Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Difference between revisions

In late 1960s and early 1970s, student and faculty activists protested against the Vietnam War and MIT's defense research.<ref name="Ins and outs">{{cite news |title=The 'Ins' and 'Outs' at MIT |work=The New York Times |date=May 18, 1969 |last=Todd |first=Richard}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900700,00.html |title=A Policy of Protest |date=February 28, 1969 |access-date=August 13, 2008 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214153106/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900700,00.html |archive-date=December 14, 2008}}</ref> In this period MIT's various departments were researching helicopters, smart bombs and counterinsurgency techniques for the war in Vietnam as well as guidance systems for nuclear missiles.<ref>[http://mitscienceforthepeople.weebly.com/uploads/4/0/9/8/40982869/review_panel_on_speciallaboratories_-_final_report_-_oct_1969.pdf ''MIT Review Panel on Special Laboratories Final Report'']; S.Leslie, ''The Cold War and American Science. The military-industrial complex at MITand Stanford''; [https://books.google.com/books?id=x3ertj1IcaAC M.Albert, ''Remembering Tomorrow''], pp.&nbsp;97–99; [http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N21.pdf 'MIT may be dangerous to the world'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117064035/http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N21.pdf |date=2017-01-17  }}, ''The Tech'', 28/4/72, p.&nbsp;5; [http://scienceandrevolution.org/blog/2016/7/8/why-smash-mit-1969-article-from-radical-student-magazine-the-old-mole 'Why Smash MIT?'] in I. Wallerstein, ''University Crisis Reader'', vol.&nbsp;2, pp.&nbsp;240–3; ''The Technology Review'', December 1969.</ref> The [[Union of Concerned Scientists]] was founded on March 4, 1969 during a meeting of faculty members and students seeking to shift the emphasis on military research toward environmental and social problems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucsusa.org/ucs/about/founding-document-1968-mit-faculty-statement.html |title=Founding Document: 1968 MIT Faculty Statement |access-date=August 12, 2008 |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists, USA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115200053/http://www.ucsusa.org/ucs/about/founding-document-1968-mit-faculty-statement.html |archive-date=January 15, 2008}}</ref> MIT ultimately divested itself from the Instrumentation Laboratory and moved all classified research off-campus to the [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory]] facility in 1973 in response to the protests.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tension Over Issue of Defense Research |first=Fred |last=Hechinger |author-link=Fred Hechinger |date=November 9, 1969 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MIT Curb on Secret Projects Reflects Growing Antimilitary Feeling Among Universities' Researchers |first=William |last=Stevens |date=May 5, 1969 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The student body, faculty, and administration remained comparatively unpolarized during what was a tumultuous time for many other universities.<ref name="Ins and outs"/> Johnson was seen to be highly successful in leading his institution to "greater strength and unity" after these times of turmoil.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/johnson-0609.html |title=A tribute to MIT's Howard Johnson |first=David |last=Warsh |work=The Boston Globe |date=June 1, 1999 |access-date=April 4, 2007 |quote=At a critical time in the late 1960s, [[Howard Wesley Johnson|Johnson]] stood up to the forces of campus rebellion at MIT. Many university presidents were destroyed by the troubles. Only [[Edward Levi]], [[University of Chicago]] president, had comparable success guiding his institution to a position of greater strength and unity after the turmoil.}}</ref> However six MIT students were sentenced to prison terms at this time and some former student leaders, such as [[Michael Albert]] and [[George Katsiaficas]], are still indignant about MIT's role in military research and its suppression of these protests.<ref>[http://tech.mit.edu/V91/PDF/V91-N55.pdf 'Battering Ram: The occupation of the president's office', ''The Tech'', 14/12/71 p.&nbsp;4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321165602/http://tech.mit.edu/V91/PDF/V91-N55.pdf |date=2022-03-21  }} and [http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N28.pdf ''The Tech'', 4/8/72] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323060739/http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N28.pdf |date=2023-03-23  }}; [https://books.google.com/books?id=x3ertj1IcaAC M.Albert, ''Remembering Tomorrow''] pp.&nbsp;9,&nbsp;97–99; [http://www.democracynow.org/2007/4/17/from_sds_to_life_after_capitalism 'Michael Albert interview', 17/4/07]; G.Katsiaficas, [http://www.eroseffect.com/articles/holdingthecenter.pdf 'Review of Howard Johnson's ''Holding the Center''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117064154/http://www.eroseffect.com/articles/holdingthecenter.pdf |date=2017-01-17 }}; S.Shalom, [http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue23/shalom23.htm 'A flawed political biography'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808085048/http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue23/shalom23.htm |date=August 8, 2016 }}, ''New Politics'', Issue 23.</ref> ([[Richard Leacock]]'s film, ''November Actions'', records some of these tumultuous events.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD4QZFubjaY ''November Actions'' YouTube extract]. See also: [https://webmuseum.mit.edu/detail.php?module=subjects&type=browse&id=10&term=Activism&page=1&kv=3&record=0&module=subjects MIT Museum photos of student activism, 1960s/1970s].</ref>)