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Georgia Tech University - YELLOW JACKETS |
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The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech
It was September 30, 1961. The opponent was Rice University for the home opener. For the first time, the
official Rambling Wreck car was unveiled to 43,501 fans at Grant Field, leading the Georgia Tech football team onto the field.
It has happened at every home game since.
The event did not establish a new tradition at Tech, but it cemented one. The vehicle, a restored 1930 Model A Ford Sport
Coupe, was Tech's first official Rambling Wreck car, and it was an instant success.
Since that time, the Rambling Wreck car has joined a much older tradition-the Yellow Jacket-as the official school mascot.The
current Wreck is the latest in a line of distinctive white and gold cars on campus. While there was no official Rambling Wreck
before 1961, several fraternities took turns driving various such vehicles.
The first reference to a Rambling Wreck vehicle on campus was applied to a 1914 Ford owned by Floyd Field, Dean of Men.
The Technique student newspaper was the first published reference to the car as the "Rambling Wreck" in 1927. The paper
spoke out against Field when he considered trading the car that year, but he disposed of it anyway.
George P. Burdell
In 1927, a Tech tradition began when a mythical student named George P. Burdell appeared on class rosters,
registration forms and grade reports, and he has since become one of Tech's most notable students.
The most accurate accounts claim that Burdell was the creation of student Ed Smith. While completing an application form, Smith
was struck with the impish idea of enrolling a non-existent student. He even turned in separate exam papers for Burdell, convincing
professors that George was a student in good standing. Burdell received a bachelor's degree from Tech and later earned a
master's degree.
During the years since Smith's graduation, other students have kept George P. Burdell alive at Tech and elsewhere. In the spring
of 1969, the first quarter that Georgia Tech used completely computerized registration, George beat the system by registering
for every course the school offered-more than 3,000 credit hours!
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