Kalamazoo College 1988 Rat Olympics

Abstract

One of the obstacle courses, a miniature Kalamazoo College campus, made for the 1988 Rat Olympics. 1988 was the second year that professor of psychology Lyn Raible and students held the rat "Summer Games." Students trained rats to complete obstacle courses over the course of the summer quarter. National media covered the event, and the story was shared in newspapers as far away as New Zealand. In 1991, U. S. Olympic Committee officials wrote a letter asking the College to stop using the word "olympics." By the following year, student interest had waned and the olympics were no longer held. The photographer and students are not identified.