The Numbers Show That MIT Has a Free-Speech Problem At this world-leading research institution, 40% of faculty say they self-censor more than in 2020. By Daryl Morey

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-numbers-show-that-mit-has-a-free-speech-problem-controversial-education-students-college-self-censor-11674514243?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

Twenty-one years as an executive in the National Basketball Association has taught me to start with the data when confronted with a problem. Now, I am asking my alma mater to do the same on the important issue of free expression.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has suffered several embarrassing incidents regarding free speech in recent years. These include the cancellation of Prof. Dorian Abbot’s John Carlson Lecture on climate change in October 2021 and the institution of a March 2022 policy that students may not ask others to wear masks.

The data point to a growing problem: According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, MIT ranks an abysmal 181st out of 203 universities when it comes to students’ belief that the administration will protect their speech rights. FIRE reports that the mistrust extends to MIT faculty: 38% say they don’t believe the administration would defend a speaker’s rights during a controversy. Forty percent of MIT faculty said they were more likely to self-censor as of summer 2022 than they had been before 2020. Among students, 41% aren’t confident in the administration’s ability to protect controversial speech. Those are disheartening statistics for one of the world’s best research institutions.

If MIT faculty, who are at the cutting edge of science and technology, cannot count on their employer to defend open inquiry, it might prevent them from taking innovative risks. This, in turn, would stymie technological progress and the education of the next generation of innovators.