning English, finding a job, and using the healthcare system for themselves and their children. To help spouses smoothly adapt to life in the U.S., MS&PC offered programs and services from interest groups to weekly gatherings to career assistance.
The closure of MS&PC occurred amidst an unprecedented time for international students in the U.S., who have been targeted by the federal government through SEVIS status terminations and orders halting the scheduling of new student visas. Recently, the Trump administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. In a letter sent on May 22 regarding this news, President Kornbluth reaffirmed MIT’s commitment to international students, stating, “MIT would not be MIT without you.”
As MS&PC Program Manager, Recklet Tassi not only oversaw the program but also offered individual appointments for members who sought direct guidance in various areas, such as emotional support or career advice. She has been working for MS&PC for nearly three decades. Tassi did not respond to The Tech’s request for comment by the time of publication.
In response to the closure of MS&PC, some members of the program, along with other MIT community members, have been working to raise awareness about the impact of MS&PC through articles in The Tech and the MIT Faculty Newsletter, urging administrators to reconsider the closure of MS&PC. Many volunteers wrote emails to MIT administrators, advocating for the program’s continued existence.
Holland Hamilton, an MS&PC member from the U.S. and the spouse of an MIT graduate student, found the MS&PC parenting meetings to be a major source of support as a new parent. Through MS&PC, Hamilton found a network of other parents who have helped her “navigate all the ups, downs, and in-betweens of daily parenting life.”
Sunita Arora, a former MS&PC member from India, credits MS&PC for giving her the confidence to apply to top master’s degree programs in the U.S. Initially, Arora was unsure what the “next chapter” of her career and overall life would be, as she left her managerial position at UnitedHealthcare Group in India to support her husband’s studies in the MIT Sloan MSMS Program. During her time at MS&PC, Arora was also the founder of Career Connect, an MS&PC program that provided training for spouses seeking jobs.
Inspired by a spouse who attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) along with the guidance of Recklet Tassi and other spouses, Arora decided to apply to top master’s programs, including Harvard, whereas she had previously only considered less prestigious programs. At MS&PC, Arora not only received coaching for the GRE through a study buddy, but she also received guidance on graduate school applications. She found the free resource to be very helpful, as she was living on a tight budget. In the end, Arora got into all three schools she applied to and attended HGSE, where she had her first child and continued to stay in touch with the MS&PC community.
“MIT Spouses & Partners Connect has a place here,” Arora said in an interview with The Tech. “It’s not ‘good to have’; it’s a ‘must-have’ to keep the ethos and the sense of community.”
Sol Rosito, a former MS&PC member from Argentina, credits the program for giving her confidence during the job search process. Recklet Tassi helped Rosito prepare for interviews and reviewed her CV. Now, Rosito is a research fellow in biostatistics at Harvard University and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Besides the professional guidance she received at MS&PC, Rosito is grateful for the emotional support she received from the community and staff members. Rosito remembers Palesheva for her “warmth, openness, and genuine support.” as it had a huge effect on her. “She and Jennifer created a space where people felt safe and valued, something that’s rare and deeply needed during such a vulnerable period of transition,” Rosito wrote in a statement to The Tech.
Anita Satyajit, a former MS&PC member from India, appreciates the strong and supportive community at MS&PC as she felt “displaced” and struggled with a “lack of purpose” when she first arrived in the U.S. Satyajit came to MIT to follow her husband, who was a student in the Sloan Fellows program. Satyajit was an active volunteer in MS&PC, organizing social events and sending out weekly emails. Satyajit fondly remembers MS&PC for promoting “cross-cultural celebration, understanding, and exchange,” which helped expand her “horizons beyond anything [she] had ever anticipated.”
Although Satyajit recognizes that MS&PC makes up a small part of the large international community at MIT, she argued that MS&PC is important for supporting a “very often ignored segment — the people who support and run the homes as students study at MIT.” Satyajit added, “It is the support of these very spouses and partners that allows students to focus undisturbed on their study.”
In a phone interview with The Tech, Jay Liew, the spouse of an MIT faculty member, described MS&PC as the community “that kept everyone together” when he moved to Cambridge during the COVID pandemic in 2020, a period that he found to be “very isolating.” When Liew learned about the closure of MS&PC, he was “very sad” and “pained” by the decision.
Although Liew understands that MIT Health is experiencing financial difficulties, he believes that MS&PC should continue to run, even if that means on a reduced budget or lower pay. “If you’re just looking at a list of people to lay off and you see two names, you think that you’re just laying off two people,” Liew said. “But then you don’t realize that these two people have impacted thousands of people’s lives throughout the years.”
Liew criticized MIT Health’s decision to end the program on a two-week notice, as he believes that the announcement did not provide enough time for a proper transition, and was too abrupt for the staff members. “[Jennifer] has poured her whole life to MIT having worked here for three decades, and then all she got was a two-week notice,” Liew pointed out. “That’s not very compassionate.”
A correction was made on May 31, 2025: A previous version of the article misrepresented Sunita Arora's experience, stating that MS&PC had inspired her to apply to master's programs. Specifically, she gained confidence to apply to programs at more prestigious universities, including Harvard.