Tuesday, July 2, 2013

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!

1 comment:

  1. Reading between the lines, I'm guessing that Rice opened later because of the hazing incident, waiting for Wier to be released from the hospital. Good move! Plus the sophomore girls were meeting, and all those students had to find housing in town. I did that in college for the summer -- rented a room near campus. It felt somewhat "freer," but rather chaotic, and the landlord could be more eccentric than the dorm supervisors.

    Rice sounds like a good place. Shaking the hand of every student!

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