Ben Moultrie and W. Ahmad Salih, 1971

Ben Moultrie and W. Ahmad Salih
Courtesy MIT Museum

Administrator Ben Moultrie (left) and student activist W. Ahmad Salih at a Task Force on Educational Opportunity meeting, 1971.

Financial-aid administrator Benjamin F. Moultrie MBA ’76 provided much needed financial support for black MIT students in the early 1970’s. Aero-astro major and student activist Waayl Ahmad Salih '72, SM '74 was an early member of the Black Students' Union who later became a physician.

Task Force 

One of the most important efforts undertaken by the MIT administration during the late 1960s focused on developing opportunities, both educational and professional, for women, for African-American students, and for members of other minority groups. MIT started minority recruitment activities in 1968 by creating the faculty and student Task Force on Educational Opportunity, with Paul E. Gray '54, SM '55, ScD '60 (MIT president, 1980-90) as its chairman from 1968 to 1973.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Timeline: 1970s
School: School of EngineeringSloan School of Management
Department: AdministrationAeronautics and AstronauticsManagement
Life: Black Students' Union (BSU)
Career: CommunityEducation
Object: Image
Collection: Activism, Administrators, Faculty, Integration and Differentiation 1969-1994, Paul E. Gray, Recruitment, Students, W. Ahmad Salih