He wasn't a student, but he was definitely part of the MIT community. He was in a student group, a technical member of the W3C (housed on campus), and his father was an alum and a contractor at the Media Lab. Joi Ito, the head of the lab, sent President Reif a letter asking if this could be dealt with as a "family matter". Reif (or his lawyers) refused.

MIT may not be culpable in his suicide, but they sure don't come out of this looking good. They maintained strict neutrality, when they could have stood up for open access.

Their behavior makes me ashamed to be an alum of my school.