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Student life

An MIT education is about more than what’s taught in the classroom; it’s also about learning by doing. MIT’s student life programs provide these crucial learning experiences, and help prepare students for service to society.

To the Institute, these programs are imperative. Today’s world calls for a new kind of leader—one who can motivate, inspire, and marshal teams of people to address problems of global scale.

MIT funds a host of campus programs and activities that encourage students to pilot their own leadership strategies and define for themselves the roles they want to play in life. Whatever form it takes, the experience of learning by doing—translating personal experience into valuable knowledge—has become an essential element of learning at MIT.

Arts

The arts are central to the MIT student experience and, like so much of the Institute, rooted in the idea of making and creating, in understanding materials and taking risks, in solving problems and finding solutions. Some examples of non-curricular art programs that highlight MIT students’ creativity and the role the arts play in improving student life:

• the Glass Lab — where students discover connections between art and science, and learn about materials and technology in the context of glass forming;
• the Student Loan Art Program — which allows students to borrow a work of art from the MIT List Visual Arts Center for their dorm room or apartment, for one school year and at no charge (an experience that’s unique to MIT); and
• the Student Art Association — a suite of art studios for clay, photography, drawing, painting, and other projects that’s open to the community 24 hours a day.

Current Campaign for Students priorities for the arts are to —

• Bring MIT’s characteristic rigor to the arts program;
• inspire creativity and improve student life; and
• make the arts accessible to all students.

If you wish to make an impact on the broader arts program at MIT, consider a gift to the Associate Provost for the Arts Fund which supports a variety of arts initiatives by students, faculty, and staff, at the discretion of the Associate Provost for the Arts.

To discuss a special gift to one of MIT’s arts programs, please contact:

Leila Kinney
Director of Arts Initiatives and Advisor to the Associate Provost
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.324.2062

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Athletics

MIT’s students harbor amazing stores of energy: intellectual energy, of course, but also creative, social, and in most cases, athletic energy. Well over half of first-year students each year arrive having played at least one varsity sport in high school, and that interest persists once they come. Overall, more than four-fifths of undergraduates engage in sports or recreation in some form — and our grad student body isn’t far behind.

Key features of today’s athletics program include:

• 33 varsity sports;
• 21 intramural sports programs that collectively engage in about 2,000 competitions each year;
• a host of club offerings; and
• a required physical education/wellness/outdoor education program.

In response to mounting student demand, along with growing competition among top universities focused around non-academic opportunities for students, MIT maintains a reasonable level of emphasis on athletics. (The Institute gives no athletic scholarships and makes no special admissions provisions for the athletically gifted.) Going forward, the Institute’s plans for its athletics program are to:

• Encourage student participation in varsity sports, clubs, intramurals, and recreation;
• provide opportunities for excellence in varsity sports that will attract and nurture premier student athletes;
• give students relief from academic pressure so as to enhance mental alertness and well-being; and
• teach students valuable work and life skills like teamwork, persistence, and leadership through sports.

To make an immediate impact on athletics at MIT and support DAPER’s funding priorities, consider directing your gift to one of the DAPER funds listed below.

To discuss a special gift to MIT’s athletic programs, please contact:

Candace L. Royer
Senior Associate Dean for Student Life
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.253.0153

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Crew

Crew is MIT’s only NCAA Division I sport, competing against the best college crews in the country — teams like Wisconsin, Navy, Harvard, and Princeton who heavily recruit students from high school rowing teams.

Crew provides the ultimate personal experience. Rowers are part of a team. They represent the institution. They work hard as a group. They achieve success, and sometimes they encounter failure. But either way, they participate in the experience and always remember being a part of it.

Building competitive and winning teams requires both the recruitment of experienced rowers and strong coaching. Freshman/novice coaches train and mentor these students, encouraging them to surpass what they once believed were their physical limits. Only recently have freshman/novice coach positions become full-time; now, before the change can become permanent, the challenge is to fund them.

Gifts from alumni and friends provide more than half the money needed to operate the crew program annually.

MIT’s current priorities for crew are to —

• Strengthen the MIT crew program in general, building toward the talent level necessary to achieve competitive success (choose Operations or Women’s Crew Funds below);
• support full-time freshman/novice coaches in their attempts to attract, mentor, and train current student athletes (Resch, Frailey, or Zwart Funds); and
• enable coaches to recruit future MIT crew athletes (McMillin Leadership Fund).

To make an impact on the crew program at MIT, please consider a gift to one of the funds listed below.

To discuss a special gift to MIT crew, please contact:

Theresa Lee
Director, Annual Fund Leadership Programs
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.252.1491

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Fencing

Fencing, with its combination of precision skill, athletic strength, intellectual demand, and use of technology, has attracted a growing number of MIT student athletes.

“This is a very physically demanding sport,” says Jarek Koniusz, women’s and men’s team head coach, “which is equally demanding mentally, as it requires you to outsmart your opponent in a face-to-face situation. It’s like playing chess while working with a deficit of time. As a result, fencing requires a well-trained reaction time.”

Over the past century, MIT fencing has produced numerous All-American athletes and national competitors, including three fencing alumni who have participated in the Olympic Games. Looking ahead, MIT’s priorities for the sport are to —

• Build on the Institute’s century-old tradition of fencing;
• upgrade a highly utilized training space to provide safer facilities; and
• support the growth of student interest in intellectually demanding sports like fencing.

To make an impact on the fencing program at MIT, consider a gift to the Friends of MIT Fencing Fund.

To discuss a special gift to MIT’s fencing program, please contact:

Candace L. Royer
Senior Associate Dean for Student Life
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.253.0153

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MIT’s fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs)

MIT’s fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs) are living-and-learning laboratories where students develop a variety of life skills and personal attributes that are valuable both before and after commencement. At their best, FSILG living situations offer students leadership opportunities, provide academic and social support, reduce stress, and enhance school spirit.

Many alumni speak of their FSILG experiences as a kind of “training camp for life.” Others make the analogy between life in an FSILG and a business start-up, pointing to the bonding that occurs in small groups whose members strive to do their utmost—as a team—to achieve a common goal. And still others say, simply, that the social and organizational skills learned from the FSILG experience prepared them for later life in a way that nothing else could have.

MIT is committed to further strengthening its FSILG system, and has identified the following priorities:

• Boost FSILG membership ranks and solidify finances;
• provide student housing that is a focal point of social life for members;
• offer leadership training and mentoring support; and
• foster volunteerism.

To make an immediate impact on the vitality of MIT’s fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups, consider a gift to one of the funds listed below.

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Hobby Shop

Since 1937, the MIT Hobby Shop has been the go-to place on campus where members can turn ideas into working inventions. Unlike other machine shops and laboratories around the Institute, the Hobby Shop is not affiliated with any department, and is open to everyone in the MIT community. On any given day, students might be found crafting a new piece of equipment for a lab experiment, creating a brand-new product, or just tinkering around for the sheer joy of it.

Here is a smattering of what members have produced using Hobby Shop tools and space:

• storage lockers for families living in a Boston shelter;
• a specialized bioreactor to facilitate stem cell research;
• a hand-held device for providing ophthalmological treatment to people in developing countries; and
• an electric guitar.

Going forward, MIT Hobby Shop priorities are to —

• Offer tools and space where students, faculty, staff, and alumni can continue to turn ideas into prototypes and inventions;
• provide opportunities for students to create, whether for academic, research, or recreational purposes;
• provide hands-on learning experiences;
• help students develop design skills; and
• create an inclusive community of shared interests.

To make an impact on Hobby Shop programs, consider a gift to the MIT Hobby Shop Fund.

To discuss a special gift to the MIT Hobby Shop, please contact:

Ken Stone
Director, MIT Hobby Shop
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.253.4343

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Leadership

By its very (entrepreneurial) nature, MIT has always created leaders. But now, the Institute is building on that tradition by actively promoting leadership skills in its students. After all, tomorrow’s leaders will need to be knowledgeable in science and technology, so it makes perfect sense to grow them here. And in the process, MIT will be fulfilling its mission of service to the nation and the world.

Leadership opportunities permeate life at the Institute. Whether through one of several student government groups, or through fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs); whether through established leadership-building programs like LeaderShape® or BioMatrix; whether through varsity sports or ROTC; MIT is actively encouraging leadership activities — and students are responding.

The Campaign for Students has set priorities for leadership development at MIT, which are to —

• Produce leaders who are technologically and scientifically knowledgeable;
• provide opportunities for students to hone leadership skills through retreats, FSILGs and mentoring, and student government programs; and
• give MIT graduates the ability to lead in their chosen fields.

To make an impact on leadership development programs at MIT, consider a gift to one of the funds listed below.

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Libraries

The MIT Libraries have always provided students and faculty with the resources they need — but these days, those resources include far more than books, journals, and even electronic databases. Add maps, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lab, software, electronic journals, datasets, sound recordings, still and moving images, musical scores, working papers, and you begin to get the picture.

It follows that the services the Libraries provide are changing, too. With an expanded teaching role, the Libraries’ instruction programs teach students the essential skills they need to conduct academic research at the MIT level, and then show them how to evaluate and analyze the information they uncover.

With a keen eye on the future, the MIT Libraries have these goals in mind:

• Combining the best tools and technology to help students navigate the ever-growing, increasingly multimedia global learning environment;
• designing next-generation library spaces with media-rich work environments that encourage student collaboration, growth, and discovery; and
• leading research in the crucial area of digital permanence.

To make an impact on the MIT Libraries, consider a gift to the Director’s Fund for Library Excellence.

To find out more about how you can support the MIT Libraries, please contact:

Steven Horsch
Head, Donor Relations and Stewardship, MIT Libraries
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.452.2123

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Playing fields

MIT students learn the importance of perseverance and determination — and a host of skills like time management, communication, and teamwork — from playing sports. And the laboratory where they learn these skills is comprised of 30 acres of athletic fields in the heart of MIT’s campus. For many years, these fields met the needs of the Institute’s student athletes. But while the football field and bleachers are exactly as they were when football came to MIT in 1978, times have changed:

• Varsity programs have doubled since 1970, from 19 to 41;
• the student body is now nearly split between men and women, which means women’s teams now compete for field time as well; and
• first-year students arrive on campus with more interest and experience in athletics, recreation, and extracurricular activities than ever before.

To address the issue, MIT has set some priorities, which are to —

• Offer playing fields that meet the same standard of excellence as any other Institute facility;
• add lighted, artificial turf playing fields (the standard at most colleges and universities now) to the MIT campus, to meet the practice and competition needs of the Institute’s varsity, club, intramural, and recreational programs; and
• provide safer and more durable playing surfaces that will also lower long-term costs and increase access.

To discuss specific ways you can support MIT’s drive to upgrade its playing fields, please contact:

Candace L. Royer
Senior Associate Dean for Student Life
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.253.0153

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Public Service Center

Since its founding in 1988, the MIT Public Service Center (PSC) has been far more than a typical student volunteer clearinghouse. Instead, it serves as a launch pad —

• Challenging students to apply their inventive and entrepreneurial talents to the design and operation of service activities;
• offering students opportunities for grants and fellowships;
• running the MIT IDEAS Competition, where students invent ways to help the less privileged; and
• integrating service into the curriculum.

Through the IDEAS Competition alone, recent student inventions for changing the lives of those less fortunate include:

• A telerobotic device for doing lung biopsies that improves upon the previous trial-and-error method of inserting a needle into a patient’s lung by hand;
• a pedal-powered washing machine designed for use in a rural area of Guatemala; and
• a backpack refrigerator that stores vaccines for transportation by foot to remote regions around the globe.

The PSC is committed to encouraging and challenging students to use their talents to make the world a better place. It also seeks to increase applied learning opportunities at MIT by further integrating public service activities into the MIT curriculum.

To make an impact on the MIT Public Service Center — which relies mostly on private sources for support — consider a gift to one of the funds below.

To discuss a special gift to the MIT Public Service Center, please contact:

Sally Susnowitz
Assistant Dean and Director, MIT Public Service Center
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.258.7344

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Religious life

Providing opportunities for religious involvement is part of MIT’s commitment to educating and meeting the needs of the whole person.

MIT students are gifted in their ability to use science to solve problems, but they also have questions that are not resolved by scientific theory or mathematical formula. They look to science for some answers, and to faith for others.

The Religious Activities Center — which, with the MIT Chapel, is at the heart of religious life on campus — is one place where students find enlightenment in faith. In addition to its most basic mission of providing opportunities for religious involvement, the Center also strives to —

• Provide students with opportunities to offer service to others;
• bring people of different faiths together into one MIT community; and
• encourage students to grow in their own religious traditions and to interact with those of other traditions.

To discuss a special gift to support religious life opportunities for MIT students, please contact:

Robert Randolph
Chaplain to the Institute
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.258.5484

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Sailing

Since 1936, the MIT Nautical Association has given students the opportunity to sail away from the stress of their labs and classes, to test their mettle against the wind and water. Few other experiences teach independence and self-confidence like being alone on the Boston side of the Charles River, facing a hard-blowing wind, and figuring out how to sail your dinghy back to the MIT Saiing Pavilion — without tipping over.

While an important aspect of sailing at MIT is that it is also a recreational program, the competitive side of the sport is consistently ranked in the top 15 of 270 programs nationally. MIT also hosts more intercollegiate regattas than any other school in the country, and six MIT sailors have gone on to compete in the Olympics.

Maintaining MIT’s excellence in recreational and competitive sailing requires an investment in the Institute’s sailing facilities, however. New floating docks for the Pavilion are an urgent need.

The Campaign for Students has identified a number of priorities for the sailing program, which are to —

• Operate a welcoming and easy-to-use waterfront facility on campus;
• provide free sailing lessons to introduce MIT students to the benefits of recreational sailing (about 1,400 sign up for lessons each year, at present);
• provide a well-maintained fleet of boats, which will enable MIT to host world-class events for sailors of all skill levels; and
• foster a varsity team that remains competitive at the highest level of intercollegiate sailing.

To make an impact on the sailing program at MIT, consider a gift to one of the funds listed below.

To discuss other ways to support MIT’s sailing program, please contact:

Candace L. Royer
Senior Associate Dean for Student Life
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.253.0153

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Soccer

MIT is raising funds to endow a full-time men’s soccer coach position.

The MIT Engineers ended their 2008 regular season with a 16-4-2 record, under the leadership of Coach Milton Gooding. Along the way, the team earned:

• an Institute-record 13-game winning streak,
• an 8-0-1 record at home,
• a NEWMAC championship appearance, and
• a selection to the 2008 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament.

The Engineers are looking to continue to build on their 2008 record and the excitement of Gooding’s first two winning seasons with MIT.

The Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) is focusing more than ever on building its sports and recreation programs, like soccer. Athletics can teach invaluable lessons: about decision-making, persistence, team-building, and strategy. Students who take part in regular, disciplined physical activity are often more mentally alert and engaged than their less active counterparts. And, far from least important, athletics offers superb respite from the rigorous academic pressure facing MIT’s students.

One further reason: MIT students deserve the chance to explore and enhance their physical skills. For many, sports and recreation are a key part of preparing for a lifetime of achievement, and MIT owes them the opportunity to act on that aim. Offering the best coaching, and retaining a coach with an endowed position, is an important part of providing this opportunity to MIT students.

To discuss ways of supporting MIT’s soccer programs, please contact:

Candace L. Royer
Senior Associate Dean for Student Life
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
617.253.0153

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