The Freshman Fishwrap / IHTFP Gallery

The Disappearing President's Office (The Bulletin Board Hack)

Location: 3-208
Date: October 15, 1990

Officially, it was the day that President Vest was to take office at MIT. When Vice President Constantine Simonides arrived to open up the office, however, he thought he was on the wrong floor. Where the door should have been, there was only a poster-covered bulletin board.

The hackers had struck again. Bulletin Board Pix

President Vest's office was still there, but a portable, wooden-frame bulletin board had been placed over it. The board had been carefully contructed to fit into the entryway, but was easily removed.

After eventually finding the missing President's Office, Simonides replaced the bulletin board for Vest's arrival (shown below).

Vest w/ missing office

photo credit

Before: 3-208 unhacked

After:

Coincidentally, around this time, the Institute had been busy installing new bulletin boards around campus.

A bottle of champagne had also been installed in Vest's office. Vest seemed to appreciate the hack; he is quoted as saying, ``My first major policy is that we're going to keep that. The first time issues get hot on campus, we'll pull it out.''

This story made national news: the hackers of MIT had welcomed Vest in their own ``official'' style.

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