A bug of all trades
Photo: One of Mech Force 10’s over-the-top pranks: hanging the VW Beetle chassis by a cable from the top of the Victoria Street parking garage. Photo courtesy of Ryerson Archives.
At Ryerson, the Volkswagen Beetle has gone from being an object used in mischief to a motivator in charitable challenges. Originally used in pranks by a group of mechanical engineering students known as Mech Force 10, the bug first appeared on April Fool’s Day 1980 parked on the sidewalk in front of the Egerton Ryerson statue. The next year, students dragged the car into the second floor walkway between Jorgenson and Kerr Hall.
The most famous beetle caper occurred on March 29, 1982, when Mech Force 10 put a bug on top of the old school façade in the quad. What would have been an epic prank in March 1987 was interrupted by security when Mech Force 10 was caught trying to test the bug’s fluid mechanics in Ryerson’s pool.
The tide started to turn in 1988 when the Ryerson Engineering Student Society was formed and organized an annual engineering week on campus— an opportunity for fun activities in support of non-profits. In the early days, “Car Bash” was the most popular activity with community members paying a dollar for three smashes to an old car using a sledgehammer, with all proceeds going to charity.
This evolved into the Bug Push in March 2003. Now 15 years old, the Bug Push is an annual tradition where engineering students push a VW Beetle around the quad for 24 hours to fundraise for SickKids Hospital. To date, they’ve donated more than $20,000.
Who knew a little bug could have such a big impact?