On more from On Campus, this one very timely. The holiday lull is one of my favorite times of year. It might have even moved into first place now that we don’t have the pre-commencement bustle in the academic quad anymore.

I was on campus after the end of finals and it was just as this article says. Not dead but quiet, on a damp, grey day. As always there were grad students around, and the football team was practicing, unusual for this time of year. There were maintenance crews around cleaning up and working on the inevitable drainage problems. Construction workers were busy at Cannady Hall. But you could still feel the slowed pace and the kind of hush that only descends at this time of year.

Lots has stayed the same over the years but see how much has changed–no more fancy dinner dances at Cohen House, once a staple of the holidays at Rice:

Bonus: