Alumni

Do You Remember: Rat Caps

Tech Students Waving Rat CapsIntroduced in 1915 by ANAK. Freshmen were required to wear them every day and everywhere on the campus until the freshman football team beat the Georgia freshman team on Thanksgiving. If Tech lost the game, the caps were worn until the end of the school year.

The entering Class of 1917 was exempt because they were all in uniform.To be caught without a RAT cap was to face varying degrees of hazing from upperclassmen. This could be mild and administered quickly or more severe and require a hearing from the RAT Court.

Rat Cap writingWhen women enrolled, their punishment was to rat their hair and tie on ribbons for a period of time. There was a standard procedure for writing on the cap.

The tradition died out in the early 1960s. Today, RAT caps are given to incoming freshmen as a symbol of Tech traditions and are often kept by alumni as treasured memorabilia of their college experience.

Georgia Tech diplomasAlumni are critical to the college.  Alums are proud of their alma mater as shown by the work that they do and the way they promote Tech in their everyday lives. Approximately 7,500 COE alumni currently hold prominent business roles as CEOs, Exec. VPs, CIOs, CTOs, Presidents, or Board Chairs. Sixty-six percent of all Georgia Tech Alums are COE graduates. Twenty-five percent of all COE grads live in Georgia. The first women engineering graduates were Shirley Clements and Diane Michel, who received their degrees in 1956. Women now make up thirty percent of the undergraduate enrollment in the College of Engineering.

The College recognizes key individuals annually through the College of Engineering Awards Induction Ceremony.

Engineering Alumni Worldwide

Alumni by Country – Top 20

United States 100,973
France 669
Germany 272
India 255
South Korea 163
China 162
Canada 139
Taiwan 117
United Kingdom 117
Singapore 116
Mexico 110
Japan 100
Colombia 96
Panama 94
Venezuela 88
Thailand 87
Turkey 71
Ecuador 69
Greece 52
Costa Rica 51