MIT has gotten a bad rap in the press lately after sodium that may have come from the school burned volunteers cleaning up the Charles. It only got worse when MIT student Star Simpson spaced out, forgot to take off a sweatshirt with a circuit board on it, and freaked out Logan Airport staff.
Right after Simpson was arrested and hauled to court, the MIT brass put out a statement calling Simpson's actions "reckless." That statement made students angry and led to a small protest against the administration. One upset student said that MIT was "bending over to media" because Simpson made a mistake (a big one), but MIT administrators threw her to the media wolves. For the record, Bostonist only nibbled at Simpson because we thought she was crazy, but the Herald went after her and the entire student body.
It's admirable that MIT students are rallying around Simpson instead of treating her like a laughingstock. Her friends and peers have her back. But it's hard to say what else the administration could have done. The administration acts as a liaison between the students and the rest of the world, and sometimes the rest of the world sees sweatshirts with sparkly lights on them differently. Colleges can't always provide protective bubbles for students.
The administration can, however, pitch in to make sure Suffolk County doesn't overreact when determining Simpson's punishment. They can testify about MIT Career Day, which is the reason Simpson said she wore her getup in the first place, and they can explain the MIT culture and why it really didn't occur to her to change her clothes before going to Logan.
No one wants to clamp down on MIT's creativity (Exhibit A) - what would Greater Boston do without it?
Image of the Herald's reaction to Star Simpson's decision to wear a light-up sweatshirt to the airport.
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