MIT students declare their major at the end of their Freshmen year. Late in the Spring term, departments hold a series of open houses to educate Frosh about the prospects of pursuing their respective majors. Consequently, Frosh receive a collection of open-house invitations around this time of year. In 1992, the Frosh also received a mailing announcing the open house for the Department of Alchemy. Click on the image below for a larger, more readable version.
For many years, the door on a chemistry lab in Building 2 has humorously advertised itself as the Department of Alchemy. This hack mailing built on top of that theme.