(If you just want a TL;DR, click here)
Wide Tim (@wide_tim on Instagram) is a beaver character created by Margaret Zheng (MIT '23, MEng '24). Plump, happy, and full of life, Wide Tim's biggest dream is to spread joy, share love, and promote the arts in and out of the MIT community. Since February 13th, 2021, he has collaborated with 80+ MIT clubs, offices, and entities (complete list here) to create 200+ wholesome illustrations.
Wide Tim's ubiquitous presence and engagement in the MIT communities have made him a beloved personality beyond the virtual space, leading to several larger projects (including features in MIT's campus preview weekend 2022-2024, MIT Class of 2028's silver tube poster, and a mural in the MIT welcome center) along with a couple of press reports.
Wide Tim and Margaret are very honored and grateful for the unwavering support from the community. Though Margaret has graduated from MIT, she is staying in the Boston/Cambridge area and will continue to create Wide Tim illustrations (and perhaps bigger projects? Stay tuned!) If you ever have an idea for Wide Tim, please do not hesitate to reach out at @wide_tim!
About Wide Tim
"Hello World, I'm Wide Tim!"
Wide Tim is a plump, joyful 3-year-old beaver who double majors in eating and sleeping at MIT. Aside from his jam-packed schedule of eating and sleeping, he is constantly thinking about spreading happiness, sharing love, and becoming even wider, of course.
Wide Tim made his debut on February 13th, 2021 as a piece of fan art on @mitadmissions (here!! ->>>) to welcome the class of 2024 onto campus during the height of COVID-19. During CP* 2021 (MIT's Virtual Campus Preview Weekend), students accidentally found out about his hidden ability to become as wide as he would like.
Yes, there were lots of memes about it, some of which are documented on [1] [2]. And yes, we were thrilled about it.
How do I become wider?
Following his unexpected (albeit hilarious) meme takeoff in the MIT CP* 2021 discord server, Wide Tim has been wondering:
"what could I do to be wider?"
Eventually, he opened his own Instagram account to explore ways to become wider. He began this process by asking his friends everything from their favorite Friday night plans, lunch spots, places to study, and ice cream flavors, to what classes he should take, what on-campus dance shows to go to, what events to participate in, and little moments on campus that turn into core memories. Before he knew it, he had collaborated with 75+ MIT student clubs, organizations, and offices!
What they said...
"This is Wide Tim, an adorable beaver character who loves MIT, obtaining width, and injecting some levity into MIT life. Rumor has it that Wide Tim double-majors in eating and sleeping, but his sole mission is to make people happy and smile. And by all accounts, he excels at his job."
- MIT News
"Originating from a cartoon image welcoming the Class of 2024 to campus, Wide Tim has become a widely recognized and beloved character who went on to collaborate with MIT Admissions, MIT Technology Review, and several other MIT departments."
Wider in press
Wider in person
Eventually, words about Wide Tim went around wide enough that he started collaborating with MIT entities for bigger (and in-person) projects. Some of them include:
being featured on the official photobooth and other material in Campus Preview Weekend in 2022, 2023, and 2024
being featured on the MIT admissions website and starring in the class of 2028 poster ->
starring in a mural at MIT Welcome Center
starring in posters for MIT Press and MIT Health
being recreated as an augmented-reality mural as a part of MIT Welcome Center Storywall Project (2021) (p.s. it is still in the MIT Welcome Center!
Some of Wide Tim's community efforts are documented in several press articles from MIT News, MIT Technology Review, Arts at MIT, as well as 4 blog posts on MIT Admissions (read more here).
What's Next?
Margaret graduated from MIT this year (2024) - but Wide Tim is still here! She will continue to bring more Wide Tim into everyone's lives, visit MIT often, and watch him from not-afar (she is working in Boston after graduation and plans on being there for a while).
Follow @wide_tim for new updates and inquiries!!