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When you think about MIT, most people
immediately jump into science and engineering.
But there's a lot of things that make MIT unique.
And probably the most iconic and amazing tradition that MIT has
is the Brass Rat.
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The Brass Rat is a class ring that MIT gives to its students
at the end of their sophomore year.
And they wear it 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.
That's one of the unique things about MIT
is that students are the ones who actually
are making the class ring and making
a legacy for their class.
It's not an MIT 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.
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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.
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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 MIT 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.
Yeah, we design 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 shags.
And there's the Hacker's Map [INAUDIBLE]
in 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
that'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 at 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 MIT, 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 MIT.
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 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 MIT, 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 MIT, 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 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 signifies
the closing of a chapter here at MIT
and the opening of so many new doors once you graduate.
Please raise your right hand.
Take off your Brass Rat and turn in around.
And let the world know that you are now finally,
finally graduates of MIT.
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