Students

Writing for The Boston Globe, President Emeritus L. Rafael Reif examines how the proposed endowment tax on colleges and universities will likely “raise the cost of a college education and hurt US competitiveness.” Reif notes that universities use income from their endowments to provide financial aid for students and support research. “Without financial aid, students from less wealthy backgrounds would not be able to attend the country’s great private universities,” writes Reif. “This would be not just a loss to them but also to the nation itself, which benefits when talented people from all backgrounds have the same opportunity to rise based on academic achievement.”

The MIT Ukraine program, an “initiative formed by alums, students, researchers, startups, and NGOs aims to leverage MIT’s deep strengths in robotics, AI, and sensor technology to support and accelerate demining efforts” in Ukraine,” reports Anjana Sankar for The Boston Globe. “As Ukraine faces a landmine crisis of unprecedented scale, with explosive remnants of war littering vast stretches of its farmland, villages, and even urban areas, a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is quietly working to help Ukraine clear its lands,” writes Sankar.  

Writing for Bloomberg, Prof. Carlo Ratti, curator of the 2025 Venice Biennale, describes his vision for the exhibition and explains how this year’s theme of adaptation connects to the future of architecture. “The planet has changed, and institutions must change too, especially those devoted to the built environment,” explains Ratti. “A biennale can become a tool for exploration, for collaboration, for reckoning. This doesn’t mean giving up on spectacle or beauty. But it does mean rethinking what we celebrate.” 

Hank Green – a YouTuber, science communicator, and author - addressed the 2025 graduating class during his commencement address at the OneMIT ceremony, encouraging students to “stay curious,” reports Emily Spatz for The Boston Globe. “Do. Not. Forget. How special and bizarre it is to get to live a human life,” said Green. “Something very special and strange is happening on this planet and it is you.”

Felice Frankel, a research scientist in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering and a science photographer, speaks with Science Friday host Flora Lichtman about science communicators can more effectively engage the public and make a better case for the importance of scientific research. 

Undergraduate students Avani Ahuja '26, Julianna Lian '26, Jacqueline Prawira '26, and Alex Tang '26 have been honored as recipients of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year, reports Vivian Hir for The Tech. “Established by Congress in 1986, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship financially supports talented college sophomores and juniors who plan to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, or engineering,” explains Hir. 

ArchDaily reporter Reyyan Dogan explores the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with Prof. Carlo Ratti, this year’s curator. Dogan notes that “by fostering a forward-thinking dialogue on the intersection of architecture and global crises, the Biennale encourages both visitors and practitioners to think critically about the role of architecture in shaping the future.” Ratti explains that this year’s exhibit “is really about how architecture can bring together all different forms of intelligence, and bridge them, and actually help adapt to a changing climate.” 

Emily Young '18, co-founder and CEO of MIT D-Lab spinout Moving Health, speaks with The World’s Jeremy Siegel about her startup’s commitment to transforming “maternal healthcare in rural Ghana, where access to ambulances is severely limited, by creating an emergency transportation network that uses motorized ambulances." Young discovered that “what rural communities needed most was transportation that could actually handle rough terrain while still being cost effective and easy to scale at a local level.”

Prof. Carlo Ratti, curator of the 2025 Architecture Venice Biennale, speaks with Sofia Lekka Angelopoulou of Designboom about his vision for this year’s showcase, which centers around reimagining the role of intelligence in shaping the built environment. ‘It’s basically about how we can use different disciplines and different forms of intelligence in order to tackle the most important problem today: adaptation,” Ratti explains. “In short, you could say architecture is survival.”

Prof. Carlo Ratti, curator of the 2025 Venice Biennale, speaks with Archinect reporter Niall Patrick Walsh about his vision for the biennale as a “living laboratory from which ideas and research can emerge to guide the evolution of the built environment.” Says Ratti: “We are hoping to use the biennale to convey the message that architecture is about survival. Architecture is central to how we can move from climate mitigation to adaptation. If we can use the biennale as a way to reorient how we work and practice, that will be its most important legacy.”

President Sally Kornbluth and more than 170 other college presidents have co-signed a letter drafted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities “condemning “undue government intrusion” into campus affairs,” writes Hilary Burns for The Boston Globe. “Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation,” the statement reads. “Because of these freedoms, American institutions of higher learning are essential to American prosperity and serve as productive partners with government in promoting the common good.”

Dana Doyle, senior director of the MITx/MicroMasters Program, speaks with Inside Higher Ed reporter Joshua Kim about her role at MIT and the impact of online learning. “The employment landscape has changed dramatically over the past few decades,” says Doyle. “Generally speaking, you used to be able to follow a rather linear path from college to a consistent career, maybe even at one company. This is not the typical case anymore, and lifelong learning has been playing catch-up to match the times of people needing to have flexibility in their goals and ways to achieve them. Lifelong learning supported by nondegree/certificate opportunities is essential for people to stay current, explore other avenues and have the opportunity to grow as individuals. The nondegree space is mandatory for these times.” 

Writing for The Hill, Prof. Fiona Murray and Sloan Lecturer Gene Keselman underscore the importance of investment in U.S. universities, noting that the “traditional contributions of universities — advancing knowledge through research and patents — remain fundamental to America’s economic and national security dynamism.” An MIT program called Proto Ventures is building on this tradition, by turning “breakthroughs made in tech labs into real-world solutions that can help all Americans.” They note that: “By bridging the gap between groundbreaking research and tangible outcomes, universities can address their critics, strengthen the nation and focus on their highest purpose: advancing human progress through knowledge and innovation,” they write. 

Chronicle joins students from the Combat Robotics Club and First Nations Launch team to get a firsthand look at how MIT student apply the “theory they are learning in class to thrilling real-world tests.” Jim Bales - associate director of the MIT Edgerton Center, which hosts both clubs - explains that, “ at the Edgerton Center our ethos is people learn by trying and doing, so our job is to give our students those opportunities.” 

The Smoot Standard, a new neighborhood café, restaurant and bar has opened in Cambridge’s Central Square, reports Kara Baskin for The Boston Globe. “The name is an homage to Ollie Smoot, MIT ‘62, whose body was famously used to measure the Harvard Bridge in 1958 (which is 364.4 smoots),” explains Baskin.