Hello fellow Rice Owls,

Welcome to Rice University! I am extremely excited about your interest in Rice Men’s Basketball. Take a look and you will quickly see the vast opportunities that Rice has to offer. All you need to do is consider some of the amazing things that have already happened here. We have nationally renowned academics, with Nobel Prize winning faculty, national championship caliber athletics, and a location in the heart of one of the greatest cities in America. The city of Houston is full of wonderful museum and theatre districts, entertainment and shopping opportunities, and five major professional sports teams.

I look forward to the challenge of building a successful and respected program. Through hard work, great attitude, and with the support of fans like you I am certain that will happen. If you are new and know nothing about Rice, I invite you to learn more about us and you will surely see that the possibilities here are limitless and that great things will continue to happen. For those of you who are already fans, thank you for your continued passion for the program.
I hope to see you at a game soon!
Go Owls,

Coach Braun

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WELCOME TO RICE UNIVERSITY

Rice is a private, independent university dedicated to the "advancement of letters, science, and art." Occupying a distinctive, tree-shaded, 285-acre campus only a few miles from downtown Houston, Rice attracts a diverse group of highly talented students with a range of academic studies that includes humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, architecture, music, and business management (graduate study only). The school offers students the advantage of forging close relationships with members of the faculty and the option of tailoring graduate and undergraduate studies to their specific interests. Students each year are drawn to this coed, nonsectarian university by the creative approaches it historically has taken to higher education.

Early History

William Marsh Rice moved from his native Massachusetts to Houston in 1839 and established a store in the new city. Soon he was trading cotton, investing in land and railroads and on his way to making a fortune. After the Civil War, he retired to the East Coast, but he still had investments in Houston and often returned to the city. During an 1891 visit, he called together a group of friends and his lawyer, Captain James A. Baker, and chartered the William Marsh Rice Institute for the advancement of literature, science and art. This charter was a vague document that listed a variety of functions but did not specifically call for the establishment of a university. It did say that nothing was to be done before his death.

Rice died on Sept. 23, 1900, but not of natural causes. Albert T. Patrick, an unscrupulous lawyer, was in cahoots with Rice’s valet, Charles Jones. They had concocted a plot to steal his fortune by means of a forged will. Impatient for Rice to die, the crooked lawyer and greedy valet suffocated him. They might have gotten away with their scheme; however, the next day, they tried to cash a check written out to the lawyer by the valet. In their rush, the valet misspelled the lawyer’s name. An alert bank clerk noticed the discrepancy, and the bank president called Rice’s apartment for verification. With Capt. James Baker, Rice’s lawyer, pressing the investigation, the plot soon unraveled. The valet confessed, the lawyer was sent to Sing Sing, and Rice’s fortune was saved. A counterclaim to much of the estate, based on Rice’s second wife’s will, was settled in 1904, and the funds became available to fulfill the intentions of the 1891 charter.

But exactly what kind of institution did the imprecise charter mandate? To guide them, the trustees chose an imaginative first president, a young mathematician and astronomer at Princeton University named Edgar Odell Lovett. Lovett had earned doctorates from the University of Virginia and the University of Leipzig, and he had taught at Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago and Princeton, the most innovative American universities of the time. The trustees sent him on a worldwide tour of the “competition,” where he interviewed faculty, inspected facilities and developed an inspired vision of what might be accomplished on the plains of Texas with a blank-check charter, a generous endowment and high ambitions. The goal was a university "of the highest grade" that kept "the standards up and numbers down." Lovett shaped the university that Rice would become.

The Rice Institute opened on Sept. 23, 1912, the anniversary of Rice’s murder, with 77 students and a dozen faculty. An international academic festival celebrated the opening three weeks later, a spectacular event that brought Rice to the attention of the entire scholarly world. Four years later, at the initial commencement, 35 bachelor's degrees and one master’s degree were awarded, with the first doctorate conferred in 1918.

Physical Attributes

The campus has approximately 285 acres of level ground, planted with more than 4,000 trees. The 2.9-mile campus perimeter is enclosed by a hedge of wax leaf ligustrum and a double row of live oak trees. No public roads cross the campus.

Rice Architecture

Designed over a period of nearly a century, the university campus comprises about 60 major buildings, which reflect many of the stylistic changes of 20th-century American architecture. The design of the university’s oldest buildings, inspired by from the medieval architecture of Southern Europe, uniquely adapted the conventions of the collegiate, Gothic Revival style to the hot and humid coastal plain of Texas. Red, clay-tile roofs, rose-hued brick, cloistered passageways and elaborate stonework characterize these buildings, designed by the Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram.

Campus Features

The campus includes about 70 buildings, many of which are based on a neo-Byzantine style developed by Ralph Adams Cram and characterized by red tile roofs, semicircular archways and a special rose-hued brick. There have been six major facilities completed since 2000 and a number of buildings that have gone through major renovations during the same period. Campus buildings include classrooms, laboratories and auditoriums; faculty and administrative offices; a library; music studios and recital halls; art studios; a chapel; a student center; a center for continuing education; a media center; an art gallery; an observatory; an on-campus data center; an off-campus library facility; nine residential colleges; and 10 private homes, including nine college master's houses and a newly renovated home for the president across the street from the campus. The campus also includes athletic grounds; tennis courts; intramural and club sports fields; and stadiums for football, baseball, track and field, soccer and tennis. Chilled water and steam are provided to most buildings from a central plant, which also includes a natural-gas-fired steam and electricity cogeneration facility and water well.


RICE Athletics

Rice University Athletic Department Mission Statement:

In support of the educational mission of Rice University - our mission is to guide and support Rice students in the pursuit of excellence - academically, athletically, and socially. Above all else, we produce difference-makers.

Guiding Principles of Rice Athletics

Five principles guide and govern our actions at all times and in all our affairs. They define "what we stand for" and "what we won't stand for." They include:

Respect - We treat ourselves and those we serve with dignity, kindness and respect.

Positive Attitude - We are forward-thinking. We approach our challenges and opportunities with a positive attitude. We enjoy what we do.

Focus - We are focused on prioritizing and completing what's most important. We have a strong work ethic.

Accountability - We set clear performance standards and are personally accountable for our actions. We know that we're an important part of a great team.

Continuous Improvement - We are always looking for innovative and efficient ways to get things done.


The RICE Traditions

Rice Academic Seal and Logo

The academic seal of Rice University was designed in 1912 by Mr. Pierre de Chaignon la Rose of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who combined the main elements of the arms of sixteen prominent families bearing the names "Rice" or "Houston." Owls of Athena--symbolic of wisdom--were chosen for the charges. The Athenian owls on the Rice seal were patterned after a design found on a small, silver tetradrachmenon coin dating from the middle of the fifth century B.C. And because Rice University was dedicated by its founder to the advancement of "letters, science, and art," these words also were incorporated into the seal.

Rice Colors: Blue and Gray

In 1912, Rice's first president, Edgar Odell Lovett, chose as the school colors "a blue still deeper than the Oxford blue" and "the Confederate gray, enlivened by a tinge of lavender." It has been suggested that blue and gray were chosen in recognition of the fact that Rice's founder amassed much of the fortune that formed the initial endowment of the Rice Institute by trading with both the North and the South during the Civil War.

Rice Colleges

At most universities, the word "college" refers to the entire institution, to the undergraduate program, or to a particular academic division. At Rice, "college" is a way of life. All new students are assigned to one of nine social and residential units, or colleges: Baker, Brown, Hanszen, Jones, Lovett, Martel, Richardson, Wiess, or Will Rice. Each college houses approximately 220 men and women; another hundred or so members of each college live off campus. Approximately 80 percent of all undergraduates live on campus.

Each college functions as a selfsupporting unit, boasting its own government, budget, courses, sports teams, and dining facility, or commons. Colleges also house private dining rooms for special events, and facilities such as TV and recreational lounges, libraries, computer labs, laundry rooms, sand volleyball courts, barbecue pits, and courtyards.

The colleges reflect the academic, geographic, and cultural diversity of the entire student body. Assignments to colleges are random, though special requests are possible. As a result, they are very diverse and egalitarian institutions, each with its own traditions and college pride.

To an impressive extent, the colleges are self-governing. Students manage sizable budgets, operate judicial systems, assign rooms, and coordinate a wide range of activities and events that include intramural sports, speaker and film series, plays, service projects, and giant schoolwide parties.

Rice Mascot: Owl

When athletic activities began at the Rice Institute in 1912, the teams adopted as their mascot the owl from the Rice seal. Over the years, Rice's various mascots have included students dressed in owl costumes, live Great Horned Owls, and large owl statues of fiberglass and of canvas, the latter being particularly famous in Rice lore (see below).

Mascot Name: "Sammy"

An early symbol of Rice's athletic teams was large canvas owl, a tempting target for the Institute's rivals. In 1917, when students from Southwest Conference football rival Texas A&M kidnapped the owl, Rice students pooled their resources and hired a private detective to go to College Station to find the missing mascot. When the detective, having recovered the owl, sent a coded telegram to Houston that read "Sammy is fairly well and would like to see his parents at eleven o'clock," the Rice mascot had a name.

Alma Mater: Rice's Honor

All for Rice's Honor, we will fight on.
We will be fighting when this day is done.
And when the dawn comes breaking,
We'll be fighting on, Rice, for the Gray and Blue.
We will be loyal, to Rice be true.

(To the tune of "Our Director March," written by Ben H. Mitchell '24 in 1922)

Rice Fight Song

Fight for Rice, Rice fight on, loyal sons arise.
The Blue and Gray for Rice today, comes breaking through skies.
Fight, fight, fight!
Stand and cheer, Vict'ry's near, Sammy leads the way.
Onward go! to crush the foe, we'll fight for Blue and Gray.
(Words and music by Louis Gerard '40)

The Old Gray Bonnet
Put on your old gray bonnet
with the blue ribbon on it
And we'll take old Sammy to the fray
And we'll rock, rock, rock'em
And we'll sock, sock, sock'em
To the end of Judgment Day.

The MOB

The Marching Owl Band (The MOB) differs from traditional marching bands. The concept of the MOB's halftime shows during football season has been to integrate field action and formations with a script to present an entertaining and often thought-provoking experience. Current events, social change, and general fantasies provide the basis for show ideas. The MOB's director combines special musical arrangements with unusual concepts in performance to produce unique halftime entertainment.

Membership in the MOB is open to all students, whether they are musically gifted or not. Those who do not play an instrument help in the production of halftime shows as MOB Show Assistants. Benefits of being in the MOB include tickets to road games, attendance scholarships, and travel.

Cheerleaders

The Rice Cheerleading Squad is a small coed team that cheers at all football games, men's and women's home basketball games, and women's home volleyball games. They also promote campus-wide school spirit and game attendance throughout the year as well as participate in several community service activities.

There are two tryouts for the squad: one in the spring for returning students, and another in the fall for freshmen. Both men and women are welcome to tryout. Tryouts typically consist of performing a cheer, a short sideline dance, jumps, tumbling, and stunting.

Dance Team

The Rice Owls Dance team is a small group of dancers who perform at home football and basketball games. Team members choreograph and perform a variety of jazz and hip-hop dances throughout the year. Members also participate in a variety of social and community service activities, culminating in a charity benefit concert at the end of the year.


The RICE Neighborhood

Houston

Size: Largest city in Texas, fourth largest in U.S., with a metropolitan area covering 8,778 square miles

Population: 1.9 million, 4.8 million in greater Houston area

Economy: Energy, health care, space, high-tech, chemical and shipping

Attractions: 75 art galleries; five major museums; resident companies in opera, theater, symphony and ballet

Sports: Four major-league franchises

Diversity: More than 90 languages spoken

International: 86 consulates; seventh-largest international gateway in the country; the Port of Houston, the nation's largest port in international tonnage.


The Texas Medical Center

Location: Across Main Street from the Rice campus

Affiliates: 43 member institutions

Schools: Two medical schools; four nursing schools; the world's foremost cancer research institute and hospital; schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy and virtually all other health-related careers

Facilities: 13 hospitals and other nonprofit medical facilities

Students: More than 22,000

Employees: More than 65,000

Patients: More than 5 million annually


Hermann Park

Location: Across Main Street from the Rice campus

History: Houston's first public park

Attractions: Houston Zoo; Japanese Garden; Miller Outdoor Theatre; Buddy Carruth Playground for All Children; Houston Garden Center; 18-hole golf course; reflecting pool; miniature train


The Museum District

Location: One-half mile from the Rice campus

Museums: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; Children's Museum of Houston; Houston Museum of Natural Science; Jung Center of Houston; Holocaust Museum Houston; John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science; the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum; Buffalo Soldiers National Museum

Other Sites: Lawndale Art Center; The Menil Collection; Houston Center for Photography; The Rothko Chapel; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft


Rice Village

Two blocks from campus, Rice Village is home to dozens of restaurants and nightlife venues, plus more than 300 shops.

Along with traditional North American eateries, there are three French, two Japanese, two Chinese, two Italian, one Mexican, two Spanish, one Mediterranean, one Vietnamese, one Indian and three Thai restaurants, as well as sandwich shops, delis and specialty food and beverage stores.