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Vol.XXXVI No. 3January-March 2024
Phi Beta Kappa at MIT: A Golden Opportunity to Recognize Undergraduate Excellence
Did you know that MIT’s chapter of the national honor society Phi Beta Kappa annually recognizes around 75-90 senior undergraduates for their broad excellence and achievements in liberal arts and...
Vol.XXXVI No. 3January-March 2024
Timeline that Led to the Suspension of the Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA)
Since October 7, 2023, tension has been rising between maintaining an orderly and civil campus environment within a set of rules and the need on matters of moral urgency to...
Vol. XXXVII No. 4March/April 2025
Affirmative Action: Is it Legal? Does it Work?
This brief common-sense opinion is intended to encourage thoughtful civil discussion at MIT of one of the most fraught topics of the contemporary academy. Giving special preference to applicants belonging...
Vol. XXXVII No. 4March/April 2025
MIT Faculty Meetings: A Broken System
MIT’s faculty governance structure is characterized by disengagement, inefficiency, and a lack of accountability. These dynamics foster an environment where a vocal minority dominates governance processes while most faculty remain...
Vol. XXXVI No. 1September/October 2023
Civil Discourse in the Classroom and Beyond
In its 2024 College Free Speech Rankings, FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) ranked MIT 136th. While we can congratulate ourselves on beating Harvard (which came dead last...
Vol. XXXVIII No. 4January/February 2026
On Fiscal Balance, Entropy, and the Temperature of Knowledge
The recent announcement of the end of the 55% tuition support for research assistants has prompted many conversations across the Institute. I would like to contribute one from a narrow...
Vol. XXXVIII No. 5March/April 2026
Before we vote, please review . . .
. . . the draft proposal from the Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program. A copy is available here: https://gue.mit.edu/tfuap/ (under the link “Draft Proposal”). I am grateful for...
Vol. XXXVIII No. 5March/April 2026
TFUAP: Core Principles
Given that the Task Force on the Undergraduate Program’s (TFUAP’s) proposal is being discussed around the Institute and in this Faculty Newsletter, we, TFUAP, will describe the core principles that...
Vol. XXXVIII No. 5March/April 2026
Curriculum in a Time of Change
The Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program (TFUAP) has proposed a set of changes to the undergraduate curriculum. In Chapter 6 of The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli offers a warning...
Vol. XXXVIII No. 5March/April 2026
When Critique Becomes Accusation: Principles for Editorial Responsibility
Émile Zola’s J’Accuse…! – published in 1898 at the height of the Dreyfus Affair – remains one of the most consequential pieces of journalistic writing in modern history. It did...