The Compact and the Future of MIT
Members of The Editorial Board of the MIT Faculty Newsletter, Nazli Choucri, Christopher Cummins, Sally Haslanger, Thomas Heldt, Ceasar McDowell, Tanalís Padilla, Nasser Rabbat, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Robert Redwine, Warren Seering, Franz-Josef UlmThe Faculty Newsletter exists to give MIT faculty a space for reflection and debate. All voices count – especially when the issue at hand touches the foundations of our scholarship and the future of the Institute and academia in general.
The proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” marks such a moment – recognized by students, faculty, alumni/ae and MIT’s leadership alike. This Special Edition of the FNL gathers faculty perspectives from across the Institute to examine the Compact’s implications for research, teaching, and the principle most central to our mission: academic freedom. All of the submitted perspectives reflect the authors’ opinions prior to President Kornbluth’s response issued on Friday, October 10th.
We are grateful to President Kornbluth for her courageous leadership and thoughtful response to the Secretary of Education, which sets an important tone of engagement. Her letter opens a question that now belongs to us all: what comes next?
Whatever form it will ultimately take, this engagement will redefine the relationship between the federal government and American universities – a relationship that has developed steadily since the post–World War II era. It was during that period, under the leadership of figures such as Vannevar Bush, that universities became integral to the nation’s pursuit of knowledge, innovation, and the broader promise of happiness.
That system has weathered crises before – from the McCarthy-era attacks on academic freedom to the politicized oversight that followed September 11. Yet the Compact, in its initial form, stands apart in both scale and scope. What will now emerge from MIT’s response will affect us all. Its potential to reshape the core principle of academic freedom demands open and rigorous discussion among faculty.
As a platform by faculty, for faculty, the FNL invites every member of our community to join this essential conversation – on MIT’s response, on what should follow, and on how we can preserve the independence that makes discovery possible. For what is at stake is, quite simply, the future of MIT and of higher education in America.
