Abstract
A few weeks before I began my freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I received an official- looking envelope from a student group. Expecting information about a club or event, I was surprised to find such sentences as "MIT certainly lowers standards for women and 'underrepresented' minorities" and "The average woman at MIT is less intelligent and ambitious than the average man at MIT. (MIT's Association of Student Activities later stripped the student group of its official recognition as a result of the unapproved mailing.) I spent the remaining days before my departure for college questioning whether I deserved to go. Male or female, gay or straight, transgender or cisgender, black or white -- when students join this lab, the group commits to supporting them and assisting one another with research projects. Rather, this is a chance for faculty members to lead by example and to make sure...