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  • February 14, 2025
MIT students protest discipline of pro-Palestinian activists

MIT students protest discipline of pro-Palestinian activists

CAMBRIDGE – About 100 MIT students and community members gathered in the foyer of City Hall Monday evening to call on city council members to intervene and stop MIT from issuing suspensions to pro-Palestinian student activists for participating in political activities and to write.

While there was talk of an ’emergency meeting’ advertised on social media platforms To protest the suspension of MIT doctoral candidate and National Science Foundation colleague Prahlad Iyengar, the five speakers broadened their commentary to discuss grievances over the university’s nonprofit status, which they say allows the university to act against pro-Palestinian students without proper supervision.

“The fact that MIT chooses to endanger the livelihoods and careers of students simply because they disagree with what students are speaking out for and protesting for is unacceptable,” said Sophie Coppieters ‘t Wallant, presenter of the meeting and chair of the MIT Graduate Student. Union.

Those present responded by saying “Shame!” to shout.

Several Cambridge police officers lined the steps, keeping an eye on the crowd, which included elderly residents and a few children.

The crowd also included some local residents.Alexa Coultoff/Globe photo

According to organizers, Iyengar was suspended on December 4 and will appeal the decision to MIT Chancellor Melissa Nobles on Wednesday. His suspension is said to have been imposed following an article he wrote in a student-run political magazine called Written Revolution, where he is editor-in-chief.

The October issue included his article, titled “On Pacifism,” which featured images and language that “could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protest at MIT,” according to an email sent by MIT Dean of Student Life David . Warren Randall to editor of the magazine.

“The (Commission for Discipline) lumped Prahlad’s case with another ongoing disciplinary case to portray Prahlad as a ‘repeat offender’, but suddenly and arbitrarily split the case into two parts after facing significant public criticized for violating his freedom of expression,” wrote the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid in a statement on X.

MIT senior Rin, who declined to give her last name for fear of retaliation, said she also received a notice for a disciplinary hearing on December 4, which is “the same hearing that MIT just suspended (Iyengar).” She declined to comment on the university’s labeling of her as an activist.

“I hope people realize that they are not alone and that MIT’s attempts to suppress us are really just a tactic they are using to crack down on the movement, and that the only way forward is to be together ” Rin said during the meeting.

Other speakers read poems by pro-Palestinian activists and led the crowd in chants.

Mohamed Mohamed, who graduated from MIT last spring and is now a community organizer, stood in front of the audience and asked, “How many of you know that MIT is a nonprofit?”

As a nonprofit, MIT receives a tax exemption from Cambridge and “goes out on the streets and acts as it pleases, without oversight,” Mohamed said.

“It’s time for Cambridge City Hall to hold them accountable,” he said. “We live in a democratic society and we must uphold democratic values. If you had any other kind of company that had discriminatory policies, tomorrow you would hear about it in the news and tomorrow you would be tried in court.”

Mohamed handed out sheets of paper with QR codes and an email template to send to Cambridge city councilors. Attendees spent the last few minutes of the meeting in silence, filling out the form and sending messages to city leaders.

“We demand supervision,” Mohamed shouted before the end of the meeting. “If MIT has nonprofit status, it better act like it.”


Alexa Coultoff can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @alexacoultoff.