Thread by @mitfreespeech

A new report from @TheFIREorg examines @MIT’s institutional health, with an eye to its climate for free expression. There are worrying signs and trends on #freespeech at MIT, but also clear ways of addressing them. 🧵 (1/11)
thefire.org/news/report-fr…

First, the worrying stuff, including the fact that, in a number of measures on free speech views & attitudes, MIT’s students scored worse than their national counterparts. (Note: figures drawn from FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings) (2/11)
thefire.org/college-free-s…

Among findings: MIT students were highly likely to support the heckler’s veto to some degree, and more likely to do so than their peers (77% vs. 62%), and 52% supported preventing others from attending a speech.

(Ps. all credit to the @TheFIREorg team for the graphics!) (3/11)

FIRE surveyed 195 MIT faculty as well, and found both a high degree of self-censorship and an uncertainty about how readily the MIT administration would defend controversial expression. (4/11)

That this would be so isn't a surprise, given the prominent controversy around the cancellation of @DorianAbbot's delivery of the Carlson lecture in 2021. (See, e.g., @powellnyt 👇) (5/11)
nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/…

That can also help explain why, as a topic of discussion, MIT students rated affirmative action as significantly more fraught than their nationwide peers did. (6/11)

Is there a way through this? Definitely, as @pebonilla, our executive director, notes in @TheFIREorg's press release. FIRE proposes a number of steps, including a review and updating of MIT's speech policies & new orientation programming on free expression. We also both-- (7/11)

--encourage MIT to support the new free expression statement passed by the MIT faculty. (8/11)
mitfreespeech.org/mit-faculty-vo…

MFSA also wrote to MIT president Sally Kornbluth last week urging her to do the same. We've been encouraged by her early statements supporting free speech, and hope this translates to support for strengthening MIT's commitments. (9/11)
mitfreespeech.org/s/MFSA-letter-…

Lastly, supporters can write in to MIT as well! Follow the link below to use @TheFIREorg's take action page, and you can write to MIT directly. (10/11)
p2a.co/m7HVSnK

Thanks to the FIRE team for making MIT the first of what we hope will be a number of institutional health reports. For more from FIRE, you can also read their thread below. (11/11)

https://twitter.com/TheFIREorg/status/1616092920737665028