MIT’s “disqualified” donors aren’t necessarily banned from donating, says Media Lab whistleblower - MIT Technology Review
▻https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614299/mit-media-lab-jeffrey-epstein-joichi-ito-signe-swenson-disqualifie
Last week, the director of MIT’s famed Media Lab, Joichi Ito, resigned after reports about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The New Yorker reported that Ito had taken donations from Epstein—at the time already convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution—and tried to conceal them, even though MIT listed Epstein as a “disqualified” donor.
Signe Swenson, a former fund-raiser at the Media Lab, leaked the emails that brought Ito down with the help of Whistleblower Aid. We talked to her in an attempt to better understand how fund-raising worked and what the rules were around accepting donations.
Much of what Swenson told us has already been reported elsewhere. The main new clarification is that she says the “disqualified donors” list didn’t usually mean a donor’s money was off limits under MIT’s rules, but just that the person was considered unlikely to donate. She also reiterated claims, buttressed by the emails, that at least one MIT officer outside the Media Lab knew of the Epstein donations. (In a community-wide email sent out today, MIT president Rafael Reif acknowledged that senior administration were aware of Epstein’s donations to the Media Lab and agreed they should be accepted anonymously.) This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.