The Freshman Fishwrap / IHTFP Gallery

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the All-Night Tool

Location: Lobby 7
Date: 10/30-11/2/92

photo credit

In an elaborate Halloween Hack, students turned Lobby Seven into a Cathedral, ostensibly dedicated to Our Lady of the All-Night Tool. ("Tool," in MIT jargon, means either to study hard, or one who studies hard all the time). The transformation included stained-glass windows, pews, music, an altar, an organ, a confessional, holy relics, signs, and commandments. On top of this extensive hack, a real wedding was performed in the lobby while in its transformed state.

Father Tool has graciously provided a description of the Cathedral for visiting pilgirms.

The hackers provided a news release on the conception and construction of the Cathedral shortly after the hack. This release was printed almost verbatim in the Tech Talk on November 4, 1992.

The Tech carried the article: Cathedral Hack Planned Since June .

In an editorial addressing recent acts of vandalism, Robert B. Dimmick, Recording Secretary, Administrative Assistant to the Executive Vice President and CEO Association of Alumni and Alumnae of MIT, points to the hack as a good example of creative MIT pranks.

Additional Information


Top of the IHTFP Hack Gallery