Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a research and educational institution located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Culture and student life

MIT notes that it has never awarded an honorary degree, and that the only way to receive an MIT diploma is to earn it. In addition, it does not award athletic scholarships, ad eundem degrees, or Latin honors upon graduation — the philosophy is that the honor is in being an MIT graduate. MIT faculty and students pride themselves on pure intellectual ability and achievement, and MIT professors often say that they grade with "all the letters of the alphabet." Due to these academic pressures, MIT culture is characterized by a love-hate relationship. The informal motto of the school is IHTFP ("I hate this fucking place," although some jocularly render it as "I have truly found paradise," or "Institute Has The Finest Professors"). The wide acceptance of this motto is shown by its (inconspicuous) incorporation in the design of the class ring of some graduating classes.

Related Topics:
Honorary degree - Ad eundem - Latin honors - Fuck

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In 1970, the then-Dean of Institute Relations, Benson R. Snyder, published The Hidden Curriculum, in which he argues that a mass of unstated assumptions and requirements dominates MIT students' lives and inhibits their ability to function creatively. Snyder contends that these unwritten regulations often outweigh the "formal curriculum"'s effect, and that the situation is not unique to MIT.

Related Topics:
1970 - The Hidden Curriculum

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The school has a powerful anti-authoritarian ethos in which it is believed that one's social status should be determined by raw intellectual prowess rather than by social class or organizational position. Other beliefs that are strongly held by people within the school are that information should be widely disseminated and not held secret, and that truth is a matter of empirical reality rather than the result of popular belief or management directive. Many of the values of the Institute have influenced the hacker ethic. The term "hacker" and much of hacker culture originated at MIT, starting with the TMRC and MIT AI Lab in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Resident hackers have included Richard Stallman and professors Gerald Jay Sussman and Tom Knight. At MIT, however, the term "hack" has multiple meanings. "To hack" can mean to physically explore areas (often on-campus, but also off) that are generally off-limits such as rooftops and steam tunnels. "Hack" as a noun also means an elaborate practical joke (see the MIT Hack Gallery), and not just a

Related Topics:
Hacker ethic - TMRC - MIT AI Lab - Richard Stallman - Gerald Jay Sussman - Tom Knight

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clever technical feat. The best hacks are humorous technical feats. The most famous hacks have been the weather balloon saying "MIT" which popped up out of the ground on the 50 yard line at the Harvard / Yale Football Game, and The Great Dome Police Car Hack, where the body shell of a campus police car mysteriously appeared on the top of the almost inaccessible Great Dome one morning (complete with a dozen donuts). The Great Dome was also "dressed" as R2-D2 to celebrate the release of Star Wars Episode I. See also hack (technology slang) and roof and tunnel hacking.

Related Topics:
Harvard / Yale Football Game - R2-D2 - Star Wars Episode I - Hack (technology slang) - Roof and tunnel hacking

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MIT's particular strain of anti-authoritarianism has manifested itself in other forms. In 1977, two female students, juniors Susan Gilbert and Roxanne Ritchie, were disciplined for publishing an article on April 28 of that year in the "alternative" MIT campus weekly thursday. Entitled "Consumer Guide to MIT Men," the article was a sex survey of 36 men the two claimed to have slept with, and the men were rated according to their sexual performance: no stars ("a turkey"), one star ("recommended in emergencies only"), two stars ("mediocre but worth trying"), three stars ("a good lay"), and four stars ("a must fuck").

Related Topics:
1977 - April 28 - Fuck

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Gilbert and Ritchie had intended to turn the tables on the rating systems and facebooks men use for women, but their article led not only to disciplinary action taken against them, but also to a protest petition signed by 200 students, as well as condemnation by President Jerome B. Wiesner, who published a fierce criticism of the article. The weekly's Feature Editor and Editor-in-Chief were also disciplined for running the piece. http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_097/TECH_V097_S0241_P012.txt

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MIT has a student athletics program offering 44 varsity-level sports. The Institute's sports teams are called the Engineers, their mascot since 1914 being a beaver, "nature's engineer." (Or sometimes: "The beaver is the engineer among animals—MIT students are the animals among engineers.") Lester Gardner, a member of the Class of 1898, provided the following justification: "The beaver not only typifies the Tech, but his habits are particularly our own. The beaver is noted for his engineering and mechanical skills and habits of industry. His habits are nocturnal. He does his best work in the dark." They participate in the NCAA's Division III, the New England Women and Men's Athletic Conference, the New England Football Conference, and NCAA's Division I and Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) for crew. They fielded several dominant intercollegiate Tiddlywinks teams through 1980, winning national and world championshipshttp://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_092/TECH_V092_S0210_P007.pdf. MIT teams have won or placed highly in national championships in pistol, track and field, cross country, crew, and water polo.

Related Topics:
1914 - Beaver - 1898 - NCAA - New England Women and Men's Athletic Conference - New England Football Conference - Tiddlywinks - 1980

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MIT has its own student-run radio station, WMBR.

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The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzlehunt run on Martin Luther King Day weekend.

Related Topics:
MIT Mystery Hunt - Puzzlehunt - Martin Luther King Day

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Undergraduate life. The undergraduate dormitories tend to be extremely close-knit, and the Institute provides live-in graduate student tutors and faculty housemasters who have the dual role of both helping students and monitoring them for medical or health problems. Students are permitted to select their dorm and floor upon arrival on campus, and as a result diverse communities arise in living groups. Although many dorms contain a wide range of living options, the dorms east of Massachusetts Avenue are stereotypically more involved in countercultural activities. Random Hall, living up to its name, is on the north side of campus, and Bexley Hall, in ironic juxtaposition to its "far-out" culture, is located centrally. Many MIT students live in fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups; however, after the alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger in September 1997, MIT made several decisions that affected the lives of undergraduates in subsequent years, including the decision that all freshmen live in Institute housing beginning in 2002. Simmons Hall was built in 2003 as a response to the increased housing demand this decision brought about.

Related Topics:
Countercultural - Bexley Hall - 1997 - 2002 - 2003

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Brass Rat. Despite the disdain that many MIT graduates profess for academic tradition, a very large number of them proudly wear an MIT class ring, which is large, heavy, distinctive, and easily recognized from a considerable distance. Originally created in 1929, the ring's official name is the "Standard Technology Ring," but its colloquial name is far more well known—the "Brass Rat." The undergraduate ring design varies slightly from year to year to reflect the unique character of the MIT experience for that class but always features a three-piece design, with the MIT seal and the class year each appearing on a separate shank, flanking a massive bezel bearing an image of a beaver. Also, engraved inside the ring, on the opposite side of the bezel is a map of the main campus, known as the "Hacker's map." Another feature of the ring is the Cambridge skyline on the side atop the bezel, and the Boston skyline on the side below the bezel.

Related Topics:
1929 - Beaver

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