Yeah, that’s right, you read correctly. You can actually become a certified pirate. Arrrrgh! So the first step is you will need to be enrolled as an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT. If you are one of these people you will have a chance to fulfil a very obscure opportunity of becoming an MIT pirate.
MIT, which requires undergrads to take four physical education courses, is a haven for competitive, unconventional students, and some of them wanted official recognition for their efforts. After 20 years of having to break it to everyone that this was merely a fun thing the students came up with, the physical education department eventually came to their lily-livered senses and made it official. Though the university doesn’t offer a full major in piracy, if you pass courses in sailing, fencing, pistols, and archery, you can receive a certificate asserting your status as an MIT Pirate.
Once a student does become an actual bloody pirate at MIT, there is a small ceremony that takes place in the physical education office. They receive their fancy certificate and take an oath, the words of which have not been disclosed to the public, so as to preserve some of the “secret society” aspects of the program. Also, there is a clause that says the students’ newly attained pirate skills are “for entertainment purposes only” and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities.