It was Halloween night in 1979, and we were at our fraternity house (Alpha Tau Omega) at 405 Memorial Drive. A lifesize plastic cow we had rustled from the Hilltop Steakhouse was sitting in our basement. It occurred to me that putting the cow on the Great Dome would be a good hack. I proposed the idea to my fraternity brothers, and they liked it. So we made a plan. Aaron Bobick ('81) and I would try to get on the dome, and a group of brothers would bring the cow to the roof below the Great Dome around midnight. I grabbed a rope from the basement and some webbing from my room, and Aaron and I set off for the Barker Engineering Library. We went to the top floor, climbed through a duct, and then a window to get onto the gutter at the base of the dome. I used the webbing to belay myself to some ductwork on the side of the gutter, then lowered the rope down to the roof. Aaron held onto the webbing around my waist. Our accomplices tied the rope to the cow, and I pulled it up to the gutter. Aaron and I then dragged/carried it up the dome to the top. Then we had to make our escape. It was past midnight, the Barker Engineering Library had closed, and the bldg. 10 elevators had stopped running. So we rappelled down the elevator shaft and dropped into the elevator. When we got to the ground floor, the doors opened and a campus policeman was standing there. He thought we had been hacking the elevators. He took our MIT IDs and said we would have to see the chief of campus police the next day to get them back. The next morning, we woke up and saw a helicopter circling around the great dome. Aaron and I walked to Chief Oliveri's office. He asked, "Did you guys put that cow on the dome?" I was afraid we would be expelled, but we told him yes anyway. He laughed out loud and said "I was driving into work this morning, and heard about it on the radio. It was the funniest thing I've ever heard! Do you guys have pictures? I want one to put on my office wall."

 

After we got our IDs back from Chief Oliveri, Aaron and I walked over to the Great Courtyard to see the cow on the dome. Some workmen were setting up a crane to remove the cow. A van pulled up on Memorial Drive, raised an antenna, and several people got out with a video camera which they set up in the Great Courtyard. Aaron and I wandered over to watch what they were doing. One of them asked us "Do you guys know anything about this cow?" We admitted we had been involved. We agreed to a video interview, provided we did not incriminate ourselves. We described the details of how the cow had gotten to the top of the dome, without actually saying that we had done it. Our interview ran on the 6 o'clock news that evening, with the cow being taken down in the background. A group of ATO brothers watched the 6 o'clock news at the Stratton Student Center, and cheered when the video was shown!

 

Blissfully unaware of rumored mob connections to the Hilltop Steak House, I took my whole family there for dinner after graduation in June of '81. My parents told our server about my involvement in the cow hack, and a few minutes later the owner, Frank Giuffrida, came to our table. He was happy to meet me and said the cow hack had been the best advertising the Steak House ever had. He gave us all free desserts!

 

-Mike Heaney '81

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 I only ended up there [on the roof below the dome], as a terrified freshman, since I happened to be nearby in the house as the crew was leaving and someone said, “Who has a camera?” I did.  Not to go into great detail but my most vivid image was going to campus patrol the next day after they’d taken our IDs on the way out (not yet realizing what had happened).  Again, a terrified freshman was convinced he was about to be expelled.   I’m sure we all remember what happened next: the Police Chief coming out of his office, laughing hysterically as he handed back our IDs and saying something like “That’s awesome guys!  Best hack I’ve seen in years.”

 

The other bit was walking up the steps with this huge cow (not sure which building), and telling the startled custodian that it was part of “an artificial intelligence project.”  And he bought it so the cow continued upward….

 

-Carl W. Bazil ’83

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Ahem…. the cow was not ‘stolen,’ she merely lost her way and found herself being well tended in the basement of 405 Memorial Drive. I have a recollection that we named her ‘Bessie,’ although I could be wrong.  She was well cared for while under ATO supervision, and instructions for her safe return were provided on notes that were taped to her rump.

 

-Chris Moss ’80

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I was the chapter advisor (whatever that is) on the night of the cow.  I had been informed by ATO that someone from the national organization would be in town and needed a ride to the fraternity house.  I picked him up at his hotel and drove him to the house and stayed for dinner.  While at dinner, some pledge across the table from me said matter-of-factly: "We have a cow in the basement."

 

I thought that he meant a cafeteria cow for dispensing milk, but I also thought it was strange that he would bring that up for no apparent reason.  All I could say was: "That's nice."

 

The next night, as I was getting ready for bed, I had the TV news on.  One of the stories was how a plastic cow appeared on the Great Dome at MIT.  Putting 2 and 2 together, I immediately had visions of going down to some police station to bail out some ATOs as I wondered if that was part of chapter advisor duties.  Fortunately, my phone didn't ring.

 

One last comment:

 

When Hilltop got their cow back, the owner thought it was funny and put a mortar board hat on it and a sign around its neck saying something like:  "This cow graduated from MIT.” The picture was printed in the Boston Globe.

 

-Ross Hunter '69

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A few things I remember (and a hi to Chris Moss!)

 

I was on the delivery crew. There were 6-8 of us. We walked the cow down Memorial Drive sometime after midnight. One car came to a complete stop and stared at us. They then went around the block and made some jokes on their next lap.

 

We actually had a guy from ATO headquarters with us. He was doing one of those checkups on the Chapter’s health!  He heard us planning something and wanted in. 

 

We carried the cow up a corner stairwell onto the roof, always figuring someone would catch us. There was no one around if I remember correctly. Mike and Aaron lowered a rope down, we wrapped a sheet around the cow to keep her from getting scraped up, and up she went. 

 

And then, we all went back downstairs and took the elevator to the top of the shaft, and opened the trap door for the escape. 

 

And yes, we were caught when the elevator doors opened up downstairs. Campus police had no idea what to do with the ATO National guy. I think they just told him to go away. 

 

The next morning, of course, the WBZ traffic copter spotted the cow and the rest of the media followed. It was on the network TV news that night, I believe.  

-Jerry Gilligan ‘80

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There was one spicy precursor to the Cow hack. I apologize for being politically very incorrect — it was a different era back in the spring of 79 after all — but the idea that a cow from Hilltop Steakhouse should lose her way was conceived after a trip to an XXX drive-in around finals week in the spring of ‘79. Bobick was driving but I don’t remember who else was in the car. I do remember that after the drive-in (and a few beers) we stopped by Hilltop and were so impressed with those cows that we made a pledge there and then: one of them should get lost and ATO should extend a warm fraternal welcome when that happens!

 

-Romen ( Chaplya) Lefayer ’82

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My recollection is that some of our ATO brothers had been up at Dartmouth the previous week and passed Hilltop Steak House up in Saugus on Route 1 during the return. A number of strong lads subsequently returned in the early morning hours to yank the cemented legs of the plastic steer from the ground.

 

Hilltop Steak House is significant because it was rumored to be owned by the Boston mob, and there was concern after the party about how one might anonymously return the cow without being identified. I have long thought that was why we put the tag on the rump of the steer saying something to the effect of "Wandered from ..."

 

Perhaps Aaron, Erik Nygaard, or Bill Butera might have additional memories? Who were the others involved? I vaguely recall Bob Beaton and Rex Powell (deceased) were part of the transport crew.

 

As part of the crew that hustled the cow down Memorial Drive and through the Great Court, I always thought of what an odd sight we made. I do not think any pictures exist of the cow's trip from 405 Memorial Drive to the row of Building 10. I have seen a picture of the cow draped in a white sheet being hoisted up the vertical wall of the Great Dome. Wasn't a jury-rigged rope used to lift the plastic steer the last 25 feet or so?

 

Fond memories and thanks for the share, Mike.

 

Best,

 

-Lars Toomre ’82

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My two cents to the story:  

 

The actual heist of the cow has its origins with Larry Cater, my class along with Chris Moss.  He was chair of IM cycling and there was some cycling event over the weekend.  The key point is that Larry had access to a U-haul van for this IM event.  I can’t recall now who instigated it (most likely Larry but also Aaron), and at some point on Sunday (?) night there were four of us - Larry, Aaron, me and I thought Larry Barazza (sp?) out on Route 1 driving to Hill Top at around 2 or 3 AM.

 

My job was look-out for traffic on Route 1.  Thankfully, there wasn’t any.  Larry, Aaron, and Larry B. went over to the cows and quickly determined they were fiberglass and hollow and should be light to carry.  But when they tried to lift one of them, quickly discovered the cow was anchored with cement footings.  But, they lifted the footings and all and put it quickly in the back of the U-haul.  And, it ended up in our basement at 405 Memorial Drive.  Until it got moved to the top of the Dome per recollections shared in this email train.

 

After the helicopter traffic news report of spotting the cow, I subsequently learned Hilltop Steak House was reputedly owned by the mob.  Given that I participated, I had a cold sweat as to the consequences.  But, the reporter on the helicopter traffic run said something to the effect of:  “What’s that on top of the MIT dome, let’s take a closer look, it looks like a cow like the ones at Hilltop Steak House”.  Word got back, whether Mafia-owned or not, that the reference to Hilltop Steak House and all the free publicity of the hack was appreciated by the owners.  Further, they wanted to thank the perpetrators with a free meal.  I don’t know that anyone took them up on their offer.

 

Here is a picture of the hoisting of the cow that I kept as a memento.  You can clearly see Mike Heaney and behind him Aaron.

 

-Charlie Yie ’80

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Charlie, your memory has failed you. It was I, Chris Dorn, not Chris Moss who was at the heart of the heist.

 

I am away from my computer at the moment, but there is a photo to prove it.

 

Fraternally,

Your former but apparently forgotten roommate.

 

Here’s the photo:

 

[see attached photo]

 

That’s me between you and Larry Cater.

 

Please don’t get me wrong. Chris Moss and I were Pledge Brothers since we both had the same Pledge Father (Peter Santeusanio), but he had nothing to do with the heist.

 

I was the one who wanted a cow because I had seen them at the Hilltop Steakhouse when I went to Saugus to play hockey while the MIT ice rink was being rebuilt.

 

Fraternally,

 

-Chris Dorn ’81 

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Hi Chris,

 

Oh my!  My apologies!!!  Chalk that up to aging as I have no other excuse.

 

Brothers,

 

Here is a picture from the Boston Globe, front page, that Jim May also sent but it was right there on the front page:

 

[see attached photo]

 

-Charlie Yie ’80

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You can see the ATO cow (if cows can be udderless) on the ground floor of MITs Stata Center in an area devoted to famous MIT hacks:

 

[see attached photo]

 

Hilltop donated the ATO cow to the MIT Museum in the early 90s in support of an exhibit on MIT hacks.  When the Stata Center opened around 2004, the MIT Museum created a permanent exhibit devoted to MIT students’ favorite pastime.

 

-Jim May ’82

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I had nothing to do with this.

 

-John Friedman ’83

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So Charlie beat me to it, especially the part about Larry Cater.  I can confirm that getting the cow in the first place was 100% instigated (inspired?) by Larry who I remember saying (something like) he “always wanted to go get one of those cows but would need a truck to do it”.  As Charlie mentioned, it was a bicycle event that caused Larry to have access to a truck overnight.   We were fortunate that the cement footings were small because even though we could not detach the cow from the cement, we could lift the whole thing out of the ground.

 

The cow did make its way to the basement – next to the pool table – but it turns out that a cow big enough to see from the highway was enormous when put indoors.  After just a few days the consensus was that having it in the basement was not so cool anymore and we needed to get rid of it.  Fortunately, Halloween approached and the plan unfolded.  So in reality one of the better-known hacks done at MIT was really the result of needing to get a cow out of the way so that Mark Murray and friends could play pool unimpeded. 

 

I think I took the phone call from Hilltop where they did invite us to come to dinner since they had my name from the story.    But exactly as Charlie said we were quite impressionable and had clearly watched too many police procedurals on TV because we chickened out due to possible mob connections. 

 

I have visited the Stata Center a number of times and it is always fun to see the cow there. 

 

-Aaron Bobick ’81

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I can confirm that Bessie definitely interfered with my pool "studies.” Good memories - cheers!

 

-Mark Murray ’81

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Has the statute of limitations expired for “udder types of mischief”?

 

-Elliot Rossen ’79

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