We Condemn Violent Responses to Free Expression
Members of the MIT Council on Academic Freedom speak on the assassination of Charlie Kirk
The assassination of Charlie Kirk while speaking at a university campus is a horrible crime. It is also an egregious challenge to the core value of freedom of speech on the university campus and in our society generally. People who fear violent consequences cannot speak freely. Thus, as some of the members of MIT's Council on Academic Freedom, we condemn the use or advocacy of physical violence, threats, intimidation, incitement, or vandalism directed at suppressing speech or academic pursuits within universities, where freedom of expression is essential to the pursuit of truth. Academic freedom protects civil discourse across the full range of opinions, even those some may find offensive and harmful. But violence, threats, intimidation, incitement, or vandalism are not expressions of academic freedom. They are attacks on it.
Signed,
Raymond Ashoori, Arnold Barnett, Martin Z Bazant, F. Phil Brooks III, Alex Byrne, Pavel Etingof, Stephen C Graves, Linda Griffith, Or Hen, Ian H Hutchinson, Daniel Jackson, David Karger, Richard C Larson, John H. Lienhard V, John Marshall, Linda Rabieh, Carlo Ratti, Antoinette Schoar, Yossi Sheffi, Michael Sipser, Andrew Sutherland, David Thesmar, Bernhardt L. Trout, John R Williams, Michael Williams
The MIT Council on Academic Freedom (MITCAF) is a faculty organization devoted to promoting and defending freedom of expression and academic freedom at the Institute.