MIT President Sally Kornbluth formally welcomed the undergraduate Class of 2030 to campus on Sunday, noting that the Institute quickly “feels like home” to new students.
The annual event, officially called the President’s Convocation for First-Years and Families, is held at the Johnson Ice Rink on campus on the weekend most new undergraduates arrive on campus.
The Class of 2030 consists of more than 1,100 first-year undergraduates from all over the map, representing a broad variety of academic interests and backgrounds. Yet even for such a wide-ranging group, Kornbluth observed, “It is very, very common for new students to say that in coming to MIT, they have finally found their place. They have finally found their people. And it feels like home.”
Kornbluth’s remarks outlined some of the binding forces that connect students, through the shared culture of inquiry and discovery at MIT.
“I was struck right away by the wall-to-wall enthusiasm for fundamental science, what we like to think of as curiosity on a mission,” Kornbluth said. “Every day here, hundreds of people are pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.”
This month alone, she noted, “astronomers here just discovered an entirely new type of astrophysical object, a black hole star. … And then, two days later, an MIT research team discovered that a drug that blocks a certain enzyme can reduce the risk of developing lung cancer.”
Kornbluth added: “And that’s just a regular [occurrence] here. As you’ll see, the discoveries just keep on coming in everything, from climate science to computer science, nuclear science to neuroscience, from chemistry to quantum.”
Secondly, Kornbluth said, people in the MIT community are frequently motivated by a desire to have an impact through their work.
“We’re also driven to make a positive difference in the world,” she told the audience of more than 2,000, which frequently applauded at key junctures.
A third common feature of campus life, Kornbluth told the crowd, is the “spirit of entrepreneurship” on campus, generally defined as a propensity to take action.
“Now, I don’t mean that everybody has to start a company, though a lot of people do,” Kornbluth said. “But at MIT, when we talk about entrepreneurship, we also mean the broad spirit of, do something, try something, with your whole heart … and let the doing teach you how to make a difference.”
Kornbluth also made a series of remarks about AI, noting that MIT has “deep ties” to the development of the technology and that AI tools are expanding and accelerating work in many fields of research.
That said, she added, “As educators, it is our challenge to derive AI’s benefits and counteract its harms.” And she called a recent report MIT has issued about AI and education “a powerful reminder that MIT was founded to help human beings develop their own powers of discovery, problem-solving, and invention. That is still and will always be our essential work. It is the experience you all came here for.”
All told, Kornbluth said, “We’re so glad and so grateful that you chose to bring your talent, your energy, your curiosity, and your creativity to MIT. And we’re thrilled to be starting this new year with all of you.”
Kornbluth then introduced the audience to other campus administration leaders who were sitting onstage for her remarks: Provost Anantha Chandrakasan, Chancellor Melissa Nobles, and Vice Chancellor for Graduate and Undergraduate Education David L. Darmofal.
Attendees also heard remarks from two faculty members who are also alumni, per convocation tradition.
Anna Huang SM ’08, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Professor in both the Music and Theater Arts program and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, discussed her work as well as the student experience on campus.
Huang studies human-computer interactions and develops human-AI collaborations in music making, and urged the students to follow their interests — which, in Huang’s case, are quite broad. She spent years working at Google and is also a composer herself.
“You’re going to discover so much here at MIT,” Huang said. “I discover something new every day.”
She urged students to participate in campus activities and to pursue programs such as MISTI, the global experiences program at MIT that enables internships, study abroad, and more. Huang also emphasized that MIT is a collaborative, interdisciplinary place where students can thrive by working with others.
“MIT is a very, very supportive environment,” Huang added. “And we value the perspective and the combinations of unique interests you bring.”
Huang was followed at the podium by Desirée Plata PhD ’09, associate dean of engineering, School of Engineering Distinguished Climate and Energy Professor, and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, who urged the students to cultivate an ethos of optimism about their studies and ability to improve the world.
Plata’s wide-ranging work applies chemical engineering to climate issues — for instance, as she noted, by working to replicate methane-capture processes observed in nature onto new technologies that could be located in mines. Deploying such techniques to reduce the presence of greenhouse gases could help slow the worldwide rise of temperatures.
“Modulating the warming rate of the planet is admittedly ambitious,” Plata said. “But it’s not impossible. At least not from a thermodynamic perspective. And that’s just the kind of problem we like to solve.”
Plata also encouraged students to cultivate a feeling of open-minded optimism about their own pursuits.
“When I walk onto MIT’s campus each morning, I take a deep breath. I feel that same sense of possibility that I felt the [first] time I set foot here,” Plata said. “A high privilege of my life is being able to engage some of the most talented minds of our time. To engage all of you. To help develop your respective paths. And enjoy the amplifying impact you’re going to go on and have in this world.”
After Plata spoke, Kornbluth, who is from a musical family and enjoys singing, joined the campus a capella group The Chorallaries onstage for a spirited rendition of the songs “Arise All Ye of MIT” and “Take Me Back to Tech.” And with that, students filed out of the rink, ready to explore their new home.
