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MIT Files Brief in Supreme Court on University of Michigan Affirmative Action Case

Charles Vest HM: February 14, 2003; Running Time: 00:26:15

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

On February 18, 2003, MIT filed a brief with the US Supreme Court to support the University of Michigan's case defending its current admissions policies. MIT President Charles Vest outlined MIT's position on the case, that is threatening to take away the option to consider race as "one of many factors" in the college admission process. Joining MIT in this friend of the court brief are Stanford University, DuPont, IBM, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Science, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. In this impassioned speech, Vest states, "we must preserve the legal right and moral authority to consider race as one of many factors in college and university admissions, and in other programs and dimensions of our life and learning." "Two great universities, the largest national consortium for advancing engineering careers for minorities, two of the largest and best known technology-based companies in the world, and the two most prestigious academies in science and engineering will be standing together in a highly public manner. When the question is asked, 'Where were you?, ' MIT's answer will be clear."

Lecture Details

Location: La Sala de Puerto Rico
Stratton Student Center

About the Speaker

Charles Vest HM

President, National Academy of Engineering
President Emeritus, MIT

Charles M. Vest was the fifteenth President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

During his 14 years at MIT, he placed special emphasis on enhancing undergraduate education, exploring new organizational forms to meet emerging directions in research and education, building a stronger international dimension into education and research programs, developing stronger relations with industry, and enhancing racial and cultural diversity. He also devoted considerable energy to bringing issues concerning education and research to broader public attention and to strengthening national policy on science, engineering and education. In this latter capacity, Vest chaired the President's Advisory Committee on the Redesign of the Space Station and has served as a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Massachusetts Governor's Council on Economic Growth and Technology, and the National Research Council Board on Engineering Education. In February 2004, he was asked by President Bush to serve as a member of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Vest earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1963 and both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan in 1964 and 1967, respectively. As a member of the Mechanical Engineering faculty at MIT, Vest's research interests were in the thermal sciences and in the engineering applications of lasers and coherent optics.

In December 2003, Vest announced his decision to step down from the presidency of MIT.