Campus celebrates campaign’s goals

Campus celebrates campaign’s goals

BY
ADRIENNE MATTEA
Special to the Rice News

Rice’s
Founders Court was the place to be Sept. 22 and 23 as faculty,
staff and friends of the university celebrated the public
kickoff of “Rice: The Next Century Campaign,”
the campus’ most comprehensive fund-raising effort
to date.

Together with
the board of trustees, President Malcolm Gillis and his
wife, Elizabeth, hosted a black-tie gala Sept. 22 honoring
all major benefactors to the campaign. More than 500 attendees
celebrated the public kickoff of the campaign with a reception
and dinner.

William E. “Bill”
Barnett, chairman of Rice’s board, opened the event
and celebratory toasts were made by trustees J.D. Bucky
Allshouse and D. Kent Anderson and Bob McNair, honorary
campaign co-chairman and owner of the Houston Texans football
team.

Gillis spoke
about Rice’s goal of establishing an international
reputation with regard to students, faculty and programs,
and he announced that the International University Bremen
(IUB) will open Sept. 22, 2001.

Gillis continued, “When you’ve got faculty and students that other
institutions want, you get increasingly spirited competition
from peer schools. We’re battling for these people.”

In addition,
a video that featured students and alumni showed attendees
how their gifts will help shape undergraduate education,
student life, faculty development, graduate programs and
outreach efforts.

The celebration
continued Sept. 23 as the Gillises hosted a dinner and dance
for all Rice faculty and staff in honor of the campaign’s
public kickoff.

Barnett welcomed
the more than 600 guests and announced that the board of
trustees has approved a challenge that will match all faculty
and staff contributions up to $5,000 per person, per year.
This challenge grant will match all donations made throughout
the duration of the campaign, from July 1, 1997, to June
30, 2003, and it will follow the designation of the contribution
made by the faculty or staff member.

Maribel and Enrique
Barrera, masters of Jones College; Nancy Boothe, head of
the the Woodson Research Center at Fondren Library; and
campaign co-chairs Allen Matusow, the W.G. Twyman Professor
of History, Russell Price, maintenance manager, facilities
and engineering, and Mark Ditman, director of food and housing,
gave celebratory toasts.

Faculty and
staff contributions to the campaign last year totaled $264,000,
and participation increased dramatically, to 25 percent.

The campaign
video that premiered at the Friday night gala was shown
again Saturday night. After a buffet dinner, there was dancing
to music from the salsa band Mango Punch.

— Andrienne
Mattea is a writer in the Office of Resource Development.