Monthly Archives: October 2016

In 1993, Halloween fell on the weekend of  Malcolm Gillis’s inauguration as Rice’s sixth president. I suspect that many new presidents would not agree to such a schedule, fearing the possibility of real mischief. Malcolm, though, was a fun loving … Continue reading →

“Let us not rest until the universe resounds with pumpkin carols.” The first showing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 1966 set off a bit of a fad for this: From the Charles M. Schulz Museum:   Bonus: … Continue reading →

EPHEMERA PLURAL NOUN 1Things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time. ‘there were papers, letters, old boxes—all sorts of ephemera’ 1.1Collectable items that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity. ‘Mickey Mouse … Continue reading →

I found a box full of old recruitment brochures the other day and I was fascinated with two things: they gradually become much more elaborate and they give us an official description of student life. (To be taken with a … Continue reading →

Both unexpected, in one day. With another one scheduled for Thursday afternoon. I’m pretty messed up! And speaking of messed up, I’ve been saving this picture for exactly this kind of occasion: That’s Dr. Patrick J. Nicholson ’42, who was … Continue reading →

1964. Do you think she knew it was there?

For many years the Association of Rice Alumni gave out their awards at Homecoming rather than at commencement time as we do today. It seems to me that this makes a great deal of sense and I don’t have a … Continue reading →

I can’t remember what I was looking for when I found these postcards in the RMC photo file. (I would note is that they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place and we moved them to their proper … Continue reading →

Today I had reason to be looking at some stuff about the Bonner Lab, trying to sort out when it was completed (1953, as it turns out) and when it was expanded (1959). Here’s the document that told me when … Continue reading →

Not at all surprisingly, after William V. Houston became Rice’s second president the way the Institute conducted its business underwent fairly dramatic change. Until that point it had been run by Dr. Lovett with a kind of authority that no … Continue reading →