<p>As an outsider to the Rice community, I have to say that you have a great deal to be proud of in terms of the distinctive character of the school and of the passionate commitment of current and former students to perpetuating it. Even the critical comments are mostly delivered here with an underlying love of the school.
Our s has Rice on his list and, as a parent, I find the focus on on-campus housing and the intimacy of the residential college system to be a strong part of its appeal. We live in the Chicago area, immediately next to the city (and we lived for years in the city). Our boys know the up and down sides of a large metro area. We want our son to be able to engage Houston (or Philly, or Baltimore, or Providence) without taking away from the business of study and interactive learning.
My alma mater (Virginia) only guarantees housing for first year students, although The University has really expanded the on-campus options for upperclassmen since the coal-fired days when I strolled The Lawn. Nonetheless, UVA has kept its character by integrating off-campus options in a coordinated way and keeping options available so that at least some upperclassmen can live on campus.
I guess that this is by way of saying, “keep it up.” Keep after the administration, in a spirit of collaboration and openness. We in the UVA community have seen what can happen when leadership develops a delta between themselves and the rest of the school. Fortunately we came together and fixed things, confirming our character and commitment to The U and our Founder’s vision.
What I see here is the Rice community doing the same, but in a measured and more open way, without the skullduggery. Keep it up. I hope that our son is able to take part.</p>