The MIT Activities Committee (MITAC) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this week with open houses on both MIT's main campus and at Lincoln Laboratory.
MITAC began in 1984 with a simple mission: to offer cultural and recreational events to the MIT community at a fair and affordable cost. Conceived of by the Working Group on Support Staff Issues as a way to raise community spirit and employee morale, the committee has since offered nearly 4,000 events to the community. MITAC estimates that its customers have saved close to $100,000 annually on theatre shows, concerts, sports games, lectures and bus trips -- not to mention discounted tickets to cinemas and theme parks.
MITAC Coordinator Diane Betz Tavitian noted that among the group's most memorable activities was the trip it organized to Ground Zero to help New York firefighters in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We're very grateful to the hundreds of MITAC committee members over the years who have inspired creative and memorable events for the MIT community," she said.
Notable upcoming MITAC events include the annual Red Sox Lottery, for which online registration will be held between March 24 and April 3. For further information about the lottery and other MITAC events, please visit the committee's web site at http://web.mit.edu/mitac.
Members of the MIT community are invited to join MITAC's 25th anniversary celebration open house from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 18 in the Stata Center Lobby and from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on March 19 at Lincoln Laboratory.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 18, 2009 (download PDF).
