This could hardly be more interesting:
Here’s what the campus looked like when the students arrived that fall:
Quite different from today, obviously, but what really struck me was something else. Here are the rules of student conduct:
And here’s the description of the Administration:
In many ways this was an institution closer to the Rice of 1918 than that of today.
Bonus:
And the mapmaker misspelled Wiess, even then…
Hanszen too. Maybe they put the work out for bid!
Excuse my ignorance, but were the “Wiess Hall” of 1958, and the “Weiss (?sp) College” of today named for the same person and/or family? I had assumed so, but that might NOT be true.
It’s the same person.
There was a remarkable number of additions to the campus in the 2 years following my graduation.
Yes, it really exploded. Lots of pent up demand for new facilities.
Can’t wait for the maps showing the growth of the campus. Having surveyed much of the area between the Engineering Bldg. and the Stadium for a Civil Engineering Surveying Class, I don’t remember that all of these building were there in the fall of 1958. The campus has certainly changed. Also, having participated in a “riot” one night, the anti riot rule was interesting.
I love the second-to-last paragraph of the “Living Rules”: it is Rice’s very own Riot Act!
We had several provocative riots during my years (’52-’56) at the Institute.
They were provoked by foreigners of the X-X genetic type, invading our pristine grounds — especially exasperating during study time!
It’s was fortunate that ‘Ma Hardy’ had inoculated us liberally with apples, so that we were immune to their wiles. [Genesis 2:16–17]
I arrived in 1976, and the building boom was over. No new buildings were built in my 6 years at Rice. Buildings and Grounds spent all their time reworking the constantly sinking sidewalks around campus.
You got out just as the green space started to dwindle! 🙂
I arrived for interviews in 1967 and was on campus in Fall 1968, departing at the end of 1978. I am amazed to see the building program in retrospect. All this time I had assumed that everything I saw on my arrival had been there for 50 years (except the stadium). Not so at all. I had also assumed that the college system was far older than your recent post indicated. Thank you very much for giving us these lessons in Rice History!
Thanks for reading! And especially for taking the time to comment.
The college system, by the way, was quite controversial at the time it was implemented. There was a significant amount of student opposition, which always surprises students today.
An archi was probably responsible for the aerial view of the campus. Archi’s can’t spel.
“In many ways this was an institution closer to the Rice of 1918 than that of today.” Well, of course. 1958 was only 40 years after 1918, Today is 58 years after 1958. 🙂
I’m mystified by the simple declaration “Riots are illegal”. In the next sentence they imply that the school may break up any lawful assembly. Those are vague standards you would expect to find in a third world dictatorship, not a liberal institution such as Rice. To my knowledge true riots did not occur on campus until the politically turbulent 1960s. I guess is that because college aged students are always prone to spontaneous horseplay and other outrageous group activities, the administration wanted a tool to shut down such behavior before it fully erupted. That sort of heavy handed discipline would have eliminated by preemptive strike every scene from the movie “Animal House”.
Riots in the 60’s? What riots?
I believe you are right about the absence of riots in the 60s. I was thinking about the numerous accounts I heard about two tumultuous events which occurred on campus in that era. One was the protests over the selection of Masterson as President, however, those incidents were probably pretty civil affairs. The other incident was the burning of the NROTC building which did not occur until 1970 and is probably best described as a lone wolf terrorist event in the dead of night as opposed to a well attended riot.
“It can’t happen here” was, in part, meant to highlight the protest as the UN-riot.
I think the ROTC building was determined to be other than arson. A fire started by building decay (wiring or something similar) broke out during very high winds related to a “blue norther”. The building burned completely before the fire department arrived. Essentially the building burned itself down. IIRC, this was around the beginning of 1971.
There was an fire in the RMC cloister offices (fall 1970?) that was determined to be arson. It may or may not have been related to the unrest starting in spring 1970.
Around the end of the spring semester 1970, there was unrest on campus caused by the administration’s cancellation of speakers invited by the S.A. and the simultaneous revelation of expansion of the Vietnam War. Bomb threats during the end of classes and dead week and paint vandalism. Peaceful occupation of Allen Center by students after hours to protest the cancellation. Brief invasion of the campus by persons from a rally at UH allegedly in support of “our brothers at Rice”; eyewitnesses reported that some of the invaders had weapons. No casualties other than a glass door at Allen Center that may have been broken repelling the invaders. The next year had sporadic incidents of paint vandalism and bomb threats during dead week. Then things calmed down until Baker 13 started….
What?!! No alcohol?
Only allowed was that which was made in one’s room.
Or attempted to be made, as was learned by at least one student –later faculty member– to his chagrin.
(Now, how’s that for alliteration? Let Edgar Allen P. top that!)
This site dropped the clever alliteration in my note above.
Probably because I put it in directional arrowheads.
It should have been “…to his chagrin. (grin)”.
I’ll just stick to mowing grass, when it’s NOT raining.
Melissa, what is the size of the handbook? I’m inordinately curious!
It’s small–maybe six or seven inches tall. Can I ask why you’re interested??
No good reason. I’m still very much a print reader, rather than digital. I just wanted to visualize it in my hands 😉