DEI Is Getting Swept Away at One of Nation's Top Universities

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is “sunsetting” its diversity, equity, and inclusion office, President Sally Kornbluth announced last week.

"As I’ve said many times, MIT is in the talent business," Kornbluth said in a statement to the campus community. "Our success depends on attracting exceptionally talented people of every background, from across the country and around the world, and making sure everyone at MIT feels welcome and supported, so they can do their best work and thrive."

Following an assessment that began in January of 2024, a working group made some recommendations to more effectively “foster a welcoming, inclusive campus community.” 

Based on those recommendations, Kornbluth announced a number of changes, including winding down the central Institute Community and Equity Office.

As we shift focus to community building at the local level, we will sunset the central ICEO and the vice president role. The office’s signature programs will join other MIT units where they have a natural fit: The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty will take on the Department Support Program and the MLK Visiting Professors and Scholars Program. The Division of Student Life will carry on the spirit of popular community-building efforts for students, such as Random Acts of Kindness Week and the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund. Human Resources will take on the Community Learning Initiative and continue to administer the Employee Resource Groups which it has co-led with the ICEO in recent years. And my office will take on the MLK Celebration Committee, launched more than 50 years ago in concert with MIT’s 13th president, Jerry Weisner. (MIT)

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The announcement comes weeks after MIT said it would no longer require those applying for faculty positions to write diversity statements. 

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