Since George Menefee first donned a bishop’s hat and robe and rode a rail handcar into Rolla on March 17, 1908, St. Pat’s has been the single tradition most identified with Missouri S&T. The annual celebration occurs every March during the week of St. Patrick’s Day, who students of Menefee’s time dubbed the Patron Saint of Engineers. It is preceded by a “snake invasion” during which students destroy rubber snakes to prepare the way for St. Pat – and symbolize the patron’s legendary driving snakes out of Ireland. St. Pat’s Week involves all manner of games, pageantry, revelry, the selection of a St. Pat and court, a knighting and coronation ceremony, and, most recently, a day of community service. It culminates on Saturday with a morning parade down green-painted Pine Street and an afternoon concert. 

S&T has held a St. Pat’s Celebration every March since Menefee’s era, with the exception of a few years during World War II. The St. Pat’s tradition began in 1906 at the University of Missouri-Columbia campus, but given the greater concentration of engineering students in Rolla year after year, the S&T event quickly eclipsed the original celebration at Mizzou and has grown to be the “best ever,” year after year.