Rice community shows its Olympic spirit is Burning Bright

Rice
community shows its Olympic spirit is
Burning Bright
…………………………………………………………………

BY DANA BENSON
Rice News Staff

Hundreds of
members of the Rice community gathered near the Sallyport
Dec. 10 as the Olympic torch passed through campus on its
way to Salt Lake City, home of the 2002 Winter Games.

The Rice campus
was just one stop on the torch relay’s 31-plus mile
journey through Houston. Faculty, staff and students, some
lined up behind their residential college banners and many
waving American flags, were treated to music from the MOB
and an impromptu dance by Rice President Malcolm Gillis
and Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho as
they waited for the torch’s arrival just before 5 p.m.

The relay in
Houston was kicked off by local Olympian Tara Lipinski,
the reigning gold medalist in women’s ice skating,
who greeted the torch at the downtown Amtrak station. The
relay passed through downtown, the Heights, the Uptown area,
West University, the University of Houston, Texas Southern
University, Rice and the Texas Medical Center. Another
local Olympian and gold medalist, former gymnast Mary Lou
Retton, concluded the Houston portion of the torch run at
the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Locally, 162
participants carried the torch. They included local residents,
former Olympians and community and business leaders.

The torch relay
began Dec. 4 in Atlanta. The journey will cover 65 days
and cover 13,000 miles and 46 states, including Alaska.
The torch relay will end Feb. 8 in Salt Lake City at the
opening ceremonies.