Alumni Home > News & Events > Noteworthy > News & Features

Campus Preview Weekend Debuts with Cannon Heist

MIT leads the spirited Caltech vs. MIT hacking war 11-6 thanks to this April 6 prank. Learn about the friendly rivalry and view the MIT Gallery of Hacks. Photo: Maggy Bruzelius

Hacks were in the air as more than 850 prefrosh and their families arrived April 6 for a peek at the real MIT before making final acceptance decisions by May 1. Caltech's cannon sits on display in front of the Green Building, adorned with a 2006 Brass Rat. The heist responds to Caltech's pranks on MIT's preview weekend last year, which included a banner draped from one of the domes reading "That Other Institute of Technology." The heist puts MIT in the lead of the friendly pranking war 11-6.

An engraved plaque accompanies the cannon: "MIT hackers posing as Howe & Ser Moving Company appropriated this cannon on March 28, 2006. It later appeared on MIT's campus with the addition of a large Brass Rat made of gold-plated aluminum. In honor of its previous owners, the cannon points toward Pasadena, CA."

Caltech is coping with the loss of the cannon with good humor, even lauding MIT for its efforts. A press release says that "MIT has hit the jackpot" with the prank and promises retaliation—once the cannon is returned.

Update: Caltech's eagerness to reclaim the cannon prompted a quick cross-country trip a few days after its appearance in Cambridge, and alas, the cannon is no longer on MIT's campus. MIT's hack received national and international media coverage though. Learn more on Matt McGann's '00 blog for the Office of Admissions.

April 6, 2006