Hey, there! Log in / Register

MIT to donate funds to a sexual-abuse charity equal to whatever it got from dead molester Jeffrey Epstein

MIT President L. Rafael Reif made the pledge today in an open letter to the MIT community after two days of publicity about professors leaving the MIT Media Lab in disgust over the money - and shmoozing - it accepted from the now dead convicted sex offender.

Reif said that, to date, MIT has accounted for roughly $800,000 in tainted donations over the past 20 years - all to either the Media Lab or physics Prof. Seth Lloyd, both of whom have issued apologies:

With hindsight, we recognize with shame and distress that we allowed MIT to contribute to the elevation of his reputation, which in turn served to distract from his horrifying acts. No apology can undo that. In response, we will commit an amount equal to the funds MIT received from any Epstein foundation to an appropriate charity that benefits his victims or other victims of sexual abuse.

In addition to simply giving out money, Reif says he's convened a task force to figure out how to keep MIT from ever again winding up helping restore the reputation of a man convicted of having sex with an underage teen - in a plea deal related to charges he raped numerous such girls.

Neighborhoods: 
Free tagging: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

"...to charges he had sex with numerous such girls..."

Adam, this is rape. Those girls didn't have sex. Epstein raped them.

up
Voting closed 0

You're right.

up
Voting closed 0

If MIT is serious about ethical donations, it should return all of Jerome Lemelson's money to his estate, and wipe Lemelson's name from all the stuff named after him.

Lemelson made his money by a long time ago making a bunch of drawings of things like "robotic machines on assembly lines". He used those generic drawings to get patents, and then made his living suing companies for patent infringement for finally making actual machines that bore any resemblance to his drawings.

As the world's most prolific patent troll, Lemelson did far more harm to the world than Jeffrey Epstein probably did paying underage girls for sex.

up
Voting closed 0

You're comparing a patent troll to a rapist of underage girls? You are diminishing their suffering.

up
Voting closed 0

Which planet was it that your people immigrated from again?

On earth, it's not "paying for sex".

ITS $#%@!&^ CHILD RAPE!

What the holy hell is wrong with this world?!?! even Adam has accepted the soft wording of "paying minors for sex" like it was a PayPal transaction gone bad.

up
Voting closed 1

You might want to re-examine a philosophy that deems protecting corporations from inconvenience more important than protecting children from rape.

up
Voting closed 0

He raped children. Paying to rape children doesn't change rape to 'having sex.'

up
Voting closed 0

Well, I got to hand it to you--that's a pretty bold take. I, uh, didn't think I'd actually see someone openly arguing that patent trolling is objectively worse than raping underage girls, but here we are.

2019, man. I don't know why I'm even surprised any more.

up
Voting closed 0

"As the world's most prolific patent troll, Lemelson did far more harm to the world than Jeffrey Epstein probably did paying underage girls for sex."
Refugee, Epstein raped underage girls, how do you not understand that? This is far worse than being a patent troll.

up
Voting closed 0

My response is only based on what I've read.

I would like to commend The Entity that has decided to redistribute and recommit tainted money.

I wonder if this only the beginning of redistributing Tainted money Are the other tainted money that you should be Re- Distributing??

And people who survived sexual abuse are no longer victims they are survivors. So stop calling people victims when that actually strong survivors.

By the way when you consider redistribution of that tainted money please consider organizations that are currently active here in the Boston areas.

up
Voting closed 0

David Koch, one of the foremost leaders in reducing democracy to a stage show donated over 100 million to MIT. Even though he contributed even more to the goal of making democracy a meaningless show he is praised as an angel. Epstein should have just donated more.

Andrew Carnegie was caused the murder of striking minors. But he understood that money buys not only forgiveness but also forgetfulness.

Look at how hard it is to remove the Sackler name in spite of the fact that much of the greenwashed money is based on the suffering and deaths of hundreds of thousands. They knew that the average person really does not care about the suffering caused by the wealthy - as long its somebody else who suffers.

It's especially ironic that the foremost art museum in the US, is painted with the suffering and destruction and political corruption of Sackler and Koch.

up
Voting closed 0