I was surprised and moved by a letter I recently found. It was written by John Angel, who sculpted William Marsh Rice, to President Lovett at the time the statue was unveiled in 1930. It’s simple and thoughtful and I think Angel cleanly grasps a joyful truth about the life of a university. I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised that an artist would see things this way:

There really wasn’t much in the local papers about the unveiling, which was overshadowed by the weekend’s commencement ceremonies:

But Angel certainly did get his wish that students would use the statue as a gathering place:

Bonus: Dogs too.