According to RIT folklore the university was almost called South Henrietta Institute of Technology (SHIT) instead of Rochester Institute of Technology. This story is often told in circles of freshmen and sophomores.

Based on my extensive research, this story is untrue. Not only was this name not considered, RIT is actually located more toward the western end of Henrietta.

see also: Springfield Heights Institute of Technology, RIT

Obviously this was just a joke for the acronym. RIT was originally located within the city of Rochester (in the middle of downtown) under the name of RIT and another name. Once the institute wanted to expand they realized they couldn't, they were surrounded by businesses. So they decided to build a new campus on a plot of land in Henrietta, and eventually moved out of the city buildings.