The key messages that you see below are the result of many months of discussion by various communications groups at MIT, and have been approved by President Vest. They reflect the Institute's mission statement and its current key priorities. In a sense, they are a distillation of the core values and strengths that are unique to MIT and help to differentiate us from other universities. These key messages speak to who we are as an institution, and what we want others to believe about us.
We hope that you will find these key messages to be a valuable tool and that you will use them as a framework for your own communications efforts, tailoring them to your own particular audiences as appropriate. It would be useful to try to incorporate the ideas behind these messages into your print and web materials and the outreach that you do to the media and other external audiences. Doing so will enable us to present a more focused and coherent picture of MIT not only to ourselves, but more importantly to the outside world.
1. MIT makes a difference in the world
- With pragmatic, problem-solving, hands-on leadership
- Solving real-world problems for the betterment of humankind
2. MIT is leading the scientific and technological revolution
- The voice of authority in science and technology
- Creating and shaping new fields: infotechnology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and so on
- Educating the next generation of leaders through learning by doing
- Fostering a culture of entrepreneurship
- Spawning new technologies that fuel the US and world economies
- Constantly honing the cutting edge of new technologies and their application
3. MIT works together with others—across fields, institutions, and national boundaries—to shape the future
- Solving the most complex problems (the environment, human health, brain function, etc.) through interdisciplinary collaboration—an MIT tradition
- Excellent in every discipline, including arts, humanities, and other fields not traditionally associated with MIT
- Open environment (open ideas, open knowledge, open source software, open courseware) breeds creativity, inventiveness, exploration, and "beautifully contagious ideas"
- Carrying its unique model of education and research to all corners of the globe, via innovative institutional partnerships and international alliances that enrich the educational experience (OCW, CMI, SMA...)
4. MIT is a meritocracy: egalitarian and accessible
- Admitting and educating the best and brightest without regard to privilege or pedigree
- Upholding diversity as a basic value
- Aggressive in confronting discrimination and promoting opportunity
- Institutional courage: puts into practice the values of integrity, honesty and forthrightness
5. MIT is redefining its residential university experience and building a new sense of community
- Rejuvenating its physical infrastructure—the evolving campus
- Integrating in- and out-of-classroom learning through student life and learning initiatives
- Nurturing community on-campus, in Cambridge, throughout the alumni family, and around the world
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