I wanted to follow up on Trish’s May 4 blog about the importance of finding a focus for our action in the face of the many problems of the world. We are very grateful to the student activists who joined our ethics seminar – Mareena Robinson, Jay Hodges, Rose Lenehan and William Li. Their words were echoed over and over by the students in the seminar as they gave their final presentations, and they became part of our conversations with our staff and faculty team as we began planning the next steps for Radius. The ethics seminar is not just something we do for students; it is a place where we rediscover our own passion for this work.

A colleague of mine makes a good analogy for how we hold onto our passion. It’s one thing to light a fire in a fireplace. It looks pretty and it makes a nice crackling noise – and 80% of the heat is going up the chimney. But if you put that same fire in a woodstove, it burns slower and more efficiently, and it spreads warmth throughout the room.

Our mission at Radius is to help members of the MIT community find a passion for ethical action in the world. We want our programs to ignite that bright spark. And just as much, we want to provide the structure to sustain a lasting commitment to change. Through mentoring, opportunities for reflection, and engaging conversation, we hope to be that woodstove that keeps the fire burning a long time.