One of the contrasts that never fails to entertain is the one between undergraduate hijinks and the serious discussion thereof by senior administrators. This one is a classic, with the Committee on Outdoor Sports handing down their verdict on Sammy regulations:
Some of these guys would have passed out if they’d seen the MOB.
Bonus: As you can well see, the correspondence is addressed to Doug Harlan ’64. Thinking about it for a few moments I realized I have the perfect image for this post. It was taken in 1961, when Harlan was a freshman. I believe that’s him, second from left.
For those who didn’t know Doug Harlan, here’s a link to his 2008 obituary (https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sanantonio/name/doug-harlan-obituary?id=24905432) and a tribute in Texas Monthly by his friend and fellow Rice alum, Paul Burka (https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/douglas-harlan-rip/)
And here’s a more-detailed description of Harlan’s life (https://peoplepill.com/people/doug-harlan) and a description of the Douglas S. Harlan Program in State Elections, Campaigns, and Politics at Rice (https://harlan.rice.edu/About_the_Program/About_the_Program/index.html)
The photo is a reminder of freshman year “owl bowing” during football games.
Speaking of pranks, do you have anything on the time Willy’s statue was turned around? or the weather balloon with the magnesium flare underneath? Both stories I remember hearing, but have not documentation thereof.
There’s lots of info online on the rotation prank of Willy’s statue … and the film produced about it.
Here are a couple of links:
https://scholarship.rice.edu/discover?scope=1911%2F64041&query=%22flipping+willy%22&submit=
https://hwrnmnbsol.livejournal.com/38312.html
The April 15, 1966, launch of the Marshgas 1 balloon (with flares) was described in detail in a front-page article in the April 21, 1966, Thresher: https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/66440/thr19660421.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1
If you have subscriptions to online newspaper sites, you’ll also find more articles about its perception as a UFO as ot floated over the Southwest Freeway.