SPIRIT: Student Pride at RIT

Tigers are so prevalent on the RIT campus, found in so many fixtures, signs, and costumes. However, their full history may not be widely known. To uncover the link between the tiger symbol and campus spirit, we, the students and faculty from the Fall ‘24 Digital & Critical Curation (MUSE 359) course, partnered with RIT Archives. We soon understood that within the ever changing representations of RIT spirit, student pride in RIT was the predominant drive, spearheading every development and addition. 

Tiger Pride: RITchie and SpiRIT:

We explore the evolution of the tiger mascot starting in the mid 60s and the student-led initiative that introduced “SpiRIT”, the beloved live tiger mascot.

RITchie Sells His Stripes

We zoom in on the stylistic journey of our tiger mascot “RITchie” and how it took a rebrand to elevate his status from an RIT athletic emblem to a campus-wide RIT fixture.

Student Pride: Written In Bronze

We bring the exhibit to a close with a spotlight on our most prominent representation of student pride, the “RIT Bengal Tiger” sculpture by artist D.H.S. (“Duff”) Wehle. Looking retrospectively, we hear from Dr. Fred Smith, long-time RIT leader and the primary advisor to the 1989 fraternity-backed execution plan of the sculpture.

The energy of the RIT community has always sustained campus spirit, and we hope that same energy is reflected in this exhibit. We leave you with the simple but eloquent words of Dr. Smith: “Students make student life.”