MIT will no longer require diversity statements from faculty candidates

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MIT announced that faculty candidates will no longer have to write diversity statements to be hired, a decision that conservatives and some First Amendment advocates said would promote Free Speech and reduce enforced “groupthink.”

Key Players

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is an elite private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Sally Kornbluth became MIT’s 18th president in January 2023. A cell biologist, she previously served as the provost of Duke University. 

Further Details

In past years, MIT has been scrutinized because of various Free Speech incidents.

In October 2021, MIT administrators canceled a lecture by Dorian Abbot, a University of Chicago geophysicist, after students and professors expressed discontent with an op-ed he wrote that criticized diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in universities across the nation. This disinvitation was seen by some, including the Academic Freedom Alliance, as a violation of a commitment to Free Speech and academic freedom. 

In December 2023, Kornbluth and other university presidents were criticized by members of the U.S. House of Representatives over their handling of alleged antisemitism on campus in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The hearing grew even more contentious after Kornbluth; Elizabeth Magill, then-president of the University of Pennsylvania; and Claudine Gay, then-president of Harvard University, appeared to dodge questions from lawmakers, resulting in intense backlash that led to Magill’s resignation and, in part, to Gay’s. 

Previously, MIT faculty candidates were required to write an essay on how they would promote diversity. The intended purpose of these statements was to determine whether a faculty candidate would help encourage and support a diverse student body. 

Certain members of the MIT community have been working to protect Free Speech on campus, as they interpret it, particularly faculty members who serve on a committee to protect academic freedom and campus expression, the MIT Free Speech Alliance, and students involved in MIT Students for Open Inquiry. 

On May 7, 2024, MIT announced that faculty candidates would no longer be required to write diversity statements.

“My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to MIT, and to make sure they thrive once here,” Kornbluth stated. “We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work.” 

Reportedly, the decision had the support of university officials, including the provost, the chancellor, all six academic deans, and the vice president for equity and inclusion. 

Moreover, Sarah McDonnell, an MIT spokesperson, explained that diversity statements were never a universit-wide requirement for hiring faculty, but some departments had opted to include them. She also noted that the statements were “not a part of the standard MIT application for other staff positions.”

Outcome

MIT’s decision pleases Free Speech advocacy groups

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) expressed approval of MIT’s action, stating that faculty candidates could “teach and research without needing to pass an ideological litmus test just to get their foot in the door.” 

FIRE maintained that the decision would enable MIT to attract “the best and brightest for faculty positions,” citing a self-survey conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, indicating that 76% of applicants for a position in the life sciences department were eliminated solely because of their DEI statements.

Controversy continues

To some, diversity statements are important to foster a welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to ban race-conscious college admissions.   

For instance, the MIT Communication Lab, a program within MIT’s School of Engineering, notes that diversity statements are an “opportunity to show that you care about the inclusion of many forms of identity in academia and in your field, including but not limited to gender, race/ethnicity, age, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and ability status.”

However, others contend that DEI programs and statements inhibit intellectual diversity and incentivize candidates to camouflage their personal beliefs. 

According to FIRE, diversity statements “require faculty to endorse or apply specific positions on race, gender and related issues as if they are beyond question, and as if a professor who disputes them is ipso facto incompetent.”

As of June 24, 2024, there were no further developments.