![mit brass rat giant mit brass rat giant](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/CEHBJM/giant-board-games-hack-at-mit-2007-CEHBJM.jpg)
So started the Institute tradition of the Brass Rat, the affectionate nickname for the ring that has become a symbol of MIT as well as one of the most recognizable rings worldwide. With the debate settled and the ring finally designed, the Class of 1930 was the first to proudly wear a Brass Rat. Brass Rat 2023, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He does his best work in the dark.”Ĭiting the fact that many other schools had buildings similar to our Great Dome, the committee ultimately decided to honor our hard-working and industrious mascot on the ring-and thus the Brass Rat was born. The beaver is noted for his engineering, mechanical skills, and industry. The beaver not only typifies the Tech (student), but his habits are peculiarly our own. Hornady’s book on the animals of North America and instantly chose the beaver. But neither of these were American animals. He is wise, patient, strong, hard working, and, like all who graduate from Tech, has a good hide.
![mit brass rat giant mit brass rat giant](https://i.imgur.com/DviIJzu.png)
The committee looked to the original discussion over the mascot (formally decided upon by President MacLaurin in 1914), calling upon the now famous defense of the beaver by Lester Gardner, Class of 1897: “We first thought of the kangaroo which, like Tech, goes forward in leaps and bounds. The committee agreed upon a three part construction, with a primary image on the bezel of the ring and two other images on the two shanks.Ĭontroversy quickly arose over whether to honor the Beaver or the Great Dome on the bezel some members of the committee even questioned MIT’s choice of the beaver as its mascot. Brigham Allen, then President of the Class of 1929, called upon one member of the classes of 1930, 1931, and 1932 and entrusted them with the task of designing a ring that the Institute Committee would ultimately approve as the Standard Technology Ring. People don't really care about it, and it's really just an attempt to get some more money, it feels like.The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Brass Rat tradition was born in the spring of 1929. In comparison, the grad rat has a fixed design for five(?) years and you can change one of the components to represent your field of study. I've had alums come up to me in other countries because I was wearing a brass rat - so in a way, it acts kind of like a signal that you went to MIT.
![mit brass rat giant mit brass rat giant](https://www.mitcnc.org/app/uploads/2020/07/Anyone-can-be-a-Tech-CEO.png)
I constantly wear mine, as do a lot of my friends, but I also know people who've basically not touched it since graduation. Each year, the MIT class ring, affectionately nicknamed the Brass Rat, is redesigned by a committee of 12 students from the second-year class. To alums, it's pretty dependent on the individual. A vast majority of the UG population purchases a brass rat. It's pretty important to students, I'd say. The brass rat is class-specific in design and has a lot of fanfare around it: a designing committee, a brass rat design reveal, an event called ring delivery in which you get your brass rat, some "meaning" in how you wear your brass rat, and a custom of turning it around during graduation. The term "brass rat" is primarily used for UG class rings, but there's a "grad rat" that's also sold to graduate students.
![mit brass rat giant mit brass rat giant](https://fruitofjewels.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/mit-1.jpg)
Just in case it wasn't clear, you don't "receive" a brass rat, you have to purchase it. The typical 10-karat brass rat contains around 190 worth of gold, yet in recent auctions MIT class rings have sold for 675 to 1,231, according to Rauch.