MIT class ring

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology's class ring, often called the Brass Rat, is crafted each year by a student committee. The class ring has three main sections: the bezel, containing MIT's mascot, the beaver, the MIT seal (seal shank), and the class year (class shank). The side surfaces show the Boston and Cambridge skylines. A campus map and the student's name are engraved on the inner surface. The phrase "Brass Rat" is derived from the resemblance of the gold beaver to a rat. Among other reasons, the beaver was chosen as mascot (and therefore for the front bezel of the ring) because he is considered to be the engineer of the animal world.^[1]

The MIT class ring is large, conspicuous, and recognizable from a distance. Class of 1975 president William Wang said that there are "three recognizable rings in the world—the Brass Rat, the West Point ring and the Super Bowl Ring."^[2]

Contents 1 Tradition 2 Grad Rat 3 History 4 Variations 4.1 Design 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Tradition

The Brass Rat is traditionally worn with the Beaver "sitting" or "shitting" on the wearer until graduation. This represents the hardships imposed on students at MIT. In addition, the skyline of Boston is facing the student, representing the outside world awaiting. After graduation, the ring is turned around, and the Cambridge skyline is visible to the graduate, as a reminder of times spent at MIT.

The undergraduate ring is designed and presented in the sophomore year of each class. The design is unveiled during the Ring Premiere, which is followed weeks later by the Ring Delivery. The latter is a tradition since 1999 (Class of 2001), and is typically a formal occasion. Ring Delivery has been held on a harbor cruise, at prestigious restaurants, and at the Boston Public Library (Class of 2008). Although parts of the ring change each year, there is typically the MIT seal on one shank of the ring, and a depiction of the Dome on the other side. The 2008 Brass Rat was the first in recent years to revert back to the original style of the ring, placing the seal and Dome above the "MIT" and "08" respectively.

[edit] Grad Rat

The Graduate Student ring, or "Grad Rat", is redesigned every 5 years. Unlike the undergraduate ring, the Grad Rat is personalized according to the department in which the graduate student resides and the degree to be received (i.e., Ph.D, Sc.D, S.M., etc.). The Grad Rat has typically been less popular among graduate students at MIT than the Brass Rat is with undergraduates, with as few as 30% of graduate students opting to buy the ring compared with 85% of undergraduates who purchase the Brass Rat [2]. However, in recent years the Grad Rat has been gaining in popularity among graduate students. Factors contributing to the increasing popularity of the Grad Rat include the aforementioned personalization, increased visibility and marketing, and perhaps most importantly the ability to change these personalizations (including major, graduation year, and degree) free of charge.

[edit] History

The ring was first proposed in 1929 and labeled the "Standard M.I.T. Ring"^[3]

[edit] Variations

The ring is offered in several sizes, in various gold purities: 10, 14 or 18 carat (42, 58 or 75 % gold alloy) as well as white gold and Celestrium (jeweler's steel). (The Celestrium ring is often called a "Stainless Steel Rat" in joking reference to the series of novels by Harry Harrison, or "Tin Rat" by older alumni.) A typical ring: medium size, 14 carat (58 %) gold, cost US$403 in 2006 (for the class of 2008 ring). In recent years the Balfour company has been the exclusive manufacturer of the Brass Rat, although several other companies have made the ring through an annual competitive bidding and design process.^[4]

[edit] Design

The Brass Rat has many invariant central themes (such as the Beaver, and the class year) as well as new themes added over the years, such as the IHTFP motto. Each year then adds to the design numerous hidden jokes and references of experiences shared by the class of that year.

Class Year	Bezel Image	Common Features	Features Introduced	Theme	Year-Specific	Comments
2008		Beaver, Class Number, IHTFP	TBD		Boat leaving (signifying the dissolution of Ocean Engineering) with a DNA sail (signifying the introduction of Biological Engineering) Class year positioned lower than previous years	No woman on the ring from previous year Spoof ring presented initially:[5]
2007		Class Number, IHTFP, Beaver sitting on eight ivy leaves, Beaver wearing Brass Rat.	TBD		Woman on shank seal Hour glass with 'V' running out into 'H' signifying the MIT's presidential change from Charles Vest to Susan Hockfield in 2004.	Second time a woman has been featured on the MIT seal
2006		Class Number, IHTFP, Beaver sitting on eight ivy leaves, Beaver wearing Brass Rat.	Addition of Stata Center to "hacker's map" on underside of ring	"Starry Night"	Φ and θ letters on Cambridge skyline representing fraternities and sororities (response to "freshmen in dorms" policy, started with 2006 Class); coonskin cap on seal laborer, representing "pioneering nature" of class; ILTFP hidden in class shank; mission patch of STS-107 commemorating the Columbia tragedy; joining Cambridge and Boston skylines creates "MIT" in the negative space; miniature gnome in tree representing a hack from 2003; DNA strand and MIT Chapel spire commemorating the Dalai Lama's speech at MIT on religion and science.	Much controversy surrounded the use of Greek letters on the ring[6].
2005		Class Number, IHTFP, Beaver sitting on eight ivy leaves, Beaver wearing Brass Rat.	TBD		"A=B=C=P" in the water on the left signifying the end of a year pass/no record, "ZZZ" in the water on the right to remember the sleepless nights. Tombstone with "rush" written across signifying the end of the traditional rush system. The beaver has a muscular arm and is standing in front of the Zesiger Athletic Center to commemorate the center and health consciousness. The beaver is holding a diploma with a screw - getting "screwed." A pile of numbers beneath the diploma represent the importance of numbers on the MIT campus. A hand in the water for the FSILG coordinator who was thrown into the Charles River. Infinite symbol under the columns for the Infinite Corridor. A star above the dome to show we do our best work at night, and an owl with eyes spelling out 0 and 5 represent the late nights spent in Athena. A dove in front of a globe as a symbol of world peace since 9/11 happened a few days after the class started freshman classes. A hip flask and Erlenmeyer flask are present behind the dove with words "Punt" and "Tool," symbols of balancing social lives and academical pursuit. Two laurel leaves spell out "80" for the sister class of 1980.[7][8]
2004		Class Number, IHTFP, Beaver is sitting on eight ivy leaves.	TBD			2004 and its variations are portrayed numerous times
2003		Class Number, IHTFP, Beaver sitting on eight ivy leaves.	Beaver sitting on eight ivy leaves representing superiority over the eight in Ivy League.		Crane seen in background
2002		Class Number, Beaver is sitting on twigs spelling IHTFP, Beaver wearing Brass Rat.	TBD	"Reflections"	Beaver is clutching a stick crafted into a diploma with "02" at end. Leaves compose world map. Athena owl. Woman on seal shank in between books and laptop. Lamp has "77" handle, Great Dome R2D2 hack, and "02" flame. Ribbon from ILTFP and housing choice. Giant Tech "T" spelled in Green Building windows. Punt in Killian Court. 77 Mass Ave. steps.	First time a woman has been featured on the MIT seal:
2001		Class Number, IHTFP	TBD		Beaver is facing right
2000		Class Number, IHTFP	Beaver wearing a Brass Rat Realistic beaver depiction		Bezel: diverse trees reflect the geographic makeup of class; 00 in the logs; IHTFP in the sun rays, which is neither setting nor rising, representing sunrises after all-nighters; dead 3-eyed fish representing the 'death' of the Athena computer cluster called the Fishbowl; buddy class ('75) ripples in the water; beaver wearing Brass Rat. Class Shank: snowflakes, representing blizzard of '97 (1997-04-01); MM in the columns of 77 Mass Ave, representing 2000. Seal Shank: closed book, for the end of a millenia; 2000 hidden in lamp; globe, centered on Boston, is held in hands, representing, "The world is in our hands." Boston skyline: first to include Harvard Bridge and Citgo Sign, sailboats on Charles. Cambridge skyline: first to include Longfellow Bridge, crew boat representing early morning crew practices, Hale-Bopp Comet.
1992					Beaver clutches XCII. Owl in upper right represents Project Athena. MIT92 seen in branch under owl. "PUNT" spelled out in twigs below beaver. Originally the men on the Seal were dressed as explorers in honor of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' first arrival in the New World, but this was a controversial issue and was eliminated from the final design.[9]
1990			First ring with skylines and Citgo sign.[citation needed]
1986					Fierce beaver facing left, holding twig in hand. "86" spelled in twigs in lower left. Pine trees and moon in upper right. Big dome and year on one side, MIT seal and "Mens et Manus" on other side. Manufacturer: Herff Jones.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Class ring
• MIT hack

[edit] External links

• Balfour
• MIT poetry mentioning the ring