4 ms·

I'm somewhat surprised that MIT just took money from someone based on a notable fundraiser's nod to do so. My understanding would be that a some kind of financi

I'm somewhat surprised that MIT just took money from someone based on a notable fundraiser's nod to do so. My understanding would be that a some kind of financial department would handle an application from the donee citing a joint interest between them and the donor [0]. That department would then investigate the donor for any red flags or question marks. This news is still pretty fresh, so I think there will be an investigation as to how all of this came to be and we will find out if there was any oversight process and if so, whether or not that oversight process was short-circuited in any way. I mean I probably had to go through more for each of my job interviews and any corresponding background checks. Furthermore, MIT probably assesses potential students more thoroughly than what happened in this account of the event. [0] https://definitions.uslegal.com/d/donations/ https://definitions.uslegal.com/d/donations/ > The person making the gift is called the donor and the person receiving the gift is called the donee.

whamlastxmas 7y ago
It's easy to return money or apologize after the fact. Universities are going to attempt to take any free money they can get and not worry about it until there's a proven public outcry.
- msghacq 7y ago
  It wasn't just the university though. Ito also allowed Epstein to coinvest in his personal startup investments. He also visited his houses (which were decorated somewhere between provocatively and illegally based on residence). Ethan Zuckerman also directly confronted Ito and was ignored: https://medium.com/@EthanZ/on-me-and-the-media-lab-715bfc707f6f https://medium.com/@EthanZ/on-me-and-the-media-lab-715bfc707...
  - tareqak 7y ago
    To add, it would be less likely that we would be reading and commenting on this story if a university like MIT was not involved here: Ito would just be some venture capitalist that did not perform adequate due diligence.
- tareqak 7y ago
  Then why have an admissions process? Just take the first N applicants who can pay in full, and the first M applicants who can show they qualify for full financial aid from outside sources (to meet any applicable state or federal funding requirements). I don't think it's that simple. Due diligence is organizational security, and a good amount people have a lax attitude towards security.

whamlastxmas 7y ago

It's easy to return money or apologize after the fact. Universities are going to attempt to take any free money they can get and not worry about it until there's a proven public outcry.

msghacq 7y ago
It wasn't just the university though. Ito also allowed Epstein to coinvest in his personal startup investments. He also visited his houses (which were decorated somewhere between provocatively and illegally based on residence). Ethan Zuckerman also directly confronted Ito and was ignored: https://medium.com/@EthanZ/on-me-and-the-media-lab-715bfc707f6f https://medium.com/@EthanZ/on-me-and-the-media-lab-715bfc707...
- tareqak 7y ago
  To add, it would be less likely that we would be reading and commenting on this story if a university like MIT was not involved here: Ito would just be some venture capitalist that did not perform adequate due diligence.
tareqak 7y ago
Then why have an admissions process? Just take the first N applicants who can pay in full, and the first M applicants who can show they qualify for full financial aid from outside sources (to meet any applicable state or federal funding requirements). I don't think it's that simple. Due diligence is organizational security, and a good amount people have a lax attitude towards security.