Rice honors trustee emerita Ruth Simmons

Rice trustee emerita Ruth Simmons, who currently serves as president at Prairie View A&M University, was honored during a timeout in the first quarter of the Owls’ first football game of the season Aug. 25 against the Panthers.

The announcer addressed the crowd of more than 20,000 at Rice Stadium:

“Today, Rice University would like to honor Prairie View A&M University President Dr. Ruth Simmons for her extraordinary record of leadership in higher education and for her contributions to Rice University as a member of its board of trustees from 2014 to 2018.

“Dr. Simmons previously served as president of Smith College and was the first-ever Ivy League African-American president, serving at Brown University from 2001 to 2012, before assuming the Prairie View A&M presidency in December 2017. In the spirit of collaboration and friendly competition, please help us welcome Dr. Simmons to today’s game and to extend our congratulations on her new leadership role at Prairie View A&M University. On behalf of Rice’s Board of Trustees, trustee Bucky Allshouse will present Dr. Simmons with a special commemorative football, and presenting her with a model of Rice’s historic Lovett Hall is Provost Marie Lynn Miranda.”

As for that first game, Rice jumped out to a 16-0 lead early in the second quarter, only to see Prairie View score 21 unanswered points to take a 21-19 lead into halftime. The Panthers extended their lead to 28-19 before the Owls used the precision punting of Jack Fox and a resurgent pass rush to score the game’s final 12 points, including a 23-yard field goal by Fox as time expired, to give new Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren a 31-28 victory. Rice will next play the crosstown rival Houston Cougars Sept. 1 at Rice Stadium.

Pictured (from left) are Allshouse, Simmons and Miranda. All photos by Tommy LaVergne.

Hover over the Flickr gallery below to click through photos from the game.