BSU/BGSA progress

Every DLC has posted a statement.

Since 2016, incoming first-year undergraduate students have participated in facilitated, small-group dialogues on diversity and inclusion. 

MIT introduced a DEI course module in 2018 with a focus on terminology and MIT-specific resources. Students are required to take the course upon entering MIT.

The annual Graduate Students of Color Welcome has been institutionalized as an orientation event. The event brings together MIT officers, faculty, staff and students to welcome incoming graduate students of color. It presents an opportunity to discuss issues facing students from underrepresented groups and detail campus resources and student organizations focused on graduate student diversity and inclusion.

MIT implemented required diversity training for incoming graduate students in 2019, and the requirement continues.

MIT incorporated questions on diversity/inclusion at MIT into the 2016 Senior Survey and 2017 Quality of Life Survey, and continues to ask those questions in the surveys.

Breakdowns of responses by categories such as student level, gender, racial or ethnic underrepresentation, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status and student housing type are often available, dependent on the topic of the survey and what demographic questions were included. In all cases, breakouts are only provided when the confidentiality of individual respondents can be assured.

In late 2016, MIT Medical named Dr. Karen Singleton chief of service/associate medical director. Though not a full-time clinician at MIT Medical, Dr. Singleton is an expert in multicultural counseling and trauma, and leads Student Mental Health and Counseling Services’ (SMHC) key initiatives, including staff multicultural competency training and the recruitment, retention and promotion of racially diverse staff.

In 2020, MIT Medical hired a director of diversity, equity and inclusion, who works closely with Dr. Singleton to advance these efforts. SMHC has also appointed clinicians with experience in race-based trauma and multicultural outreach. One of the appointed clinicians serves as the Coordinator of the Let's Chat program and liaison to the Let's Chat @ OME initiative.

After successful pilots, Student Mental Health and Counseling (SMHC) partnered with the Office of Minority Education to launch Let’s Chat @ OME, and with the Office of Graduate Education (OGE) to offer the Mental Health Matters program. OGE also hired an assistant dean for student support and advising. And OGE has identified race-based traumatic stress as a legitimate basis for special academic accommodation when a student is confirmed by an authorized professional to show symptoms of such stress.
 
Also, MIT Health has appointed clinicians in SMHC with experience in race-based trauma and multicultural outreach, and appointed additional clinicians of color. SMHC continues to deepen staff training through clinician ally groups, anti-oppression training and a range of group offerings for students of color.

In AY25, MIT's commitment to undergraduate financial aid will increase to an estimated budget of $167.3 million. In 2023, 86% of MIT seniors graduated with no debt; of those who assumed debt to finance their education, the median indebtedness at graduation was $14,844.
 
MIT is one of only seven American universities that is need blind and full need, which means no student will be disadvantaged in the admissions process because of financial need. The Institute remains deeply committed to increasing support for undergraduate financial aid.

Institutional Research (IR) developed an interactive Diversity Dashboard, which allows a user to view and sort demographic data using multiple variables. IR also generates custom reports for department leadership and visiting committees that present analysis of various aspects of department climate and context in the form of demographic comparisons. Staff in the Department Support Program work with leadership to identify areas for improvement and develop action plans, with biennial surveys providing status reports. The strategic action plan for diversity, equity and inclusion will further address this recommendation.

The Office of Graduate Education has increased the number of staff focused on MIT's diversity recruitment efforts, creating bandwidth for the office to enhance its efforts in professional development. In October 2021, MIT Career Advising and Professional Development launched the Mentoring Circle Initiative for Graduate Students of Color to connect students with alumni who can provide culturally relevant perspectives on pathways to academic and industry careers.

The MIT Strategic Action Plan for Belonging, Achievement, and Composition, released in September 2022, articulates 18 actions aimed at improving the representation of underrepresented graduate students. Among the proposed metrics are graduate program applicants, applicant yield rates, graduate student diversity and participation in MIT-sponsored pipeline programs.

MIT offers on-demand, customized training that accounts for implicit bias in the context of a broader workshop or strategy. Through GlobeSmart (available on Atlas), MIT also offers training to help recognize the differences in culture that may result in biased behavior in the lab. The training is not required.

MIT’s five schools and the college have hired assistant deans for DEI, who have a dotted-line reporting relationship to the vice president for equity and inclusion, and many academic departments have hired diversity officers.

The registrar now publishes reports of underrepresented student enrollment by course and year, available to anyone with an MIT certificate. MIT does not publish major retention rate and flow, but shares the data with department heads.

Faculty and administrators shared their concerns about this recommendation with the BSU leaders and engaged them in a discussion. MIT is committed to identifying and developing curricular experiences on diversity and inclusion within each major—as well as developing new majors, like one in African and African Diaspora Studies—but does not plan to require students to take classes in immersion studies.