Northeastern and the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex

Contributed by concerned students

“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience…we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”
-Dwight Eisenhower

Today, the dangerous influence of the military-industrial complex (MIC) extends even further than Eisenhower warned in 1961. It is not hard to see the “conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry” exercising total control over the reckless, imperialist foreign policy of the U.S. But in an early draft of his famous speech, Eisenhower actually referred to a military-industrial-academic complex in which academic institutions supply research & human capital to serve military-industrial purposes, enabling the concentration of global power into the hands of an unelected & unaccountable few, fueling the violence and destruction of endless war. In the post-9/11 security/surveillance state, Northeastern has embraced a leading position in this deadly triangle.

Northeastern’s lucrative relationships with federal agencies & private defense contractors have made this university complicit in the death & suffering of Libyans, Syrians, Yemenis, Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans… the list goes on. Selling out our university to military-industrial interests threatens our ability to have academic freedom, open dissent, and free speech. Northeastern’s integration into the military-industrial-academic complex has manifested in the following ways:

From 2012-2015, President Aoun served as a founding member of the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council, a group of 18 administrators & academics tasked with bringing academic institutions in line with Department of Homeland Security objectives and making recommendations to the Security of Homeland Security.
Northeastern has received millions of dollars in donations from Raytheon, the world’s largest producer of guided missiles & fifth-largest defense contractor. In return, Raytheon executives have been given seats in Northeastern’s highest governing bodies (Corporation & Board of Overseers). Their company receives a guaranteed source of labor (hundreds of students have done co-ops at Raytheon & they now employ almost 1,000 Northeastern alumni) and has its name on an auditorium (no, it’s really not an amphitheater).
- Raytheon missiles have been used to commit war crimes, such as Israel’s 2006 massacre in Qana, Lebanon (which killed 28 people including 16 children).
- Raytheon lobbies in favor of war & celebrated booming stock prices after Trump launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syria.
- Raytheon developed a microwave pain ray for the Department of Defense called the Active Denial System, which was tested on prisoners in California.
- Raytheon is bidding for the contract to expand the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Northeastern is the lead institution in the ALERT program, established in 2008 with a $10M grant from the Department of Homeland Security. Ten industrial partners (including Raytheon) buy into the program to gain access to explosives-related research.
The College of Computer and Information Science has been designated a National Security Agency (NSA) “Center of Excellence in Cyber Operations.” CCIS students take NSA-run seminars and temporary jobs, getting training for careers in government cybersecurity.
The Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security occupies a satellite campus in Burlington, MA devoted to research in “arenas critical to national security.” George Kostas, a wealthy nationalistic alum, has made three donations totalling $16M, which has led to a huge influx of funding for security-related research from other sources, in what Northeastern calls “the Kostas effect.”

Northeastern emphasizes “security” as one of three major research priorities; however, 15 years into the “war on terror,” Aoun & the Board of Trustees are still broadcasting the lie that more invasive surveillance, deadlier weapons, & increased academic collusion with the state can make us more secure. Aside from the information above, there is a great deal that Northeastern keeps secret about its relationships with military-industrial entities. Regardless, we can identify a concerted effort to cash in on the growing demand for military-industrial research and development.

Militarization has made Northeastern a lot of money, and as long as it remains profitable, we can expect more of it. In other words, these programs’ future existence depends on never-ending global war & conflict. It’s time for a radically different approach--one that does not devalue human life in pursuit of profits.