J. Walsh, director of the Campus Activities Complex. But after last-minute opposition from some students, the committee is reconsidering construction plans, he said.

Just before final exams last fall, Estevan M. Martinez ’08 and Sarah C. Hopp ’08 conducted a simple online survey targeted at undergraduates asking whether students wanted the mural to remain or be replaced by glass.

The e-mail publicizing the survey could have introduced a bias, however; it began with the words: “I am writing to you today to help conserve a piece of MIT history.” Even taking bias into account, the strong student response “calls for re-evaluating” what to do to the mural, Martinez said.

Over two days, 587 responses were recorded, with 72 percent supporting preserving the mural, although repeated responses from the same person were not prevented, he said.

Though the possibility of the mural’s removal was known several months prior, Martinez said he started paying attention when he saw someone photographing the mural because it would be taken down soon. After sending an e-mail to some dormitory discussion e-mail lists soliciting feedback that quickly generated about 70 responses, he decided to bring up the concern at an Undergraduate Association Senate meeting, and the survey was created, he said.