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It is spring! Again we have made the transition from confinement to openness. We are in a sort of pass over from cold to warmth, from darkness to light. In what sense does the Reports of the Committees on the Status of Women Faculty represent a transition from confinement to openness or a pass over from darkness to light or a passage from danger to safety? Many, I suppose. Exactly how many depends on the reader. Some believe that the "MIT faculty club" is quite complex, nested, interrelated-cellular, dynamic, and built on solid ground. Even a one-dimensional review of the Reports would confirm the nature of this complexity. As an engineer committed to deciphering complex systems, I am most appreciative of the light that the Reports have revealed to all. Some of the "club" nesting is corrupted; some of the cells are empty; some of the motion is singular and pointless; essential elements in the foundation are in need of repair. As a humanitarian, I am even more appreciative of the effectiveness of the Reports in revealing what should be the irreducible elements of a sustaining "club": (a) mutual respect and trust among members, and (b) good will to and for all members.
Accepting the complexity of the "club," understanding the human and structural issues identified in the Reports, followed by a viable plan of action to rebuild the "club" can be a daunting challenge. I will assume that the MIT administration and the MIT faculty leadership will develop a viable plan for engagement. However, starting now and continuing into the distant future, each of us as individual members of the "club" and as members of groups within the "club" must act daily to foster mutual respect and trust and to actually extend good will to and for all. These irreducible elements constitute the initial and boundary conditions both necessary and sufficient for a civilized, plausible solution to rebuilding the "club" that will be sustainable in the future. Independent of the elegance and detail of a viable plan, it will not succeed exclusive of the irreducible elements.
Finally, there is a bit of a caveat emptor associated with the Reports. Namely, minority faculty persons are members of the "club." Are we to be extended and to extend the same irreducible elements? If so, when?
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