WAAAAAAY a long time ago, Chris blogged about Ring Premiere. We're talking ages ago, so long that I almost forgot it even happened. Before we get started with this entry, let me dust the cobwebs out of your head with some visual cues.

Remember now? This was all back in February, at the very beginning of the semester. Since then, all the sophomores have had to wait patiently, doing PSETS, taking tests, and generally being ring-less. Ring Premiere was on February 6th, Ring Delivery was last night on May 8th. I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that was a VERY long three months.

But, last night it was over, and it was time for Ring Delivery. First, some back story. MIT students all get their class rings during their Sophomore Year. The rings, known as brass rats, is the main identifying feature of an MIT student. If you're wandering around and you see somebody with a brass rat on then you know they went to MIT. And they're not hard to miss, they're massive, gaudy, and absolutely beautiful.

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.

It's a formal affair, everybody dresses up charges their cameras, and gets hungry because Ring Delivery as an elegant, photo-inclined, shove your face full of fancy food event that simply isn't to be missed.

Instead of writing words, I decided to steal a page out of Jess Kim's book and fancily caption all of my pictures, all 35+ of them. So, without further delay, enjoy!

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

first

Posted by: 0 on May 9, 2009

the rings are epic!

Posted by: rainbow on May 9, 2009

Nice ring, sniv! :D

Posted by: Cody Dean on May 10, 2009

Damn, Sauza is hot!

Posted by: Sarah on May 10, 2009

Great post michael!!! this ring is not just a ring. it's THE RING. it has a mini super-computer on it, GPS, you can hear what people say 300 meters away from you and things like that. so, when you where this ring you become MITman ( instead of superman).lol

Posted by: Dimitris(class of 2015?) on May 10, 2009

Hey nice rat!!!

So how do you decide who gets which ring? Not that all of them aren't amazing!!!

Posted by: Shiv on May 10, 2009

Question for the MIT community: My brother-in-law attended MIT in the 1970s but dropped out his senior year to join the navy (serious break up with a girlfriend at MIT was the stated cause). Several years afterward he finished his engineering degree at another institution and co-founded a tech company. He has never worn his MIT ring. And yet, he was a student at MIT. Could he wear it, if he wanted?

Posted by: Curious on May 10, 2009

@Shiv : not sure I fully understand your question, but all of the rings are mostly the same; we choose the size of the bezel (Small - Large), the ring diameter (finger size), the material (10K, 14K, 18K yellow or white gold, Celestrium (stainless steel) or Imperium (fancy name for a gold-alloy)), and degree of antique-ing (light through dark). Then, most people get their names laz0r engraved on the inside, since it's free.

So, apart from the distinguishing size of the ring, they all LOOK mostly the same (within the same year, that is)... I hope that answered your questions!

Snively, you've got some typos up in this biznittily-bubs, check 'em out. (captions and body text both)

Posted by: Yuki '11 on May 10, 2009

@Shiv
Yeah, it's not a grab bag. We select which types of rings we want when we order them. They all have the same engraving but different finishes and sizes. All of those rings there were just different like that.

@Yuki
I just checked, no typos! Unless you're talking about the rocket sprimp, but that was already misspelled, part of why I wanted it.

Posted by: Snively on May 10, 2009

@ Yuki
Thanks alot. I just asked because in the pics, the rings looked to be of different colors/shades. So do you mean I [i.e. if I get in!!! ]get to choose which material my ring should be of???
Sweet......!!!

Posted by: Shiv on May 10, 2009

Thanks for awarding me best outfit! Happy mother's day!

Posted by: Rachel on May 10, 2009

So bright... so beautiful... ah, Precious.
My Precious.....We wants it...

Posted by: shuang61 on May 10, 2009

I want one!

Posted by: Aditi '12 on May 10, 2009

So "smartie tub" isn't a mistake...?

Posted by: Norah on May 10, 2009

@Norah
Um . . .no

Posted by: Snively on May 10, 2009

I believe one of the typos referred to was
"It's a formal affair, everybody dresses up charges their cameras, and gets hungry"

There should be a comma in between the words 'up' and 'charges'.

Posted by: hcs on May 10, 2009

M&M War!

I seriously want those welder goggles.

Posted by: Jean'13 on May 10, 2009

Seriously, who cares about typos?

I want that ring sooooo bad! All the California universities I know (which = a lot) don't seem to be as into the ring ceremony as MIT. Which is cool...because that makes MIT even more special. :>

Posted by: Steph on May 10, 2009

So was the citi sign a hack, or was that legitimately placed there? :D

Nice lolcats-esque pictures.

Posted by: yobmocmustdie on May 10, 2009

Question: Do you guys have to pay in any way for the rings and the reception?

Posted by: Little Peonies on May 10, 2009

@yobmocmustdie
The citi sign was legit, we paid for it.

@Little Peonies
The rings cost money, I paid around $700 total for the two of mine. The delivery event and food is free though.

Posted by: Snively on May 10, 2009

Woah.

Posted by: Little Peonies on May 10, 2009

@hcs

Well, if you're going to be picky, I would point out that the first comma in the sentence should actually be a semi-colon (a colon would work as well, although it would very slightly alter the meaning).

Sorry guys, this is just what I'm doing instead of doing real work. This is how low I've sunk in my attempts to procrastinate....

Posted by: Dizzle '09 on May 10, 2009

The food looks delicious, wish I was there. :(

Posted by: Alex on May 11, 2009

You get you brass rats before you actually graduate? Awesome! (If it is true, still not sure; kinda why I am asking.)

Posted by: Talal '13 on May 11, 2009

Where is IHTFP on the ring???

Posted by: c/o '13 on May 11, 2009

Congrats on being ringed!
@Aditi '12: It's just a year's wait...

Posted by: Monorina on May 12, 2009

@Talal '13
Yep, Brass Rats mark the halfway point to Graduation, incentive to keep going.

@c/o '13
The "IHTFP" is on the leaves around Athena.
Click here to see

Posted by: Snively on May 12, 2009

The most important question is...HOW do I get a tub filled with M&Ms; and cheesecake popsicles?!!?! (and why is the word "popsicles" not in the Firefox dictionary...wtf?)

Posted by: Mikey on May 12, 2009

Nice Rings!!!

Posted by: 0 on May 12, 2009

Question
Can you get a MIT ring in graduate-school?

Posted by: Curious George on May 12, 2009

Curious George: Yes. It's called the Grad Rat.

Posted by: Scott '10 on May 12, 2009

How can I make video-DVD's of 8.02?
I used "Any Video Converter" and it worked for many video lectures, but some videos can not be converted.

Thanks

Posted by: 0 on May 12, 2009

Love the "and beg for phone numbers" picture!

Posted by: Madelena ('14?) on May 12, 2009

The Star Trek photo is pure awesome.

Posted by: Jessica on May 13, 2009

Wow!!!

Posted by: Viki on May 14, 2009

re: Curious... considering that we get our rings sophomore year, there are plenty of people running around with Brass Rats who are not technically MIT graduates (yet); as per tradition, we turn the brass rat around so the beaver faces away from us when we graduate. so if you wanted to be picky, I'd say yes he can wear it - but with the beaver facing himself, since he never turned it around at graduation.

Posted by: Nicole '10 on May 17, 2009

Add a comment

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.