President Kornbluth’s address was the keystone of two days of inauguration events and festivities on the MIT campus, which began on Saturday, when thousands of people braved the (mostly wrong) rain forecast to attend a campus-wide street fair. Beneath tents in Killian Court and Hockfield Court, they took in dance and musical performances by student groups, research exhibits, and demos and played mini golf, cornhole, and an array of arcade games. Outside, carnival rides and acrobats entertained the crowd and food trucks served up street corn, cupcakes, and ice cream. A concert at Kresge Auditorium Saturday night featured more than 100 MIT performers and guest musicians from Brazil and Puerto Rico in what was called a “sonic awakening” about the plight of the Amazon and the global climate crisis. Inauguration day itself kicked off with the symposium “Where Big Ideas Come From—And Why They Matter,” a panel discussion by MIT faculty from a variety of disciplines. The day closed with an evening performance by singer-songwriters Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin in Kresge.
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