MIT President Sally Kornbluth sent out a message dated April 17 to alumni appealing for opposition to measures undertaken and threatened (“current and growing threats”) by the Trump administration. Reader Steven Piet has provided us a copy of the message, which appears not to have been posted online with other communiques from the Office of the President. He has also provided us a copy of his response to the message. I thought readers would find his response of interest and am posting it here with Dr. Piet’s permission (below the break).
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I am in receipt of President Kornbluth’s emailed message asking us to lobby Congress against the Trump administration.
NOPE
This has instead induced me to contact my Senators and Congressman to do the exact opposite. Trump is a wild card who has made, is making, and will make mistakes. But they are minor problems compared to you. I’m as pro-education as they come and have three MIT degrees (SB ’79, SM ’79, ScD ’82) and 57 peer-reviewed technical publications as well as three book chapters to indicate that I put my education to use. MIT has become a detriment to education and to freedom.
MIT needs to protect its Jewish students, faculty, and staff.
MIT needs to rid itself of students, especially foreign students, who support terrorism. Even back when I was a student (1974-1982) this was a problem, but it has gotten immensely worse since.
MIT needs to disclose all foreign sources of income — e.g., how much are you earning from China and terrorist-supporting states. Back when I was a student, this was already a problem. Since you will never do this voluntarily, the government must force you or, perhaps, deprive you of your tax-exempt status.
Why do I say this is a problem? As a nuclear engineering student, I remember that Iran’s government (both under the Shah and the Ayatollah) provided students with funding. I’m sure MIT educated many Iranians who ended up in their bomb program.
Some of those students couldn’t do the work and did not belong there. Rules were bent and broken for them. One particular student was – against all departmental rules – given a third chance to pass the doctoral qualifying exam. He shared an office with me. I know you love foreign students who come with full funding from authoritarian regimes.
MIT must reduce its high overhead. Cut out the waste, cut administrators (but I repeat myself). Decades ago I was responsible for a contract with MIT from at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (now Idaho National Laboratory). MIT had the highest burden of administrative overhead of any of my contracts, including Berkeley.
So, no, I will not comply with President Kornbluth’s request.
Why not ask our help in protecting our students? Or solving problems that MIT itself has created, such as educating Iranian nuclear bomb makers?
Bonus: I logged into the alum site, which promptly led me to update my profile. It gave high priority to my pronouns. What nonsense. (a) You don’t need to know my pronouns. Call me by my name. (b) There are males, females, and gender-confused individuals (third chromosome, incorrect gene expression, societal confusion). People in that third category need our love, compassion, and help – such individuals do not need millions of silly pronouns. Read the UK Cass Review.
Dr. Steven J. Piet
SB 79, SM 79, ScD 82
