I spent a little time this afternoon sifting through some old Dean of Students papers, just because they were sitting on one of the book trucks in the back of the Woodson when I came in. This is one of my favorite collections, by the way. It’s extensive, covering the history of the office over the tenures of several deans, and it’s a truly peculiar hodgepodge, wherein a folder labeled “Bomb threats” sits next to one called “Bridge Tournaments.”
What captured my attention today was in the bland sounding folder “Building and Grounds.” It was a short notice declaring an All-School Holiday in October, 1967:
Only last week I’d noticed a short piece in a 1963 issue of the Thresher about what they called this “Machiavellian strategy” for keeping the students in regular order:
I note two things about this. First, the day of the 1967 holiday was a Saturday. Second, this is the last reference to an all-school holiday I can find. This leads me to wonder whether we dropped Saturday classes beginning in the 1968 school year. It would take too much time to look this up so if you know the answer, please help me out.
Bonus: The 1957 blockade.
Yes, I was in on that 1957 Lockout as a sophomore. One of the profs who was barred from the campus said something like “But you promised not to do this”. Our reply was that whoever made that promise was no longer a student at Rice. We did not know who that might have been and, frankly, we did not care. Great fun in a place not particularly know for same.
The 1968-69 school year was the first without Saturday classes.
Hello! I started at Rice in the fall of 1968 as a freshman and you are correct, we did NOT have any Saturday classes that semester, or any of my semesters at Rice.
The Rice A&M game in Oct 1957 was probably the last time Rice filled the stadium. I know since, because of finances, I had to drop out of the football Mob band and sell seat cushions for $0.25 each. Knowing that Aggies did not sit, I was expecting a bad day. But I sold out and made about $32.00 which was a lot of money. Hank Coors, another Civil Engineer and a classmate sold seatbacks at the same gate and made more.
In Fall 1969, the schedule was MWF and TuTh. Don’t know about 1968.
I think Saturday classes ended in 1968. 1967 was my freshman year, and I had a French class TThSat at 8:00! At least I got a good start on my laundry before all the machines filled up!
I remember Saturday classes ’65-’66 but not any later.
Yes, the ’67-’68 academic year was the last year for Saturday classes. Husband Bill still complains about the cruel and unusual punishment of having a German class at 8:00 am on a Saturday. I started in the Fall of ’68 and was mercifully spared Saturday classes.
The lockout was traditionally the Monday after the first Southwest Conference win of the year. The student body made an exception in 1957 and held a second lockout after the A&M win, much to the displeasure of the administration. Apparently, this continued to be an issue through the 60s, although SWC wins became fewer and farther between in those years.
I was also a freshman in the fall of 1968 and there were no Saturday classes as stated above. However the American history class which was taken by freshman did have Saturday exams, as Dr. Frank Vandiver, who taught that class, did not want to give up any of his Tuesday Thursday lectures to give exams.