Full Page of Photos from Rice's Registration Day 1939

Special treat! A full page of photographs to go with Ethel's article from the same day, with a description of who is in the photos!

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Friday September 15th, 1939

Here are a few of the scenes at Rice Institute Thursday morning as registration of 1300 undergraduates began. Most of the early registrations were members of the incoming freshman class.

Top left: Scene of bustling enrollment activity, with professors and department heads assisting the new students to choose their courses. Samuel G. McCann, registrar, is shown at left supervising the enrollment in his office. 

Top Right: Frank Cook and R. A. Stamey, Jr., Houston Sophomores, marking their choice of courses as they sat on the ledge at the front of the administration building.

Central left: Martha Ann Picton, at right, a June graduate of rice appeared at the registration desk with her younger sister, Grace, in the center, who is enrolling at Rice as a freshman. At the left is shown Betty Ruth Robbins, another new student.

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Center right: A group of pretty Rice undergraduates walking from the parking lot to the registration desk. Left to right are shown Grace Ellen McIntyre, Margie Boyd, Betty Gartner, Jeanette Stephenson and Mary Margaret Raymond. 

Bottom left: ONe of the registration groups includes Bill Bryant and Margie Boyd, standing, and Pady Sue Whitecomb and Jeanette Stephenson, seated, from left to right. 

Bottom right: Seated on the lawn between academic quadrangle and the cloisters, upperclassmen plan courses. Left to right are shown David Johnston, John Sanders, Joe Baird and Sam Kohen.

End of Summer 1939

Summer of 1939 comes to a close for Rice students. Most college students today, report to school in late August, but in 1939, class began at Rice on September 18th. This article does not provide us with much news, but as always, we do find some interesting tidbits which provide insight to life on campus.

RICE CLASSES SCHEDULED TO OPEN MONDAY

Sunday, September 17th, 1939

Total of 1313 Students Already Admitted for 28th Academic Year at Institute.

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Regular classes at Rice Institute will begin at 8 a.m. Monday, opening the twenty-eight academic year. 

A total of 1313 students had been admitted at 5 p.m. Friday, latest tabulation announced, with about 50 more students enrolled this year than last year. The total enrollment, expected to be about 1370 students will be about the same as last year and will be completed by Tuesday.

Dormitories for men were all filled by Saturday morning, with all of the rooms either occupied or reserved. The three men's residential halls on the campus accomodate about 325 students about one-third of the undergraduate men enrolled at Rice. More than 500 out-of-town students are registered at the institute. Usually about 15 faculty members also live in the dormitories. 

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To Leave Hospital.

Richard Wier, Dallas freshman student whose ankle was broken during the initiation ceremonies at Rice Thursday morning, will be released from Hermann Hospital Monday morning, according to Dr. Hugh C Welch, official campus physician. He will use a crutch to attend classes.

Hazing was stopped for the remainder of the week as a result of Wier's injury, but a meeting of sophomore girls has been called for Monday at 1 p.m. in the Rice physics amphitheater by Demaris DeLange, sophomore class vice president, to determine the extent of hazing of freshman girls on Friday.

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Matriculation Address

The annual matriculation address by Dr. Edgar O. Lovett, president of the Institue, is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday in the physics amphitheater. An annual tradition at Rice, Professor Lovett shakes hands with each new student following his welcoming address.

The first general student election has been set for October 9, when the assistant business manager of the Thresher, student weekly newspaper, and an assistant cheer leader will be elected. The two positions were left vacant by John Jockusch, elected assistant manager last April and Norvil Baker, elected cheer leader, neither of whom will return to Rice this year. 

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Today, most universities do guarantee housing. I'm not sure what those out of town students who by Saturday found all the dorms filled did. It seems a bit last minute to discover that you will not get housing. My guess is that they boarded with families who rented room near the campus. On another note, it is nice to hear that the Hazing victim, Richard Wier was to leave the hospital  I hope we'll hear more about his recovery. Notice that the Thresher did have an opening, but not for the position of assistant editor which Ethel ran for. Too bad!