In Cambridge, brilliance is a given – but moral courage is not. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where equations are solved at light speed and robots teach themselves, the administration has yet to master the basic principle of protecting its students from hate. For all its technological genius, MIT is flunking Leadership 101.

The events unfolding at MIT reveal a profound failure of moral responsibility compounded by the absence of any institutional voice. Since October 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents on campus have surged. In the void left by equivocal leadership and rigid deference to protest culture, Jewish students have been harassed, marginalized, and abandoned, all while MIT continues to collect over $1.2 billion in annual federal research funding and positions itself as a global beacon of enlightenment.

President Donald Trump has cited campus antisemitism as a central complaint in his second administration’s quest to hold higher education accountable. His Department of Education has already frozen funding to Columbia, Penn, and Princeton, citing Title VI violations. MIT, under intensifying scrutiny, may be next. Unlike past rhetorical skirmishes over campus politics, the stakes now involve active federal enforcement, legal precedent, and billions in public funding.

That national spotlight fell most directly on MIT in December 2023. President Sally Kornbluth’s testimony before Congress became a flashpoint. Asked whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated MIT’s code of conduct, she responded: “If targeted at individuals, not public statements.” Harvard and Penn’s presidents resigned shortly after offering similar answers. Kornbluth, backed by MIT’s Corporation board and shielded by institutional norms, remained.