MIT grapples with early leader’s stance on Native Americans

By PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is grappling with the legacy of one of its pivotal presidents who also played a key role in the displacement of Native American tribes. Francis Amasa Walker helped propel the Cambridge college into prominence as its third president. But the former Civil War general also authored “The Indian Question,” a treatise on Native Americans that helped cement the country’s tribal reservation system. Native Americans students want MIT to rename Walker Memorial, one of the campus’ most iconic buildings, as part of their broader push to get the school to atone for its past and do more for Indigenous students.