Does the Massachsuetts Institute of Technology have a free speech problem? Daryl Morey, an MIT alum, thinks so, and wrote about it for the Wall Street Journal. In a new op-ed Morey writes:
The data point to a growing problem: According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, MIT ranks an abysmal 181st out of 203 universities when it comes to students' belief that the administration will protect their speech rights. FIRE reports that the mistrust extends to MIT faculty: 38% say they don't believe the administration would defend a speaker's rights during a controversy. Forty percent of MIT faculty said they were more likely to self-censor as of summer 2022 than they had been before 2020. Among students, 41% aren't confident in the administration's ability to protect controversial speech. Those are disheartening statistics for one of the world's best research institutions.
If MIT faculty, who are at the cutting edge of science and technology, can't count on their employer to defend open inquiry, it might prevent them from taking innovative risks. This, in turn, would stymie technological progress and the education of the next generation of innovators.
One step MIT can take to address this problem, Morey writes, is for MIT's President to endorse the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom, which was adopted by the faculty last month.
