MIT Banners Create Debate About Attacks

For years, Lobby 10 at MIT has served as a memorial to those who died in the World Wars. Last week, a new remembrance was added: three paper banners in honor of the victims of last week’s terrorist attacks.

The student-initiated banners, nearly 20 feet in length, were originally put up as a forum for the MIT community to record its thoughts. But now it has also become a forum for debate.

Many of the comments on the banners are emotional in nature. At least one comment specifically addresses Islam, saying that the religion promotes violence. And one banner sports a hole—presumably where a quote has been cut out.

One comment, in huge letters, demands, “Find those responsible, their friends & accomplices, their families & neighbors and destroy them, their society, and the culture that bred these bastards.” Adjacent to that statement is a series of refutations.

“How does that make us any better than them? You don’t answer evil with evil,” responds one, while another says, “The defense of America is never evil.”

Kenneth D. Campbell, director of the MIT News Office, noted that the banners may present a conflict between freedom of speech and creating a hostile work environment.

“In this time of high emotion and tension, it gets to be a fine line. We’re dedicated to freedom of speech and we’re also dedicated to respect for each other,” he said.

Some at MIT have reservations about the comments on the banners.

“I’m disappointed in some of the things that are up there,” said MIT sophomore Secilia Henriquez.

But Brad T. Ito, an MIT senior who takes credit for initially hanging the banners, said he thinks they do more good than harm.

“There are some very profound messages on it,” Ito said. “I’m glad to see that messages which are disturbing have more responses to them, to show that it’s not the sentiment of the entire community.”

Although some messages on the wall favor a particular response to the terrorist actions, numerous others express only grief or disbelief.

“Let us pray for peace” and “We will not forget you” complement an American flag taped to the wall nearby.

While two of the banners are devoted to expression of feelings and emotions, the third is a place solely to list the names of missing people and to write brief messages to those loved ones.

The paper memorial has drawn mixed opinions. Karen M. Fosher, an administrative staff member at MIT who was sitting in Lobby 10 at a table for the Disaster Relief Fund, said Wednesday that the banners were a good way for the MIT community to express their emotions.

“It’s hard for some people to talk about some things. It’s easier for them to write them down,” Fosher said.