MIT president Sally Kornbluth skips Oct. 7 commemoration on campus
A spokesperson for MIT said the president, under fire for her handling of antisemitism, had a scheduling conflict
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 05: Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Committee held a hearing to investigate antisemitism on college campuses. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
When hundreds of students and faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology congregated Monday on campus to memorialize victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on its one year anniversary and show support for Israel, notably absent was Sally Kornbluth, the university’s president.
A spokesperson for MIT told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that “the president had a long-standing prior commitment at that time, which unfortunately could not be rescheduled.” The event, held at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, was sponsored by the MIT Israel Alliance, Chabad on campus and MIT Hillel.
Since Oct. 7, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce has highlighted numerous antisemitic incidents on MIT’s campus, including disruptions of classes and campus events, blockades of buildings, harassment and assault of Jewish students and chants endorsing violence. The committee has also accused MIT of failing to enforce its suspension of a campus pro-Palestinian group that was punished for violating school rules.
Retsef Levi, an Israeli professor in the Sloan School of Management, said that despite Kornbluth’s “prior commitment,” “there could have been many ways for [the president] or other leadership members to express support” on Monday, “such as sending a video message.”
The spokesperson said that “other members of the senior administration attended the memorial event on campus.” Asked for names of which members attended the memorial, the spokesperson declined to provide further detail.
Last week, Kornbluth, who is Jewish, attended a Rosh Hashanah dinner and services with students at Hillel on campus. “She’s been supportive of and present for our Jewish students a number of other times this week, including at [the dinner and services],” said Rabbi Michelle Fisher, executive director of MIT Hillel.
Kornbluth was initially thrust into the spotlight last December, when she was called to testify before Congress about antisemitism on the MIT campus.
Kornbluth is one of only two university presidents to have remained in their job after testifying before Congress on the rise of campus antisemitism since Oct. 7.