The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 13, 1977 Page: 6 of 16
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"percolation process"
Preserving Rice's Heritage
by Rawslyn Ruffln
For students here at Rice
University our college days
began when we got our
admittance certificates. To
those less emotionally moved
at being allowed to enter one of
the foremost universities in
the country, the Rice
experience began on the night
before the first big test.
Whatever the case may be, the
atmosphere is so different here
than it is in the world beyond
the hedges that when you're in
Rice you know that you're in
Rice.
Probably no one within the
student body considers during
his/her waking hours that
this university first had to go
through the process of being
conceived in the mind and
then built for the students.
The Rice University
Historical Commission, in an
effort to "preserve the past." is
a concentrated attempt to
trace all aspects of Rice's
history from the time of
William Marsh Rice's murder
trial until 1963, when the first
fifty years of the Institute's
existence were recognized
with a semi-centennial
celebration. It was established
in 1975 as a result of the
interest of Malcolm Lovett,
Ray Watkins Hoagland, and
the late Willoughby Williams
and relies to a certain extent
on the firsthand reports of the
first alumni of the Institute. It
is funded by alumni and other
interested friends of the
University, who receive
newsletters informing them of
the Commission'8 progress.
Under the direction of Dr.
Katherine Fischer Drew,
Professor of History, the Rice
University Historical Com-
mission collects, verifies, and
analyzes information about
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the history of Rice. Dr. Drew is
the chairman of the Depart-
ment of History at Rice.
Consultants of the Commis-
sion are Frank E. Vandiver,
Provost and Vice-President of
the University, and Nancy
McGeever Parker, director of
the Woodson Research Center
in the Fondren Library, from
which the Commission
gathers its information.
Dr. Fredericka Meiners, the
research associate, and her
assistant, Miss Moira
Sullivan, are the people who
delve deeply into the oldest of
Campaniles and Threshers
to get the most exacting
information. Dr. Meiners
describes the work of the Rice
University Historical Com-
mission as a "percolation
process." It is a continuation
of the book William Marsh
Rice and His Institute—A
Biographical Study (edited
by Sylvia S. Morris from the
papers and research notes of
Andrew Forest Muir).
"When you go back into the
files you have to think
historically," Dr. Meiners
said. Some of the files
unfortunately have been
destroyed or they never were
made in the first place.
The history of Rice Institute
started in 1912; the history of
Rice University started in
1965, just as Dr. Meiners was
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1
Katherine Fischer Drew
graduating. When she came
back in the 1970's as a
graduate student she noticed a
lot of changes in the structure
and attitude of the student
body which she attributed
partly to the increased number
of students. Commenting on
her associate, Dr. Drew said,
"It's kind of hard for her to do
this because she was once a
student here."
The gathering together of
chronicles may not seem too
interesting to some; never-
theless, it is from the tedious
work of such dedicated people
as the aforementioned that we
get all of our truths and true
nonsense. For example, with
the price of tuition these days
it is interesting to note that
when it first began, Rice
Institute did not charge
tuition. Eventually, though, it
had to. "Back then," Dr.
Meiners reflected, "it was the
best education you could get
for the money."
On September 26, 1912, Dr.
Lovett made the first
Matriculation speech to 59
students. Prior to that he had
visited some of the leading
institutions in the world—
from Liverpool, England to
Tokyo, Japan—taking note of
what made them successful.
His observations of the quality
of other students and the
requirements for admission
brought about by his research
played an important role in
the formulation of the studious
environment which was Rice
Institute, right "outside the
city of Houston."
. As far as Dr. Meiners is
—Charles Jenkins
concerned, a history of Rice
should have been undertaken
at least a decade or two after
the entrance of the first class;
many of the alumni have
already passed away.
However, some aesthetic
observations have seeped out
of the records of our
University's history:
• In the beginning, a student
could not simply drop a course
if he was failing it. Instead,
non-credit courses such as
English 0 and Math 0 were
used to help students catch up.
• No entrance exams were
required in the beginning
except in "special" classes.
The only "other qualifica-
tions" were a diploma from an
accredited high school and
"satisfactory testimonials as
to their character."
• Once upon a time 2 faculty
members with English
backgrounds, Julian Huxley
and A. L. Hughes, wrote Dr.
Lovett to complain about the
food in the Commons (now the
dining hall of Baker
College). They claimed that it
was often ill-cooked and
monotonous.
• Dr. Hubert E. Bray,
Professor Emeritus of
Mathematics and Honorary
Associate Emeritus of Jones
College, received the first Rice
PhD in 1918.
• Once upon a time not so
long ago , under the coaching
of Jess Neely, the Rice Owls
made it all the way to the
Cotton Bowl.
Remember, history has a
way of repeating itself. . .
sometimes.
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Sign-up schedule books for the weeks of October 31-
November 4 and November 7-11 will be available in the
Placement Office on Wednesday, October 19.
the rice thresher, october 13, 1977—page 6
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Parker, Philip. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 13, 1977, newspaper, October 13, 1977; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245347/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.