Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Hacks at the <a href="/facts/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology/Xk49vNA8">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> are <a href="/facts/Practical_joke/VHohx9le">practical jokes</a> and <a href="/facts/Student_prank/VHohx9le">pranks</a> meant to prominently demonstrate technical aptitude and cleverness, and/or to commemorate popular culture and historical topics. The pranks are anonymously installed at night by <a href="/facts/Hackers/bhg519lj">hackers</a>, usually, but not exclusively, undergraduate students. The hackers' actions are governed by an informal yet extensive body of precedent, tradition and ethics. Hacks can occur anywhere across campus, and occasionally off campus; many make use of the iconic <a href="/facts/Campus_of_the_Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology/3G0IoBTy">Great Dome</a>, <a href="/facts/Infinite_Corridor/f8CqYfU0">Little Dome</a>, <a href="/facts/Green_Building_(MIT)/KhY6954c">Green Building</a> tower, or other prominent architectural features of the <a href="/facts/Campus_of_the_Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology/3G0IoBTy">MIT campus</a>. Well-known hacker alumni include Nobel Laureates <a href="/facts/Richard_Feynman/32vGFrtB">Richard P. Feynman</a> and <a href="/facts/George_Smoot/m92pWIF9">George F. Smoot</a>. In October 2009, US President <a href="/facts/Barack_Obama/76wUMgL1">Barack Obama</a> made a reference to the MIT hacking tradition during an on-campus speech about <a href="/facts/Clean_energy/EnD6dsKV">clean energy</a>. In recent years, MIT students have employed hacks to protest MIT's collaborations with the Israeli military and arms suppliers during the <a href="/facts/Gaza_war/dmUoIpBw">Gaza war</a>.
Although the practice is unsanctioned by the university, and students have sometimes been arraigned on trespassing charges for hacking, hacks have substantial significance to MIT's history and student culture. Student bloggers working for the MIT Admissions Office have often written about MIT hacks, including those occurring during Campus Preview Weekend (CPW), an event welcoming admitted prospective freshman students. Alumni bloggers on the MIT Alumni Association website also report and document some of the more memorable hacks. Since the mid-1970s, the student-written guide How To Get Around MIT (HowToGAMIT) has included a chapter on hacking, and discusses history, hacker groups, ethics, safety tips, and risks of the activity.
For a decade, the <a href="/facts/MIT_Museum/Fd905aJs">MIT Museum</a> included a "Hall of Hacks" featuring famous MIT hacks, but the section was closed in 2001, temporarily returning for a 2003 exhibition. In 2011, the display space was reallocated to the MIT 150 exhibition, a year-long show commemorating MIT's 150th anniversary. Although hacks were not featured in the exhibit, certain student activities such as the <a href="/facts/Traditions_and_student_activities_at_MIT/yohKVFVR">Annual Baker House Piano Drop</a> were featured in the exhibition. The Museum's extensive collection of hacker artifacts and documentation continues to be preserved and expanded, with a selection of larger relics from past hacks plus explanatory panels and plaques semi-permanently displayed inside the <a href="/facts/Ray_and_Maria_Stata_Center/CxE028BR">Stata Center</a>. This mini-exhibit on hacks is located on the ground floor of the Stata Center, near the cafeteria at the southeastern end of the complex, and may be viewed by visitors during normal office hours.
Famous hacks include a weather balloon labeled "MIT" appearing at the 50-yard line at the <a href="/facts/Harvard%25E2%2580%2593Yale_football_rivalry/ko3QQ5Xx">Harvard/Yale football game</a> in 1982, the placing of a campus police cruiser on the roof of the Great Dome, converting the Great Dome into <a href="/facts/R2-D2/AuIQ7dEN">R2-D2</a> or a large yellow ring to acknowledge the release of <a href="/facts/Star_Wars%3a_Episode_I_%25E2%2580%2593_The_Phantom_Menace/NCRujVRV">Star Wars Episode I</a> and <a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring/hD2yWfDr">Lord of the Rings</a> respectively, or placing full-sized replicas of the <a href="/facts/Wright_Flyer/AltAzzvr">Wright Flyer</a> and a fire truck to acknowledge the anniversaries of first powered controlled flight and the <a href="/facts/September_11_attacks/PfWQcQNx">September 11 attacks</a> respectively.

Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology open-in-new

Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology