Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
contains eleven
residential colleges
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
and the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
as well as the American adaptations of the same at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. Each student is randomly affiliated with a residential college upon matriculation and becomes a lifetime member of the college. The residential college system takes the place of a
Greek system
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
and has contributed to a sense of community that other universities have sought to emulate.
At academic ceremonies, including matriculation and commencement, the colleges proceed first with the four original colleges in the order Baker, Will Rice, Hanszen, and Wiess, followed by the other colleges in order of founding: Jones, Brown, Lovett, Sid Richardson, Martel, McMurtry, and Duncan. For the original four colleges, which were founded simultaneously in 1957, the processional order reflects the order in which the original buildings were constructed. For McMurtry and Duncan, which were constructed and opened simultaneously in August 2009, the processional order reflects the order in which the founding gifts were made.
The colleges are often classified by geographical location: Jones, Brown, Martel, McMurtry, and Duncan are the North colleges; Baker, Will Rice, Hanszen, Wiess, Lovett, and Sid Richardson are the South colleges.
History of the college system
The residential college system was instated in 1957 by converting East, South, West, and Wiess (originally and briefly North) Halls into the men's colleges of Baker, Will Rice, Hanszen, and Wiess, respectively. Jones, the first residential college built on campus for that purpose, was constructed the same year and became the singular women's college. Brown, Lovett, and Sid Richardson colleges composed the initial expansion founded between 1965 and 1971. To cope with increasing enrollment, Martel, McMurtry, and Duncan colleges were constructed in the period between 2001 and 2009. Today, when undergraduates are asked where they are from, many respond with the name of their college, not their home state. This is a testament to the centrality of the residential college system to the social life on the Rice campus.
Common characteristics
Architecture
Each college except Sid Richardson is built around a quadrangle, which serves as the central court of the college.
Each college building includes three principal structures:
* A residential building, where on-campus members of the college live. In addition to student rooms in various configurations, the building includes at least two apartments for resident associates. Resident associates are typically junior faculty members; their role is to serve as mentors and counselors to the students of the college.
* A house, usually immediately adjacent to the residential building, in which the college Magister or Magisters live. A Magister is typically a tenured or other senior faculty member who lives at the college with his or her spouse, providing leadership and guidance to the college as a whole and to individual students. (Historically the term Master was reserved for faculty members, while a non-faculty spouse held the title Co-Master. Today, both spouses are known as Magisters.)
* A commons, where college members (including on-campus and off-campus students, Magisters, resident associates, and non-resident associates from the faculty and the community) take their meals and conduct other activities of college life, including study groups, lectures, theatrical productions, and parties. In addition to a large multi-purpose dining hall, each commons typically includes an administrative office, a private dining room for small group meetings, and other specialized areas.
Each college has a unique architectural style, and as a result there are a great number of different room configurations, with varying levels of modernity and condition.
Each college is also connected to a dining hall, known as a servery. Martel, Jones, and Brown colleges are served by North Servery, while McMurtry and Duncan are served by West Servery. In the South, Hanszen and Wiess colleges are served by South Servery while Will Rice, Lovett and Sid Richardson Colleges are served by Seibel Servery. Baker College has its own servery, Baker Kitchen.
Magisters and Resident Associates
Each of the residential colleges at Rice has two College Magisters, a faculty member and his or her spouse. The Magisters reside in a home adjacent to the college, and help cultivate a variety of cultural and intellectual interests among the students, as well as support an effective system of self-government. They administer the college and serve as liaisons between the students of the college and Rice.
Resident Associates (RAs) are Rice faculty or staff members who reside on campus with students. While each college has many associates, the RAs are selected to live on campus at the college to interact more extensively with the students. They live in apartment suites at the colleges, regularly attend meals with students, and are generally active members of student life. McMurtry College and Duncan College, due to their population size, also have Head Resident Fellows, who are meant to ease communication between RAs, the Magisters, and the students.
Two of the longest-serving resident associates in Rice history are Dr. Gilbert Cuthbertson, professor of political science and resident associate at Will Rice College, and Dr. Bill Wilson, professor of electrical engineering and resident associate at Wiess College.
Governance
Each college is in charge of an annual budget in excess of $50,000 and elects a government from its students to administer the college and the budget. The college governments can exert control over everything from event organization to upgrades to the college facilities. Governing documents for many of the colleges can be found online. Singular student presidents and chief justices are university mandated features of each college's government. Additional members vary per college, but typically include Treasurer, Secretary, and a plurality of representatives from each class. The executive officers, such as the President, Treasurer, and Secretary, form the Executive council, and the representatives combine with the council to form the college government, known by names such as Cabinet or Parliament, depending on the college. These councils meet weekly to dispense with business related to the organizational and social functioning of the college. The meetings are akin to town hall meetings and typically include refreshments; they also serve as a forum for members of the various clubs, theater groups, and intramural sporting clubs to announce and advertise upcoming events. In addition, each college elects and sends one senator to represent the college at the Student Association.
Traditions
The traditional campus-wide Beer Bike competition is the largest annual student event held on Rice campus and the source of many rivalries and traditions among the residential colleges. In recent years, a tradition has emerged wherein the Sid Richardson men's team intentionally disqualify themselves using any of a variety of means, most recently with a fire extinguisher-powered "rocket bike." Sid Richardson has been disqualified in at least one race each year since 2000, with the exception of 2003 and 2007 when the biking was replaced with running due to inclement weather. On the other end of this spectrum, Will Rice is known as the most competitive of the residential colleges and the only one to ever "sweep" (win the mens, women, and alumni race). However, Martel College is undefeated in Men's Beer Runs (alternate race due to inclement weather)
Baker College
James Addison Baker College is named in honor of Captain James A. Baker, friend and attorney of
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
, and first chair of the Rice Board of Governors. He served as the Rice Institute's first chairman on the Board of Trustees from June 24, 1891, until his death in 1941. He is known for having helped unravel the conspiracy surrounding the murder of the millionaire, who was chloroformed by his butler, Charles F. Jones, on September 23, 1900. The suspicious death of the Rice founder was concocted by Albert T. Patrick, a New York attorney, who forged a will naming himself the primary beneficiary to the large fortune, enlisting the Butler's help. Captain Baker, however, began an intensive investigation into the death of his employer, discovering the forgery, and returning the foundation to what would become Rice University.
As part of the university's original on-campus housing for male students, a dormitory (South Hall, now part of Will Rice College) and a dining room, library and residential tower (now part of Baker College) were built in 1912 by Cram, Goodhue, & Ferguson of Boston, Massachusetts, at the cost of $137,544.52. The now-Baker commons—with beautiful engraved oak beams and the high vaulted ceilings of Elizabethan design—served as the university's central dining hall for 43 years. East Hall, which contained dormitories and is now referred to as the "Old Wing" of Baker, was completed in summer 1915 (and West Hall (the "Old Wing" of Hanszen College) was completed in 1916).http://ricehistoricalsociety.org/images/cornerstones/wrc06723.pdf These buildings remained virtually unchanged until the residential college system was instated in 1957. The
neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
of the former East Hall was joined by a new two-story brick-colored wing, the design of which was shared with equivalent new sections being constructed at Will Rice and Hanszen colleges, in preparation for becoming residential colleges. A house for Baker's Magister was also added. Baker was thus established as one of the five original colleges at Rice in the fall of 1957. In 1973, Baker and Hanszen became the first
co-ed
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
colleges at Rice. To include upperclass women, a lottery was held for Jones and Brown women to transfer into Baker.
Baker's colors are traditionally red, silver, and black, and the college associates itself with the
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
and
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
in its Beer Bike themes and college cheers, with the most popular cheer being "Baker, hell yeah!". The crest was selected, by popular vote, in 1958. The main design is derived from the family crest of Captain Baker's mother, with the owls across the shield indicating the connection to Rice University, and is inscribed with a phrase from Epictetus, which says " fficulties are things that show what men are." Every year, Baker throws the Baker 90's public party, held in the spring. Some of the biggest social traditions include Baker Christmas in September, the annual Christmas Tree brought home by the freshmen after their camping trip, the Baker Shakespearean play, and of course Baker 13.
In 2009, construction began on a new residential wing. A portion of the former New Section was renovated and turned over to Lovett College. Baker's new wing is located between the Old Section and the Inner Loop road, and brought with it renovations to Baker's kitchen and the college coordinator's office. It was officially opened back to Baker students in the fall semester of 2010, who returned after a year of co-living with students from Duncan College.
Will Rice College
William Marsh Rice Jr. College, commonly known as Will Rice, is named for William M. Rice Jr., the nephew of the university's founder
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
. It incorporates Rice's first dormitory, South Hall, which was built in 1912. Will Rice College began as an all-male college when Rice created its residential college system in 1957 and became
co-ed
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
in 1978.
Will Rice shares architectural styles with Baker and Hanszen colleges; all three possess white-painted "old" buildings and more modern "new" wings. Will Rice's ''Old Dorm'' (former South Hall) features a unique fifth-floor tower which has recently become known as ''The Perch''.
The symbol of Will Rice college is the
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
, depicted in rust and gold colors. Members of the college are known as ''Will Ricers''. The college commonly refers to itself as the "college of Gods and Goddesses." The elected governing body of Will Rice, the ''Diet'', administers a university-sponsored annual budget of approximately $50,000 which supports social, athletic, and entertainment programs for the college's nearly 400 resident and non-resident members.
Will Rice is traditionally a strong contender in the university's annual campus-wide Beer Bike competition among the residential colleges. Will Rice has held the longest winning streak on record in the alumni race (11 years from 1996 to 2006). Since the inclusion of an alumni race, Will Rice has been the only college to have won the men's, women's, and alumni races in a given year, called a "sweep," which it has done on five occasions—1983, 1986, 1999, 2009, and 2013. Additionally, Will Rice holds the current track records for the men's, women's, and alumni races.
In 2009, work began on a new residential building for Will Rice, located on the site of the former New Section, built in 1957; this building was completely demolished. A new servery, Abe and Anne Seibel Servery, was also part of the construction project. The new facility serves both Will Rice and Lovett, replacing two dated cafeterias at each college. During construction, the population of Will Rice lived in McMurtry College, which was founded that year.
Notable alumni include current
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player
Lance Berkman
William Lance Berkman (born February 10, 1976), nicknamed "Fat Elvis" and "Big Puma", is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the Houston Christian Hu ...
, and architect Charles Renfro of
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo ...
.
Hanszen College
Harry Clay Hanszen College was named for a benefactor to the university and chairman of the Rice Board of Governors from 1946 to 1950. Hanszen's "Old Wing" was known as West Hall when it was built in 1916 as a part of the original campus construction plan by Boston architectural firm
Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson
Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partne ...
. A new housing wing was built in 1957 in conjunction with the development of the
residential college
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
system at Rice in response to the expanding undergraduate enrollment.
KTRU Rice Radio
KTRU-LP (stylized as ktru) is the college radio station of Rice University, a private university in south-central Houston, Texas, United States.
KTRU-LP broadcasts a freeform-eclectic music format on 96.1 FM; its programming includes modern c ...
, the university's student-run radio station, and Rice Coffeehouse both began at Hanszen College. Hanszen was the first residential college at Rice to use its own crest. Shortly after the founding of the residential college system, the students created the blue, black, and yellow crest that in time became the symbol of the college, setting a precedent for the other colleges.
Hanszen often hosts guest lecturers; recent visitors include
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
champion Coach
Wayne Graham
Wayne may refer to:
People with the given name and surname
* Wayne (given name)
* Wayne (surname)
Geographical
Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...
, former Rice president and renowned economist S. Malcolm Gillis, Kinder Institute for Urban Research director Stephen Klineberg, ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' senior editor and Hanszen alumnus Paul Burka (class of 1963), former writer and executive producer of ''
The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
''
Adam Lowitt
Adam Lowitt is an American standup comedian, a four-time Emmy-winning, 6 time nominated co-executive producer and supervising producer for the news satire program ''The Daily Show''. He performs regularly in New York and performed on Comedy Cent ...
, and senior editor of ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' Dr. James Hamblin. University courses recently offered by Hanszen College have included Analytics in Sports, Spirituality in Film, and The Culture of Philanthropy.
Hanszen College is governed by Cabinet, a body consisting of the Executive Board and class representatives elected by members of the college annually. The Cabinet supervises an annual budget, regulates the use of public spaces within the college, and serves as an official liaison between the College membership and the university administration.
Hanszen's theme song is Hanson's "
MMMBop
"MMMBop" is a song written and performed by American pop rock band Hanson. It was released on April 15, 1997, as the lead single from their debut full-length studio album, '' Middle of Nowhere'' (1997). The song was nominated for two Grammys at ...
", believed to have been chosen due to the band and the college being homophones.
In 2021 New Section was demolished, and work began on a replacement building with an anticipated completion date of December 2022. The new New Section's primary structure is made of mass timber, a stronger, lighter, more sustainable option to concrete. Designed by American-German architectural firm Barkow Leibinger it will be the largest mass timber building in Texas. The building also incorporates the iconic framed crests and colored tiles from the exterior of the old New Section that once stood on the same land.
Wiess College
Harry Carothers Wiess College was one of the original four colleges created when the residential college system was implemented in 1957. In 2002, Wiess became the only college at Rice to relocate from one building to another. Wiess is currently the southwesternmost residential college, located adjacent to Hanszen and the South Power Plant. Male and female members of Wiess College are known equally as ''Wiessmen''.
Wiess College is named for Harry Carothers Wiess (1887–1948), one of the founders and one-time president of
Humble Oil
Humble Oil and Refining Co. is a defunct American oil company founded in 1911 in Humble, Texas. In 1919, a 50% interest in Humble was acquired by the Standard Oil of New Jersey which acquired the rest of the company in September 1959. The Humble b ...
, now
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
. He was elected as a life member of the Board of Trustees of Rice University in 1944 and appointed vice-chairman in 1946. He left money for the construction of a new dorm after his death in 1948.
Wiess Hall was completed in 1949, but carried the name "North Hall" until its dedication in March 1950. It was laid out as a W-shaped building, with three north–south wings, joined on the north ends by a long east–west spine, forming two open quadrangles. The building was two stories high except for the three-story center wing. The hall was designed to house about 200 students in 20 single and 90 double rooms. Each room at Wiess opened directly to an exterior walkway that wrapped around the entire building. This design incorporated two features that were innovative at the time: every room had a semi-private bathroom and every room (except room 228, which was reserved for freshmen) had windows on at least two sides—an important adaptation in the years before air conditioning.
Wiess Hall became Wiess College in 1957. Converting the dormitory into a college included the creation of two Resident Associate suites, construction of Wiess House, the home of the Master and family, and construction of the Wiess Commons (designed by Wiess undergraduate architecture students Tim "Frog" Barry and Dan Canty for a class project), the eating hall and round-the-clock gathering space for college members.
Because of Wiess's outward-facing architecture, life at Wiess centered on the outdoors. The two quadrangles developed distinct characters. The quad between the center and west wings became known as the "Acabowl" and was the center of the college's social and recreational activity. At various times students installed a trampoline ("Aca-tramp") or above-ground pool ("Aca-pool"). The other quadrangle, between the center and east wings, was known by analogy as the "Backabowl" and tended to be used for quieter activities, such as sunbathing.
The original residential building suffered from rapid deterioration in the 1990s. In 2002, the university opened a new building for the college, located south of the original building. New Wiess encloses a single large quadrangle, which retains the "Acabowl" name. The new building also preserved what Wiessmen considered a salient feature of the old: the fact that all rooms at Wiess open directly onto exterior walkways or balconies. A glass-walled commons forms the north side of the Acabowl, with three four-story residence wings forming the other sides. The portion of the Acabowl immediately adjacent to the commons is known as the Acaterrace. The original Wiess Hall and its adjoining commons were razed during the winter break between Fall 2002 and Spring 2003.
Wiess considers itself to have an intense community spirit, signified by the slogan and cheer "Team Wiess", which has been used consistently since the 1970s.
Aspects of Wiess life include Tabletop Theater, the Ubangee, pumpkin caroling, Night of Decadence, ''Hello, Hamlet!'', the turning of the statue of university founder
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
, the
Pace Mannion
Pace Shewan Mannion (born September 22, 1960) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the Italian league with the team of Cantù (which won the FIBA Korać Cup in 1991 de ...
fan club, and the War Pig.
One of the most influential persons in Wiess history was electrical engineering professor Bill Wilson, who served as resident associate from 1978 to 2006 and as interim Master in 1982–83, which was also the year in which Wiess became a co-ed college. Wilson, known to generations of students as Dr. Bill, was a fixture of Rice's college system and the keeper of many Wiess traditions. In addition to his many teaching awards, he is the only person to have won the Student Association's Mentor Recognition Award twice. After his unexpected death in January 2009, his memorial service was held at the Wiess commons. In December 2009, the Rice board of Trustees, with the consent of Wiess College, decided that the new Masters' residence at Wiess will be named Wilson House, in honor of Dr. Bill. Dedicated on March 11, 2011, Wilson House is the first building at Rice named after a college Master or Resident Associate, and the first Masters' residence to bear a name distinct from that of its associated college.
Notable Wiessmen include Walter Loewenstern (1958),
Harold Solomon
Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the cours ...
,
Ricky Pierce
Richard Charles Pierce (born August 19, 1959) is an American retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nicknamed "Deuces" and "Big Paper Daddy", he was selected as an NBA All-Star (1991) and was twice the NBA Sixth Man of the Year (19 ...
(1982), and
Anthony Rendon
Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...
.
Jones College
Mary Gibbs Jones College, built as the first women's dormitory at Rice University, is named after Mary Gibbs Jones, wife of prominent Houston philanthropist
Jesse Holman Jones
Jesse Holman Jones (April 5, 1874June 1, 1956) was an American Democratic politician and entrepreneur from Houston, Texas. Jones managed a Tennessee tobacco factory at age fourteen, and at nineteen, he was put in charge of his uncle's lumbery ...
. Jesse H. Jones supported its initial construction with a $1 million donation.
The college was built in 1957, consisting of two four-story structures named "North" and "South." It was designed by architects Lloyd & Morgan. Not only was it the first housing for women on campus, it was also the first building designed specifically as a residential college and also the first building to be centrally air-conditioned.
Lloyd & Morgan used pink marble in the construction of Jones College to indicate its status as housing for female students. In 2002, an additional four-story building, "Central," was built in between North and South. The new building connects to both original buildings at every level except the ground floor (a short walk separates South and Central). The wing was designed by noted post-modern architect
Michael Graves
Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Grou ...
.
In the early days, the culture of the all-female Jones College was quite conservative. At meals, each table had a hostess, and dinner was served family style. Strict rules were enforced by house mothers when men from the south colleges visited the female students. The students even had to abide by a strict curfew - 11 p.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends.
In the 1970s, Jones began phasing out many of the strictest rules, and in the fall of 1980 Jones became co-ed. Male students from the south colleges were given the chance to apply for transfer to Jones. Lovett, another Rice residential college, went co-ed the same year, so many of the new Jones residents were former Lovett residents. Jones women who disagreed with the decision to go co-ed were allowed to transfer to Brown College, which remained all-female until 1987. In 2001, construction began on the new Jones Commons and Jones Central. The new Jones Commons opened for use in March 2002. Jones Central opened in August 2002. During the same time, Jones lost its parking lot to the newly constructed Martel College.
Jones'
student government
A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
is set up as a Cabinet comprising the Executive Officers, elected representatives from each floor, and one elected off-campus representative. The Cabinet meets bi-weekly.
Jones is a college with an indoor setup which has two lounges on every floor. Jones is unique among the colleges due to its large number of singles. Jones also has four 4-single suites and two 6-single suites, along with regular doubles.
Previous Jones College Magisters include Dr. Franz Brotzen (former Rice University Dean of Engineering) and Dr. Robin Forman (former Rice University Dean of Undergraduates). The current Jones College Magister is Dr. Zachary Ball who is the Faculty Director for the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering.
Notable alumni from Jones include
George P. Bush
George Prescott Bush (born April 24, 1976) is an American politician and attorney who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Bush unsuccessfully campaigned for the party's ...
(1998), former
Mayor of Houston
The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...
(1978), and neuroscientist
David Eagleman
David Eagleman (born April 25, 1971) is an American neuroscientist, author, and science communicator. He teaches neuroscience at Stanford University and is CEO and co-founder of Neosensory, a company that develops devices for sensory substituti ...
(1993).
Brown College
Margarett Root Brown College is currently the third largest of the eleven residential colleges at Rice, nearby both McMurtry College and Duncan College. Founded in 1965 as an all-women's college, Brown became co-ed in 1987.
The history of Brown dates back to the early sixties, when Jones College was the only all women's college on campus. This caused such a severe housing shortage that some Rice women were housed in the dorms of nearby
Texas Women's University
Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a public coeducational university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-supported u ...
. Through the generous $1 million donation of
George R. Brown
George Rufus Brown (May 12, 1898 – January 22, 1983) was a prominent Houston entrepreneur. With his brother Herman, Brown led Brown & Root Inc. to become one of the largest construction companies in the world and helped to foster the political c ...
and his wife Alice Pratt Brown, a new women's residential college was established in the memory of their sister-in-law, Margarett Root Brown. Up until her death in 1985, Alice Pratt Brown was an active patron of the college, giving the college much of the furniture and art in the first floor lobbies and private dining room.
In the beginning, Brown College was filled primarily with women who had volunteered to leave Jones in order to start a new college. Brown had a housemother who lived in the resident associate’s apartment and required all women to check in and out of the building at night and on weekends. The first Master of Brown was
Frank Vandiver
Frank Everson Vandiver (December 9, 1925 in Austin, Texas – January 7, 2005 in College Station, Texas) was an American Civil War historian, and former president of Texas A&M University and the University of North Texas, as well as acting presid ...
, who later became president of
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
. In 1966 he resigned from Brown because of a “scandal” – the members of Brown voted to drink alcohol in their own rooms (provided they were of legal drinking age). Vandiver resigned because he considered it inappropriate behavior for young ladies.
Brown was the last single-sex female college after Jones went co-ed in 1980; male members were first accepted into Brown in 1987. However, the community bathrooms on all floors remained coed until 1994, when the bathrooms were remodeled and separate facilities for men and women were built on each floor. Brown's main tower consists of mainly of double rooms whose residents share community bathrooms. Each floor also has one single room without a bathroom, as well as a double room with a bathroom, referred to as a suite. The new 4-story wing at Brown opened in 2002. The new wing houses 56 additional students, making Brown the largest residential college on campus (it was previously the smallest) until the opening of McMurtry and Duncan. The new wing is made up of four-person suite, and each suite has four small single rooms, a large common room, and a private bathroom. Besides rooms, Brown offers other facilities. For instance, Brown's basement houses a communal laundry room and music practice rooms. Brown's first floor, referred to as "Vator Lobby" in reference to its use as an elevator lobby, contains a communal kitchen, a computer lab, couches, and amenities such as a projector and pool tables.
Lovett College
Edgar Odell Lovett College is the seventh-founded residential college, named after the university's first president. Lovett's first class mostly comprised volunteers from other colleges. Lovett sponsors numerous community and social events throughout the year, including theater production, the Lovett Undergraduate Research Symposium, and many gatherings on the College's seconds floor and sundeck. Lovett's college crest is based upon the Lovat family crest although the Lovat family is not related to Edgar Odell Lovett.
The distinctive
brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
architecture of Lovett has led many to compare it to a giant
toaster
A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast.
Types
Pop-up toaster
In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaster. ...
. This is due to the concrete grating that surrounds the third, fourth, and fifth floors, a design feature intended to make Lovett riot-proof in reaction to the student
riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
s of the late 1960s, most notably the
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponen ...
riot of April 1970.
In 2009, work began on renovating a portion of Baker College's former New Section, which was transferred over to become Lovett's New Section starting in the 2010 fall semester. This building is affectionately referred to as "Stinky" by the students, though the name does not refer to the building's smell. A new servery, shared with Will Rice College, was built as part of the construction project and named Seibel Servery. As of the completion of Sid Richardson College's new building in Spring 2022, Seibel Servery connects Lovett to both Will Rice and Sid Richardson Colleges.
Notable alumni include James Casey,
Luke Willson
Luke Michael Willson (born January 15, 1990) is a Canadian former professional American football tight end. He has played for the Seattle Seahawks, the Detroit Lions, the Oakland Raiders, and the Baltimore Ravens.
Willson played with the Ca ...
,
José Cruz Jr.
José Luis Cruz Jr. (born April 19, 1974), is a Puerto Rican baseball coach and former outfielder, who is the current head baseball coach for the Rice Owls. He played college baseball at Rice University from 1992 to 1995 and played in Major Lea ...
,
John Doerr
L. John Doerr (born June 29, 1951) is an American investor and venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins in Menlo Park, California. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the Pre ...
Jim Bridenstine
James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American military officer and politician who served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine was the United States representative fo ...
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive governme ...
Robert Curl
Robert Floyd Curl Jr. (August 23, 1933 – July 3, 2022) was an American chemist who was Pitzer–Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences and Professor of Chemistry at Rice University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for ...
was the first college Master, and
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
served as a community associate.
Sid Richardson College
Sid Richardson College (also referred to as Sid, SRC, or Sid Rich) opened in 1971 as a men's residential college. Like the other residential colleges on the Rice campus, Sid Richardson College provides undergraduate residential and dining facilities, social organizations and student government, as well as faculty, alumni, and community associates. A $2 million pledge from the Sid Richardson Foundation, which was established by Texas oilman, cattleman, and philanthropist Sid W. Richardson (1891–1959), funded the construction of the college. The college became co-ed in 1987. Members of Sid Richardson College are called "Sidizens."
Sid Richardson College is the tallest building on the Rice campus. It has seven floors, each of which is split into an upper and lower level, effectively giving the building fourteen stories. Unusual among Rice buildings, the high-rise was a response to a shortage of University land and was designed by the architectural firm Neuhaus and Taylor. Sid Rich has enough beds to accommodate 229 students. Original plans called for the eventual construction of a second tower, but the plan was never followed through. In similar fashion to Lovett, the Sid Masters' house is connected to the residential tower; it comprises the first floor of the tower, while the
mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...
of the residential building is actually the second floor of the tower.
The first floor of Sid features a commons, a private dining room, and an OC (off-campus) lounge. The lounge consists of a pool table, a ping pong table, and a television set.
Although Sid Richardson College is not built around a quad, there is a similar outdoor feature of the college known as the "country club." The country club consists of a field,
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
court, hammock, an adult-sized swing set, and many picnic tables.
In addition to providing basic residential and social services to its residents, Sid Richardson College is rich with traditions, which have included some notorious pranks. For example, Sidizens have made use of the six balconies towering above the main entrance of the college to "douche" unsuspecting visitors—including past Rice University president
George Rupp
George Erik Rupp (born September 22, 1942) is an American educator and theologian, who served successively as President of Rice University, of Columbia University, and of the International Rescue Committee.
Biography
Rupp was born in Summit, ...
and his wife—with buckets of water as they climb the steps to the double doors. While such "free-flowing water" is the only sanctioned projectile, rogue students have also flung flour tortillas, shrimp, and, in one particularly infamous situation, a couch. During the mid-1970s, students moved a Karman Ghia automobile into the dining area. Photographic evidence can be found in the Rice Campanile.
Another prank that is quickly becoming a tradition is the
Orc
An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially '' The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugl ...
Raid. Orc Raids are held twice every year - once during the Orientation Week in August before the start of the Fall semester and a second time during Willy Week in the Spring semester. Sidizens dress up by smearing themselves with black paint, wearing black clothes and carrying around torches with doll heads. They then proceed to run around campus at night to terrorize the other colleges and crash events, often shouting out cheers that boost the morale of the Sidizens as well as anti-cheers meant to belittle the 'lesser' colleges.
Sid Richardson College has a wealth of traditions. Every Friday afternoon from 3:00-6:00pm, the college's main speakers, affectionately known as the "stacks," blast music in what is known as "Radio Free Sid" (the named derived from
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
era) across the campus from the 7th floor balcony. Radio Free Sid begins and ends each roughly 3-hour-long set of music with
AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
's "Back in Black," widely considered to be the college's theme song. Other traditions include Night of Innocence (a showing of Disney movies in the commons the same night as NOD), Sid 80s (Sid's fall public party), Sid Hi-Liter (spring public party), vatoring of Sidizens who co-advise, Floor Wars (a series of competitive events between the floors), Squid Richardson Day, and more.
Sid Richardson has also hosted the five Houston Conferences on Theoretical Neuroscience (2004-2009), thanks to a relationship between the GCC and former Sid Richardson Master Steve Cox.
Notable alumni include Steve Jackson,
Philip Humber
Philip Gregory Humber (; born December 21, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros in seven seasons in Major League ...
Micron Technology
Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and USB flash drives. It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Its consumer products, including ...
.
Martel College
Marian and Speros P. Martel College is the ninth-founded residential college. It was established with a $15 million donation from the eponymous Marian and Speros Martel Foundation, a longtime benefactor of Rice University. The college's building was designed by noted architect
Michael Graves
Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Grou ...
and housed its first students during the 2002–2003 school year. Martel is one of eleven residential colleges at Rice University, and it is the only one that has a Sallyport of its own; it is located adjacent to Jones and Duncan colleges on the north side of
campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...
, sharing the North Servery with the former. The college prides itself on its adopted Greek heritage, a tribute to its benefactors' country of origin. Aspects of Greek culture are incorporated into a number of college events, and an interior staircase of the college features a four-story map of Athens painted by Joshua Krezinski (class of 2007). The second and fourth quadrants of Martel's crest represent the cross and stripes of the
Greek flag
The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white one" ( el, Γαλανόλευκη, ) or the "sky blue and white" (, ), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal strip ...
, while the other two are reserved for the Athenian owl, a symbol of wisdom taken from the university's academic seal, and the "MC" glyph representing the College's name. The crest was designed by the building's architect. The Martel College colors are representative of the Greek flag and the building's architecture. The
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
Argent
In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...
; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second." While azure often associates with a deeper blue, Martel College uses a lighter
tincture
A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...
of azure known as
bleu celeste
Bleu celeste (, "sky blue") is a rarely occurring and non-standard tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three ''staynard colours''). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It ...
or "sky blue". Also, the argent used by the college favors a bright, reflective white instead of the more silvery tincture. Maroon represents the building's brick and paint scheme. Members of Martel college are known as "Martelians".
As the third-most-recently founded residential college, Martel's history is short, and commonly includes the story of Speros Martel, the Greek immigrant whose estate provided the funding necessary to build the college. The official groundbreaking of the new Martel college took place on April 10, 2000. Among those attending were the newly instated Martel Magisters Joan and Arthur Few, who had previously been Masters at Baker College from 1994 to 1999.
The first new students accepted as members of Martel were required to live off campus during the fall 2001 semester until the completion of the College's construction, which was scheduled for early 2002. However, in June 2001,
Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. An arguable example of the " brown ocean effect", Allison lasted unusually long for a June storm, remaining tropical or s ...
struck the Houston area and delayed this by two months. Applications for freshman transfers were made available in October 2002. Sixty-three freshmen were accepted, five each from Brown and Jones Colleges, and up to 12 from each of the other colleges. Martel members named physics instructor Gary Morris and intramural sports director Tina Villard as Martel's first resident associates.
Martel's student government is named the Parliament, and meets weekly in the College commons. Elected officials include President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Treasurer, Secretary, Chief Justice, and Class Representatives (4 per class).
Michael Graves
Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Grou ...
, architect of Martel College, designed the four-story, building. Formed around a central quadrangle, Graves's design follows the style of the 1910 general plan of Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram for the Rice campus. Martel is an open, four-sided shape. Each side of the shape forms a wing of the college. The wings terminate on the side closest to North Servery in a five-story rotunda, a spiral staircase enclosed within a stack of rounded floors, providing the college with its sundeck, where many events are held. The easternmost wing contains common areas, the game room, a kitchen, and the TV room. The rotunda leads into the Commons, a cathedral-like room with a high ceiling that serves as a cafeteria, meeting room, and auditorium, among other functions. The college also includes two apartments for Martel's resident associates and a neighboring house for the College Magisters and their family. Nearly every room at Martel is suite style, and is either referred to as a hex, or a quad. There are two kinds of hexes, sally port and corner hexes. Corner hexes have 6 single rooms and sallyport hexes have 3 double rooms. Every suite at martel has a private bathroom. Rooming is overseen by the Vice President. Martel is also the only college to feature a
sally port
A sally port is a secure, controlled entry way to an enclosure, e.g., a fortification or prison. The entrance is usually protected by some means, such as a fixed wall on the outside, parallel to the door, which must be circumvented to enter an ...
in its construction; newly matriculated students traditionally walk through it passing a torch between themselves as the final step to becoming new Martelians.
Alumni include
Chris Boswell
Christopher Lynn Boswell (born March 16, 1991) is an American football placekicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Rice and was signed by the Houston Texans in 2014 as an undra ...
,
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
kicker, Jason Colwick, 2009 NCAA pole vault champion, Andrew Chifari,
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
most expensive drink record breaker, Mithun Mansinghani, the Oklahoma Solicitor General, and
Morris Almond
Morris Almond (born February 2, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Almond is the founder of Almond Athletics. His last professional appearance would be for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League (D-Leagu ...
, a professional basketball player.
McMurtry College
Burt and Deedee McMurtry College is the tenth college founded as part of Rice's residential college system. McMurtry College was named after Burt and Deedee McMurtry, graduates of the Rice class of 1956. Burt McMurtry was part of the student-faculty committee that evaluated the need for and eventually instituted the college system at Rice University, beginning in 1957 with the original five colleges. The college was conceived jointly with the adjacent Duncan College as part of Rice's vision for the 2nd century, which includes plans to increase the size of the student body by 30%. The college opened on August 16, 2009.
Despite its status as a young college, McMurtry has already established its own unique culture. During the Spring 2009 Beer Bike, McMurtry was christened in the ''Thresher'' newspaper as the "Mongol College", as it had not been finished at the time yet it was involved in pranks during Willy Week, and it could not be pranked by any other college as McMurtry wasn't complete. This was due to O-Week coordinators and advisers and co-advisers of McMurtry (chosen a semester ahead) showing their spirit for the upcoming new college. McMurtry has been assuming much of this "Mongol" culture by referring to the round commons as "Yurt," a name that also references the fact that due to construction delays caused by Hurricane Ike, McMurtry was forced to use a tent as its commons for weeks until the actual commons was completed. McMurtry is also known as the banana college, and the fruit is used as a popular symbol by students, including in college cheers like "McMurtry is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S."
The building was designed by
Hopkins Architects
Hopkins Architects (formerly Michael Hopkins and Partners) is a prominent British architectural firm established by architects Sir Michael and Patricia, Lady Hopkins.
Background
The practice was established in 1976 by Michael and Patty Hopkins ...
, a leading English firm specializing in sustainable architecture. It offers 324 beds for student housing. The college is constructed as a single, squared-off horseshoe-shaped wing surrounding a central quad, rising to a height of five stories. The college has double and single rooms that open directly out onto interior hallways, in contrast to the exterior hallways at Martel and Wiess, which were previously the two most recently renovated colleges. Common showers are located around the stairwells at each "elbow" in the building, and fully functional pod bathrooms are located in each double bedroom. The first floor contains study rooms, a game room, music room, other amenities, and the only circular commons on campus.
McMurtry College is across from Duncan Hall and the Inner Loop road. Duncan College is immediately north of it, connected to McMurtry by West Servery, which is parallel to Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory. It is also identical to Duncan College. The pair are commonly referred to as McDuncan.
Duncan College
Anne and Charles Duncan College is the eleventh college founded as part of Rice's residential college system. Duncan College was named after Anne and
Charles Duncan Jr.
Charles William Duncan Jr. (September 9, 1926 – October 18, 2022) was an American businessman, administrator, and politician best known for serving as U.S. Secretary of Energy in the Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter from 1979 to 1981. He ha ...
, long-standing contributors to Rice University who donated money for the new college. The college was conceived jointly with the adjacent McMurtry College as part of Rice's Vision for the 2nd century, which includes plans to increase the size of the student body by 30%. Duncan opened its doors on August 16, 2009, right in time for O-Week 2009, which saw the arrival of the first Duncan freshman class. Due to renovations in Baker College and in order to help the new college adapt to the university, Baker College students lived in Duncan with the first freshman class. This led to the joint name of "BaDunc" for sporting and other events. Duncan began to operate by itself beginning in fall 2010 with a new freshman class, a returning sophomore class, and upperclassmen consisting of students from other colleges who accepted invitations to transfer. The college's first Masters, Marnie Hylton and Luis Duno-Gottberg, remained with Duncan for several years, and the final constitution went through its final stages before approval. It has also chosen its colors as forest green, white, and gold. It chose government officials, RAs, and a College Coordinator in the spring of 2010, and the crest was revealed during the fall 2010 semester at the dedication ceremony.
Due to the request and contribution of Anne and Charles Duncan, Duncan College is one of the "greenest" buildings on Rice campus, as well as the entire city of Houston. Like nearby McMurtry College, the five-story building was designed by
Hopkins Architects
Hopkins Architects (formerly Michael Hopkins and Partners) is a prominent British architectural firm established by architects Sir Michael and Patricia, Lady Hopkins.
Background
The practice was established in 1976 by Michael and Patty Hopkins ...
of London and offers 324 beds for student housing. The building is the first gold-level
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
(LEED) facility at Rice and the first LEED student residential-housing in the United States. The facility is designed to retain water for irrigation purposes and has motion detector lights which will turn on or off according to the flow of people. The building will decrease energy consumption by up to 25% as well as cut back on water usage. Air conditioners power off when windows are opened.
Duncan College has also established a Monday night tradition, known as "Monday Night Lights." When a few students went down to play ping-pong one night, they noticed that the ping pong table they had played on actually belonged to Baker College, who took its table back. Instead of going to bed, they made a makeshift table in the quad out of extra tables and using toilet paper as the net. People noticed the table and came down to the quad join in, watch and even play acoustic instruments. Monday Night Lights is now a monthly event. Other traditions include "Duncing" people in the DuncTank outside the commons on their birthdays, temporarily borrowing prized artifacts from other colleges including Will Rice's flag and Jones' trampoline, and a once a semester Nerf Gun capture the flag game throughout the building called Donnybrook.
Architecturally, Duncan has the same features as McMurtry with minor differences emphasized in order to establish its uniqueness. For example, Duncan Commons is rectangular in shape, contrasting the round McMurtry Commons. Also, Duncan quad has different features from McMurtry, such as a fountain by the Commons, smaller trees, and walkways that go across the quad. The interior, however, is virtually the same, as both colleges contain mostly doubles in the hallways and single rooms in the corners, with doubles having a pod bathroom inside and singles sharing common bathrooms. Both also have green roofs and fifth floor doubles and suites that open to the outside. The interior hallways of both Duncan and McMurtry were designed as contrasts to the other two most recently built residential colleges, Martel and Wiess, which have exterior hallways. The pair of McMurtry and Duncan are commonly referred to as McDuncan.