As Bill Hecht ’61, SM ’76 (CEO of the MIT Alumni Association from 1980 to 2003) would later recall, “Classes started fussing with the beaver, making it bigger, fatter, more beaver-like the old one was more rat-like.”ġ979: A Brass Rat is temporarily attached to the finger of the John Harvard statue at MIT’s Cambridge neighbor, Harvard University.ġ980: The Brass Rat makes its first big screen debut in the movie Stir Crazy, worn by Grossberger (played by MIT alum Erland Philip van Lidth de Jeude ’ 76).ġ984: The first ring premiere event is held to unveil the Class of 1986 design, during the spring of their sophomore year.ġ987: Controversy ensues over the Class of 1989 ring design, which reverses decades of precedent by having the beaver facing to the right instead of the left.ġ988: Silhouettes of the Boston and Cambridge skylines are added to the side bezels of the ring by the Class of 1990 committee, necessitating a change in the ring’s manufacture from a three-piece mold to a five-piece process. Class committees, which take responsibility for the ring, remain faithful to the original standard, making only minor alterations in ring design from year to year.ġ975: Students begin to break with Brass Rat tradition.

In 1940, the ring committee suggests that the Brass Rat be redesigned-after much discussion and polling, however, the idea is dropped.ġ963: The Standard Ring Committee disbands. The clever and industrious mascot wins, earning the ring its enduring nickname of “Brass Rat.” Contrary to that moniker, the rings are available only in gold or sterling silver.ġ940: In the early years, the rings do not change much, with slight variations based only on who produces the ring. They debate whether to feature the Great Dome or the beaver on the bezel. The Class of 1927 begins the tradition with a generic design.ġ929: The student committee for the first custom MIT ring, officially named the Standard Technology Ring, commences work on a design to be worn by the Class of 1930. We’ve searched archives and conferred with alums to round up the (mostly) agreed-upon facts that trace its journey, from quiet 1927 debut to the 2020 design that has become a symbol of connection to a geographically dispersed graduating class.ġ927: Before this time, MIT had no class ring. The details of its history are sometimes cause for friendly debate. Many things have changed about the MIT Brass Rat over the years, yet it remains one of the most recognizable rings in the world-a unifying symbol of solidarity that comes from earning an MIT degree.

Mit brass rat 2023