Share This The MIT Brass RatEvery tells a story, but for some institutions, that story is part of a beloved tradition.The history of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) senior ring, known as the Brass Rat, dates back to 1929. The then senior class president formed the first-ever student ring committee to design a ring for the Class of 1930.
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.
Today, that tradition continues. Each ring committee is tasked with designing a unique style that represents the graduating class. While some design elements – like a beaver, the university’s mascot, and the Boston skyline — are ever-present year after year, other aspects change with each committee as a way to represent their journey at MIT.In recent years, Herff Jones has had the honor of manufacturing the Brass Rat, as MIT’s official jewelry provider.
The video below shows MIT’s ring process featuring the Herff Jones design and manufacturing process. This video was produced by.Learn more about the ring committee. Or, check out.Video transcript:When you think about M.I.T., most people immediately jump into science and engineering but there’s a lot of things that make M.I.T.
Unique, and probably the most iconic and amazing tradition that M.I.T. Has is the brass rat. The brass rat is a class ring that MIT gives to its students at the end of their sophomore year, and they wear for the rest of their lives.The tradition of the brass rat actually began back in 1929 and there has been a committee of 12 students chosen every year to design the brass rat ever since. Read moreThat’s one of the unique things about M.I.T. Is that students are the ones who are actually making the class ring and making a legacy for their class.
It’s not an M.I.T. Administration or it’s not a third-party vendor. It’s students of the class that decide what goes on the ring.The committee is initially selected in the spring of their freshman year from the committee that precedes them, and their mission starts right away. In addition to being artists, they need to be business minded people to sell the rings. They need to be marketing and event planners because we’re also responsible for premiering and delivering the ring to our class.There are very few student run committee programs where the ring is redesigned year to year. Herff Jones has the privilege in working with the M.I.T.
Student committee in redesigning every single aspect of the ring from top to bottom. From the designing process, manufacturing, into the delivery of the actual ring.And we’ve designed a lot of different rings for many different schools across the country, but this one is interesting, specifically, because there’s so many different parts that are customizable. And every year, there’s six different parts of the ring that change.There’s the bezel, there’s the skylines, there’s the two shanks, and there’s the Hacker’s map for the arbor on the inside of the ring.It’s tough to take something from the ideation stage like that that has so much detail and so much symbolism to something that’s manufacturable. So, it’s a unique opportunity for us to take a look at our capabilities and stretch the limit on those capabilities. It is custom one-for-one manufacturing where a craftsperson is sitting down at a station actually hand using tools, wheels and motors to achieve that look. So, how light do we need to go, what are the best compounds to be using, what are the best wheels and abrasives, so that we can really get that detail out in the finished product and have all of that available for the students.In addition to designing the class ring, we put a lot of time and effort into the events surrounding the class ring.One of those events is “premiere” which is essentially this giant theatrical event where the class is shown the ring for the first time and it takes place in the biggest performance space on campus. And it’s just a really great event because it is one of the few times that as a class everyone is fully together getting to do something.So, delivery really signifies the halfway point through our time here at the institute.
We all wear really beautiful gowns and tuxes and go to a stunning place in Boston and celebrate being halfway through M.I.T. And get our ring and take a bunch of really pretty pictures.When students get their ring at ring delivery, I think it’s really amazing that every student can say, “there’s a little bit of me in that ring.” What we do on the committee is that we try to represent every single community and every single background on the ring. So that way, students are excited and really feel like they have a home here at M.I.T.I think it’s the most humbling thing to be given this opportunity to add to MIT’s history and it makes you think a lot about how much you can do and how much the people before you did. And it’s really encouraging. But at the same time, it shows you have a long way to go.
And I am excited.Typically at commencement, the most significant moment is crossing the podium and receiving your diploma. However, at M.I.T., we like to do things a little bit differently. And one thing that’s really unique at graduation is that you flip your brass rat.
As an undergrad at M.I.T., you wear it such that you’re always looking at the Boston skyline. At graduation, they tell you to flip your brass rat so that way you can see the Cambridge skyline specifically MIT’s campus. You’re going out into the real world and you’re going to use everything that you’ve learned at this institution, both academically and personally. I think flipping that skyline around just signifies the closing of a chapter here at M.I.T. And the opening of so many new doors once you graduate.“Please raise your right hand. Take off your brass rat and turn it around. And let the world know that we are now finally, finally graduates of M.I.T.” (cheering).
The 2021 bezel features a beaver wearinghis own Brass Rat, walking towards Boston and the future. Hidden in the beaver’s earis the number 21 and in its tail is IHTFP. The bridge behind the beaver is metal as in real life, while the remainder is wood to show the beaver’s fabricator spirit and ingenuity as ‘nature’sengineer.’ On the bridge is the 154thsmoot because we are the 154thgraduating class; a toolbox with 'P&T' for our maker spirit and “punt and tool”; and an ivy leafto represent the school up the street that we both rival and collaborate with. In the sky is the solar eclipsewhich occurred during our first days of freshman year.On the Cambridge side are Kresge, the Chapel,Alchemist, Building 10, MIT.nano, Walker Memorial, Green Building, and Stata. The alchemistwears a medal to celebrate our athletic victories.In MIT.nano, a working scientist is pictured above a student fighting a firehose to show the dichotomy between what the public thinks MIT students do and what weactually do.
The center door of Lobby 10 is left open- we will always be able toreturn to the campus we call home. The Green Building features Tetris blocks that write out “21”, a tribute to the famous hack on the building. Between Cambridge and Boston is the Longfellow Bridge with a passing Red Linetrain.
On the Charles are a sailboat and dock depictingnumerous outdoor activities that occur during the warmer months in Boston.On the Boston side are brownstones, the Citgo Sign, the Boston Clock Tower, the Prudential Center, and One Dalton. On topof one of the brownstones are party goers to show the experience of crossing the bridge forsocial activities in Boston. The triangle of the Citgo is replaced with a spade, a common motif for our class. One Dalton is shown with a crane to represent the constant construction occurring in Boston. The clock in Custom House Tower reads ‘Tau Time,’ the time when acceptances to the Institute are released. The Class Shank has been tradition since the beginning of the Brass Rat.
The depictionof the Great Dome used to be featured on both sides of the ring until the Class Sealtradition started in the 1980s. Kerberos sits at the front of the Class Shank guarding theGates of Hell, also known as Lobby 10.
Kerberos serves as a protector for the studentsof MIT as well as the namesake for our emails. Kerberos stands behind a podium madefrom the nuts-and-bolts insignia. At the top of the insignia is a ruler with a tick for everymajor on campus with omitted ticks for the courses that have since been canceled orabsolved.
On the grass of Killian Court are two gravitational waves to celebrate RainerWeiss’ winning of the Nobel Prize in Physics our freshman fall. Flanking either side ofLobby 10 are two massive trees as a reminder of the nature Killian Court provides onour urban campus.
Sitting atop the Great Dome are two Hackers. The plaque declaringthe founding of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s date has been changed toread “MMXXI” for the Class of 2021. The Class Seal was the first major addition to the Brass Rat when it replacedthe Great Dome in the 1980s on what is now referred to as the Seal Shank.The seal has been modified slightly to represent a man and woman incontemporary wardrobes.
The traditional male smith is replaced with a womanto celebrate 2021 marking 150 years of women on MIT’s campus—EllenSwallow Richards began classes at the Institute in 1871. The flame of thelamp in the seal has been changed to read “21”. Beneath the seal is a globe torepresent the many countries students call home as well as the internationalwork many students do during their time before, during, and after MIT. On theleft side of the globe are olive branches representing peace and wisdom. Oakleaves representing longevity and strength are depicted on the right. The Cambridge Skyline tradition had the same beginnings as the Boston Skylineand is featured on the upper bridge of the Brass Rat. Again following tradition, theCambridge Skyline is depicted during the day, when we will be at work recountingfond memories of our beloved Institute.
The built environment featured on the 2021Cambridge skyline is from left to right: Kresge Auditorium, Alchemist, a pedestriancrossing Massachusetts Avenue, Main Campus, Green Building, Walker Memorial,and the Media Lab. Beneath the skyline is a shell—another common sight on theCharles River and a symbol of recreation on MIT’s campus. The Boston Skyline tradition began with the 1990 Brass Rat and has been featured onthe lower bridge of the Brass Rat every year since the 1992 ring. Following tradition,the Boston Skyline is depicted at night, a sight many MIT students are well acquaintedwith given their nocturnal habits. The architecture featured on the 2021 BostonSkyline is from left to right: the Boston Logan Airport Control Tower, Zakim Bridge,Massachusetts State House, 60 State Street, John Hancock Tower, 111 HuntingtonAvenue, Prudential Tower, Boston Citgo Sign, and Fenway Park. Beneath the skyline is asailboat—a common sight on the Charles River and a symbol of leisure on the Boston-Cambridge Border. Above the State House is the North Star—a symbol of directionand purpose.
Above Fenway Park is the crossbeams of two waving searchlights tosymbolize of the Red Sox victory in the 2018 World Series Championships and thesocial life students have in the Back Bay and Fenway area. The Hacker’s Map is the most recent addition to the Brass Rat. The Hacker’s Map wasoriginally premiered in the late ‘90s referred to as the “Corona” after its location on theBrass Rat. The 2001 class ring re-premiered the Hacker’s Map as the “Campus Map.”Then, the 2007 Ring Committee renamed the feature as the “Hacker’s Map” and thename has remained since.The 2021 Hacker’s Map correctly represents only the campus tunnels including thenew MIT.nano extension. Senior Haus has been added to the tunnel network to remindstudents of the passing of time: that we are the last class to experience CPW withSenior Haus and the almost test subjects for Pilot 2021. A banana has been addednext to Building 26 to represent the Banana Lounge initiative started our FreshmanYear.
Lastly, a Cartesian coordinate system has been added to the top left cornerof the map because during our time at MIT, we learn to view the world through thecoordinate system, not the Compass Rose. 'The beaver notonly typifies the Tech (student), but his habits are peculiarly our own.The beaver is noted for his engineering, mechanical skills, and industry.His habits are nocturnal.
He does his best work in the dark.' Citing the fact that many other schools had buildings similar to ourGreat Dome, the committee ultimately decided to honor our hard-workingand industrious mascot on the ring and thus the Brass Rat was born. Withthe debate settled and the ring finally designed, the Class of 1930 wasthe first to proudly wear a Brass Rat. Herff Jones stands behind each ring we sell.
Each of the custom features of your ring are carefully and skillfully crafted. Our high standards are your assurance of lasting satisfaction. Your ring, given reasonable care, will endure for a lifetime. Herff Jones fully warrants the ring to be free from defects in workmanship and/or material for the lifetime of the ring.
If the ring cannot be repaired or replaced, a refund will be made.The following services will be performed free of charge for life. The pricing includes inside engraving (up to 17 characters) in script or block lettering; choice of yellow, white or rose gold; choice of ring finish and Limited Lifetime Warranty. Students purchasing a gold MIT ring are eligible to purchase a companion ring of the same size and style in Ultrium for $75 and Ultrium PVD for $205. Please note that there is an added charge of 50$ not reflected in the charts below for the rose gold ring.Size10K14K18KX-Small$488$588$793Small$534$658$918Medium$681$904$1249Large$790$1019$1472SizeUltriumExtreme SilverUltrium PVD.