7.1 Philosophy MIT has a proud history of serving the nation by providing a technically based education to its diverse community. By serving as a meritocracy which treats individuals as responsible adults, MIT has served an important role in higher education. The Institute has succeeded in bringing a diverse set of students to Cambridge and given them instruction. MIT is ostensibly a diverse place, full of women and men from different places, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
People speak various languages and follow many different religions.
Yet at MIT people tend to cluster among those like them. As a result the diversity at MIT is in many ways an untapped resource. MIT recognizes the importance of academia and research at the Institute and is successful in these arenas because it places definite emphasis on them in the way the Institute is run. Accordingly, MIT needs to be upfront in tackling the reality of a diverse yet splintered community. There is much to be gained from learning in diverse surroundings.