The debate’s central tension between merit and diversity is what inspired the formation of its co-sponsor, the MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA). In 2021, MIT disinvited University of Chicago geophysicist Dorian Abbot because he advocated for merit. Long approached the debate with the goal of discussing DEI and merit “in a humane and actionable way,” according to a statement she sent Campus Reform.

Foster similarly told Campus Reform that she “respect[s] the need for free speech and the even more important need for civil discourse.”

Accounts of the debate note that change is happening at MIT. A press release shared by the MFSA declares that the debate, the first to address DEI on an American campus, was peaceful.