Hacks in Killian Court

Killian Court, at the heart of MIT, is a place which surrounds every MIT student's time at the Institute. Freshmen have their class picture taken there, followed by Killian Kickoff, opening Orientation. Commencement is held there as well, giving the graduates a chance to broil in the sun or melt in the rain while admiring the view of the Great Dome.

Due to the significance of these events, hacks and hacking stories from Killian can be divided into three categories:

Killian Kickoff/Freshman Picture Hacks

• 1,994 superballs dropped onto the Freshman Picture of the Class of 1994.
• The Gamma Alpha Gamma Hack
• A giant monolith appeared in the courtyard for the Class of 2001's Freshman Picture, accompanied by dancing apes and the 2001 theme music.
• A banner reading "For the Love of God, Montressor!" appeared one year. The quote is from the last words of a character being bricked into a wall in the Edgar Allen Poe story The Cask of Amontillado.
• Another inspiring banner read "Abandon All Hope Ye who Enter Here"-- according to Dante, these are the words carved above the gates of Hell.
• Confused freshmen were greeted another year by a banner reading "Welcome to Harvard".
  
• In 2001, during the last Rush before the Freshman on Campus decision is implemented, an inscription was added on the front of Building 10: "So Long, and Thanks for All the Frosh".
• The same year, a funeral procession walked through the Court during the Freshman Picture, leaving behind a tombstone which read: "RIP RUSH 1968-2001"
  

Commencement Hacks

• The Helmut Schmidt Story
• The Al Gore Buzzword Bingo Hack
• Beavers in parachutes fell onto the Class of 2001's graduation.

Other Killian Hacks

• The Barber Pole Story
• The Explosion in Back Bay Story
• "Ceci N'est Pas un Hack" banner, for April Fool's Day 2000
• "So Long, and Thanks for All the Wit", accompanied by a towel. Hack in memory of Douglas Adams, May 2001.