Free expression is essential to MIT’s mission
The pursuit of knowledge depends on hearing views we’d rather not
Dear Class of 2030:
MIT has long celebrated the open exploration of ideas. In 2022, the faculty affirmed this tradition in a Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom:
Learning from a diversity of viewpoints, and from the deliberation, debate, and dissent that accompany them, is an essential ingredient of academic excellence.
Debate and deliberation of controversial ideas are hallmarks of the Institute’s educational and research missions and are essential to the pursuit of truth, knowledge, equity, and justice.
In accordance with these ideals, MIT’s policies on speech are viewpoint-neutral. Within their bounds, community members and guests are encouraged to speak their minds freely; there should be no fear of censorship.
Learning at MIT takes place inside and outside classes, in discussion with your fellow students, or when speakers are invited to campus. In a community committed to freedom of expression, neither community members nor outside speakers can be canceled or shouted down because their positions are controversial, or because they are perceived as offensive or harmful.
Make the most of your opportunities to engage with those whose opinions differ from your own: it will likely be to your benefit, to the benefit of your interlocutors, and to MIT as a whole. Congratulations on earning a seat in the Class of 2030! We look forward to seeing you on campus.
Sincerely,
Co-Presidents of the MIT Council on Academic Freedom
Alex Byrne
Ian Hutchinson
Piotr Indyk
Antoinette Schoar
Bradford Skow
Andrew G. Sutherland