Professor van der Hilst of MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences cancelled this year’s Carlson Lecture and disinvited Dr. Dorian Abbot in response to a Twitter mob that objected to Dr. Abbot’s completely mainstream views on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. This is the letter I sent to MIT’s leadership regarding this pathetic lack of academic integrity.
President Reif, Provost Schmidt, and Professor van der Hilst,
I am writing in response to President Reif’s October 18th email to the MIT community and Provost Schmidt’s October 7th post supporting Professor van Der Hilst’s unjustifiable decision to cancel Dr. Dorian Abbot’s invitation to give this year’s Carlson Lecture.
Both President Reif and Provost Schmidt speak of MIT’s commitment to freedom of expression and both immediately show themselves to be hypocrites by backing Professor van der Hilst’s craven response to the mob seeking to silence Dr. Abbot. I have always been proud to call MIT my alma mater, until now. I am deeply ashamed of the lack of courage and integrity demonstrated by MIT’s leadership — you all should be as well.
The Academic Freedom Alliance, in their second letter to you, put it well: “Once a university has extended an invitation to a speaker to speak to members of the campus community, the university must not rescind that invitation because some object that the speaker or ideas that the speaker has expressed are unacceptable.”
I urge you in the strongest terms to reverse this cowardly act, apologize to Dr. Abbot, and reinstate the lecture. John Chisholm, former Alumni Association president and member of the MIT Corporation, provided three steps that you should take immediately to start undoing the damage to MIT’s reputation:
1) Admit you made a mistake and apologize for it.
2) Affirm MIT’s commitment to free speech and open scientific inquiry.
3) Review your internal processes and practices to identify opportunities to be more welcoming and inclusive of diverse viewpoints.
Doubling down on your refusal to live up to MIT’s principles is unacceptable. Until MIT again becomes an institution worthy of respect, I will refrain from donating to the school and I will encourage all alumni I know to do the same.
Sincerely,
Patrick May
