Description

Often dubbed "The Harvard of the South," you wouldn't know this highly respected university had its origins in murder and intrigue. On September 23, 1900, William Marsh Rice was suffocated by his valet and a greedy lawyer, who was subsequently sent to Sing Sing. Rice had written a vague charter, but nothing specifically calling for a university. A few years, a few court dates, and one imaginative first university president (Edgar Odell Lovett) later, however, and Rice University opened its doors on September 23, 1912 with 77 students ready to learn. Today there are almost 5,000 students proud to call themselves Rice Owls, steeped in blue and gray. The campus itself is a beautiful oasis of pebbled paths and green lawns, pleasant for strolling through, or sitting to just read a book.