“Belonging” is the new ne plus ultra at MIT. As the culpability of identitarian essentialism in fueling campus divisiveness becomes apparent to even the most obtuse observer, Belonging is slowly replacing besmirched Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) branding.

But what exactly is Belonging? Why is it MIT’s cardinal value? Who is responsible for determining whether the proliferation of Belonging programs and the growing administrative staff assembled to implement them achieve their goals? And how does one go about measuring Belonging, anyway?

The journey begins at the undergraduate admissions office, whose woke officers, few of whom could make it through MIT’s freshman year, explain that their job is decidedly not to admit the best and the brightest. Rather, they holistically assemble a diverse “1,000-person team” of good enough applicants to collectively achieve some common goal, which they compare to climbing a “very interesting, fairly rugged mountain – together.”

Why 1,000 individuals each with their own unique talents, ambitions, values, and aspirations should have a common goal just because they attend the same college is left as an exercise for the reader.

And what is this common goal? It’s um, uh … to Build a Better World™!

Enter social justice activism, stage left. A better world turns out to be … whatever the prevailing fashion is in the intersectional fever swamps of MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Socialist Scientism (SHASS). Question this at your peril, you Belonging denier!

Now comes the amusing part. Imagine asking MIT’s students each semester: On a scale of 1 to 10, do you now, or have you ever, felt like you Belong?

“To what?” harried students might ask. To the holistic community, united in purpose and spirit! This after being herded by the regnant DEI indoctrinators into a bewildering array of distinct identity groups, each having its own place in the oppressed/oppressor hierarchy, trained to grind their grievances, atone for their privilege, and report microaggressions against each other.

Grab your popcorn, it will be interesting to see how long this new charade can endure.