The MIT campus always reminded me of The National Mall - an open grandeur, an unbreachable edifice in the name of ideas. It’s sad that both of those proud facades have been eroded recently, and both have had barriers added (temporary and permanent) in response.

In many ways those barriers feel like a formalization of division and will more deeply entrench the forces that prompted them in the first place. I understand the motivation, but I think true strength here is keeping things open in the face of serious issues, not trying to make sure they never happen again (at great cost).