Passing
In current events, signing a compact with the US government to decide who defines MIT would have been passing.
I graduated from MIT in 1979. I haven't been back much, but I still care about the 'Tute. Despite it having been difficult and stressful at times, I have many good memories. Most, if not all, of the good memories relate to the people I met there – people of diverse backgrounds, people with different cultures and people with diverse ideas.
When I left home for university, it was a big change. To be honest, I hardly thought about who I was and who I wanted to be. I was more in survival mode. I kind of defined myself as I went along but used my upbringing and experiences as my touchstones.
I enrolled at MIT initially because there were only 3 universities teaching Naval Architecture at the time and one would not accept women. The other was University of Michigan, but I applied to Michigan State because who would ever think there were 2 public universities in Michigan that sounded the same? So I ended up at MIT not really having a clue.
The drive to design boats dwindled after my first try at Differential Equations (DiffEQ as we called it back then). But I learned to sail and that became one of my defining activities at MIT.
Many people define or redefine themselves in university. For some that process leads to deciding to "pass".
Passing is when you present yourself as something that you are not. One might pass to fit in, to feel safe, or for some other reason. People have been known to pass as a different race, different gender, different nationality, different orientation, or different economic class.
When the world is scary or confusing, it makes sense sometimes to pass. To fit into our present politic, many people are weighing their options. To pass, or not to pass? In order to retain funding, MIT even considered whether to pass or not to pass. I strongly support MIT's decision not to pass.
In current events, signing a compact with the US government to decide who defines MIT would have been passing. MIT students (and alumni) spoke out to say that the MIT community decides what the ideals are for the MIT community.
"This is a world that we will be entering with an immeasurable responsibility." Megha Vemuri, 2025.
When I was at MIT, free speech was encouraged – almost too much. I remember one semester when our design projects were due in days (I ended up in Course 4 due to my construction background), and our professor cancelled all classes so we could go to protest a military art exhibit in Lobby 7. I was "upset" because I needed the professor to give me guidance on my project. I also was against glorifying war, but my plate was too full to fight my professor's battles. But there was not a peep from MIT administration, nor any censure. I didn't expect there to be.
That was how things were in the ’70s. In 2025, things are different. Protests are discouraged. Free speech is being muzzled. No matter how annoying protests may be, stifling protest is not the MIT I know.
The thought that MIT was being targeted to lose funding unless they sign on to a gag order and culture rules set by the government is outlandish.
I have been following events at MIT, not from the Tech Review, but in the world news. To avoid bias, I follow many sources of news including "liberal," "conservative," and foreign news outlets. I was disturbed by the way MIT dealt with the free speech of Megha Vemuri.
I wrote a letter to express my views to the MIT Alumni association. Their response was that some Alumni were so upset about the commencement speech that they got up and walked out from the ceremony. Really?
If I was there, I would have walked out of any ceremony that excluded Ms. Vemuri. Maybe I am not your "typical" MIT alumnus.
I came to MIT probably through DEI initiatives. I struggled when I first came to MIT because it was so different from where I came from. For one thing, many students were rich and did not have to worry about day-to-day survival like I did. The way I paid for my freshman year was by scholarship and ADC (child welfare) checks that I was due. Another difference was that my urban public school was predominantly multi-racial, while MIT was mostly white. My high school was not as high performing as those of many of my peers who attended private prep schools, so topics where they advance-placed were all brand new to me.
My first year I had an ill-informed freshman advisor who gave me very bad advice, and I almost quit. Luckily, I asked for help and got under the wing of people like Bonnie Kellerman and Margaret MacVicar, my heroes. I know that there are still good people like these two women at MIT. They are known for standing up for their values. I understand that recently a professor (Prof. DeGraff) stood up for his values and lost his standing for doing so. That is scary and not the MIT that I know.
I know that there are good people amongst the students at MIT. I can't really remember overt racist students at MIT. Maybe it was because I was white. Most of my friends were involved in Sailing. At the time, I questioned why the sailing population was mostly (all, really) white, and I still do.
But was I really white? Culturally I would say I am white, but according to DNA, maybe not as much as I thought. I know that my father was very anti-racist, but my mother, not so much until later in life. It wasn't until the current craze for ancestry exploration and DNA that I think I figured out why that was. I always assumed my background was White Christian. I found out that I am probably ¼ Puerto Rican Christian, ¼ Ashkenazi Jew, ¼ Polish/Siberian (mixed with Asian?), and ¼ White Christian (maybe).
Back in the day of my grandparents, a lot of people "passed" for whatever was most likely to be accepted and not persecuted. My grandmother and her brother (Rose and Juan Colon) passed as Polish because that was a majority group in their community. For war time, many people of Hispanic/Latino background were encouraged to immigrate to the US for work, but as soon as the troops returned, they were all (men, women and children) literally put on buses and trains and sent to Mexico, regardless of where they came from. Sound familiar?
My grandfather passed as Catholic, because being Jewish and persecuted was probably why he left his home country. My other grandfather left Siberia because of political persecution because that is why families were sent to Siberia. I can't find out a lot about my other grandmother, maybe because she could have been considered a non-citizen and was also passing under the radar. One of her few records show she was born in Kentucky, but even if she was, she lost her citizenship, and her rights, when she married her first husband at the age of 14, because he had foreign citizenship. Women had to take on their husband's citizenship back then. That was the law of the time.
I would say that my brother most likely passed as a straight man for most of his life. We never talked about his sexual preference, because, why would we? I left home when he was only 15 and I never returned, so we didn't have a lot of contact. But when my brother died, it was apparent that his 20-year "roommate" was his partner. In his world of building construction, it probably was easier to pass. Ironically, he died just days before gay marriage was legalized in his state.
MIT is a lot of things – a leader in AI, war technology, medical technology, and architecture – but I never considered MIT racist. Maybe my younger self was naïve. The MIT I knew was open to new ideas from whatever source. MIT was full of good people – staff and students. I hope that is still the MIT that exists.
As we experience chaotic times, a lot of students at MIT will "pass" and feel that they must hide who they are. I hope not, but I won't blame them if they do. That would be like blaming my ancestors for doing what they had to do – and I don't blame them.
Your time at MIT is a time to think about who you are and who you want to be. Besides graduating from MIT, defining who you are is your job. Go into it with open hearts and inquisitive minds. When you look at your classmates, staff, or dormmates (who may be passing due to fear) – define yourself by kindness and try to be your best person. Be kind. Push for a world where we can all be who we are, without fear.
Carole (Swetky) Bookless received a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design - Architecture from MIT in 1979.