Rice University
On the morning of the 23rd of September 1900, an 84-year-old Massachusetts businessman named William Marsh Rice was found dead by his valet, Charles F. Jones. The man who had made a fortune in real estate and railroad development lay still, presumed to have died in his sleep. Shortly after this discovery, a large check signed by the late Rice appeared at a bank. The recipient's name on the check was misspelled, which aroused suspicion in a bank teller. This small clerical error triggered a massive investigation into the death of the wealthy philanthropist.
Albert T. Patrick, Rice's New York City lawyer, claimed that the deceased had changed his will to leave the bulk of his fortune to him instead of creating an educational institute. The District Attorney of New York arrested both Patrick and Charles F. Jones for their roles in what turned out to be a conspiracy. Jones testified against Patrick, claiming he had been persuaded to administer chloroform to Rice while he slept. Patrick was found guilty of conspiring to steal Rice's fortune and convicted of murder in 1901.
Captain James A. Baker, Rice's friend and personal lawyer in Houston, helped direct the estate toward its intended purpose. The board took control of assets worth $4.6 million in 1904 to fund the creation of what would become the Rice Institute. The legal battle established the financial foundation for the university, ensuring that the money meant for education actually reached its destination despite the criminal scheme.
In 1907, the Board of Trustees selected Edgar Odell Lovett as head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton University to lead the new institute. He came recommended by Woodrow Wilson, then president of Princeton. Lovett accepted the challenge in 1908 and was formally inaugurated as the institute's first president on the 12th of October 1912. Before finalizing plans, he visited 78 institutions of higher learning across the world between 1908 and 1909.
Lovett admired the aesthetic beauty of uniform architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and adopted this theme for the new campus. He also incorporated a residential college system inspired by Cambridge University, which was added several decades later. On the 23rd of September 1912, exactly 12 years after William Marsh Rice's murder, the institution began coursework with 59 enrolled students known as the "59 immortals." About a dozen faculty members taught these initial classes.
After 18 additional students joined later, the initial class numbered 77 people, comprising 48 males and 29 females. Rice accepted coeducational admissions from its beginning, though on-campus housing would not become co-ed until 1957. Classes were difficult, and about half of the students had failed after the first term of 1912. At the first commencement ceremony held on the 12th of June 1916, Rice awarded 35 bachelor's degrees and one master's degree.
The original charter of Rice Institute dictated that the university admit and educate only white inhabitants of Houston and Texas tuition-free. In 1963, the governing board filed a lawsuit to modify the charter to allow admission of students of all races and to charge tuition. Ph.D. student Raymond Johnson became the first black Rice student when he was admitted that year. This marked a pivotal moment in the institution's history, ending decades of racial exclusion.
In 1964, Rice officially amended the university charter to desegregate both graduate and undergraduate divisions. The Trustees prevailed in a lawsuit to void the racial language in the trust by 1966. Rice began charging tuition for the first time in 1965, shifting away from its free-tuition origins. That same year, the university launched a $33-million development campaign which raised $43 million by its conclusion in 1970.
President David Leebron later reacted to re-circulated images showing approximately twenty students wearing Klan robes in a 1922 yearbook photograph. He stated that it was unsurprising but deeply disturbing that racist imagery appeared at Rice with some frequency during years prior to the admission of Black students. A Ku Klux Klan event had been held on a Rice-owned Louisiana Street location near the home of a Black woman who sued the institute in 1909.
Nearly every building on campus is noticeably Byzantine in style, featuring sand and pink-colored bricks along with large archways and columns as common themes. Lovett Hall serves as the landmark building through whose Sallyport arch new students symbolically enter during matriculation and depart as graduates at commencement. The Academic Quad includes Ralph Adams Cram's masterpiece, the asymmetrical Lovett Hall, Fondren Library, Herzstein Hall, Sewall Hall, Rayzor Hall, and Anderson Hall.
The Humanities Building won several architectural awards and sits immediately adjacent to the main quad. Further west lies another quad surrounded by McNair Hall of the Jones Business School, the Baker Institute, and Alice Pratt Brown Hall of the Shepherd School of Music. These two quads are encircled by the university's main access road, a one-way loop referred to as the "inner loop." In the Engineering Quad, sculptures by Michael Heizer collectively entitled 45 Degrees, 90 Degrees, 180 Degrees flank Abercrombie Laboratory and other buildings.
Roughly three-quarters of Rice's undergraduate population lives on campus across eleven residential colleges. Five colleges including McMurtry, Duncan, Martel, Jones, and Brown sit on the north side of campus. They face opposite the South Colleges: Baker, Will Rice, Lovett, Hanszen, Sid Richardson, and Wiess. Baker is the oldest college, originally built in 1912, while twin Duncan and McMurtry colleges opened for the first time during the 2009, 10 school year.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice Stadium challenging the nation to send a man to the moon before the end of the decade. The Rice Space Institute has collaborated with the Johnson Space Center for more than 50 years since that pivotal moment. Richard E. Smalley, a Nobel Prize winner and Rice professor, lent his name to the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology when it was dedicated in 1997.
The Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology was created in 1999, establishing Rice as a leader in nanotechnology research. The nation's first nanotechnology center became known as the Smalley-Curl Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. In 2003, the Rice baseball team won its first national championship, defeating Stanford University after beating Southwest Missouri State and then Texas twice each en route to the title.
Rice alumni include 14 NASA astronauts alongside Robert Curl, who discovered fullerene, and Robert Woodrow Wilson, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering cosmic microwave background radiation. Jerry Woodfill served as an Apollo 11 and 13 warning systems engineer before becoming a motivational speaker. These scientific achievements demonstrate the institution's deep involvement in space exploration programs and materials science innovation.
Almost all Rice exams are unproctored, allowing professors to give timed, closed-book tests that students take home and complete at their own convenience. During Orientation Week, students must pass a test demonstrating understanding of the Honor System requirements and sign a Matriculation Pledge. On assignments, Rice students affirm their commitment by writing "On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this examination, quiz or paper." Potential infractions are reported to the student Honor Council elected by popular vote.
Beer Bike is a combination intramural bicycle race and drinking competition dating back to 1957. Ten riders and ten chuggers make up each team with elaborate rules prohibiting bulky clothing designed to absorb beer or water. Each leg of the race is a relay where a team's chugger must drink specific amounts before the rider may begin cycling. Participants who both ride and chug are referred to as Ironmen.
Baker 13 is another tradition where students run around campus wearing nothing but shoes and shaving cream at 10 p.m. on the 13th and 31st of every month. The event usually attracts small numbers of revelers, though Halloween night and the first and last relevant days of the school year draw large crowds. The morning of Beer Bike begins with what some estimations call the largest annual water balloon fight in the world.
The Rice baseball team won the 2003 College World Series, defeating Stanford University to give Rice its only national championship in a team sport. This victory made Rice the smallest school in 51 years to win a national championship at the highest collegiate level of the sport. The team has played on campus at Reckling Park since the 2000 season and has finished third in both the 2006 and 2007 College World Series tournaments.
In 2006, the football team qualified for its first bowl game since 1961, ending the second-longest bowl drought in the country at that time. On the 22nd of December 2006, Rice played in the New Orleans Bowl against Troy, losing 41, 17. The program success proved to be a revival after a 14-game losing streak from 2004 to 2005. David Bailiff took over the program in 2007 and remained head coach through subsequent seasons.
Rice Stadium opened in 1950 with a capacity of 70,000 seats but is currently configured to seat 47,000 for football. It served as the venue for Super Bowl VIII and Kennedy's famous moon speech on the 12th of September 1962. The recently renovated Tudor Fieldhouse houses basketball and volleyball teams while the Marching Owl Band performs humorous skits rather than traditional formation marching.
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Common questions
When was Rice University founded and how many students started the first class?
Rice University began coursework on the 23rd of September 1912 with an initial enrollment of 59 students known as the 59 immortals. The institution later expanded to 77 people after 18 additional students joined the original group.
Who created the will that established Rice University and what happened to it?
William Marsh Rice died on the morning of the 23rd of September 1900 leaving a fortune intended for education. His lawyer Albert T. Patrick conspired to steal the money by forging a new will but was convicted of murder in 1901 while Charles F. Jones testified against him.
How did Rice University change its admission policies regarding race and tuition?
The university admitted only white inhabitants of Houston and Texas tuition-free until 1963 when Ph.D. student Raymond Johnson became the first black student. Rice officially amended the charter to desegregate divisions in 1964 and began charging tuition for the first time in 1965.
What architectural style defines the main campus buildings at Rice University?
Nearly every building on campus features Byzantine architecture with sand and pink-colored bricks along with large archways and columns. Lovett Hall serves as the landmark structure through which new students enter during matriculation and graduates depart at commencement.
When did Rice University win its first national championship in baseball?
Rice won its first national championship in 2003 after defeating Stanford University to claim the College World Series title. This victory made Rice the smallest school in 51 years to win a national championship at the highest collegiate level of the sport.