O-Week kicks off Sunday
Class of 2015 to receive a Texas-size welcome from Rice community

BY AMY HODGES
Rice News staff

Everything’s bigger in Texas, and Rice University’s move-in day is no exception. The university will welcome its newest parliament of Owls Sunday as they move to campus and participate in O-Week, the weeklong orientation program designed to familiarize incoming students with their new campus, residential colleges and classmates.

With 1,006 students, the Class of 2015 is the ”largest, most diverse and most talented class” in Rice’s history, Vice President of Enrollment Chris Muñoz said.

They were selected from a record applicant pool of 13,814 students – 57 percent larger than the applicant pool in 2006, when Rice’s freshman class was only 716 students. That was the year that the Rice Board of Trustees approved the university’s Vision for the Second Century, a 10-point plan that called for a gradual 30 percent increase in the undergraduate student body.

The diversity of the class has also grown. This year’s freshman class has 103 foreign national students – 115 percent more than the 48 students in 2006. The 70 African-American students represent an 84 percent increase over the 38 students in 2006, and the 107 Mexican-American students represent a 106 percent increase over the 52 in 2006. Other Latino and Hispanic students increased 81 percent – to 85 from 47 in 2006. Multiracial students increased from 2 in 2006 to 50 – an increase of 2,400 percent.

Texans still account for slightly less than half the class – 45 percent this year versus 47 percent of the freshmen in 2006; however, because the size of the incoming class has grown, there are now more Texans than ever at 461 versus 335 in 2006.

The Class of 2015 boasts some impressive academic credentials. Approximately 40 percent of this year’s students had a perfect 4.0 GPA or higher in high school, and another 30 percent had only one B. More than 90 percent of this year’s incoming freshmen were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

Move-in day will kick off around 9 a.m. when upperclassmen greet new students with a Texas-size welcome and members of the Rice Owls football team help the new arrivals move their belongings to their residential college rooms. Parents and family members are invited to participate in New Families Orientation, which will include speeches from Rice President David Leebron and other campus figures and provides information sessions on subjects ranging from academic advising to financial aid to wellness.

After saying goodbye to their parents, new students will gather for matriculation at 7:30 p.m. at Tudor Fieldhouse, where Leebron, Hutchinson, Association of Rice Alumni President Gloria Tarpley ’81 and Student Association President Georgia Lagoudes will offer words of wisdom for the students’ next four years on campus. Around 9 p.m., the students will make the ceremonial march through Rice’s Sallyport into the Academic Quad to mark the official beginning of their college career. Tradition holds that students will not pass through the Sallyport again until their graduation day.

Activities and presentations throughout the coming week will introduce new students to the ins and outs of life at Rice by providing academic advising, assistance with class registration, small group discussions, faculty lectures, community outreach and opportunities to explore Houston. New students will enjoy traditional Texas cuisine and the company of their classmates during a barbecue dinner at the president’s home Aug. 15.

Other activities for the week include a pep rally at Rice stadium Aug. 16, the Rice Carnival, the annual Associates’ Dinner and a trip to the Houston Zoo. Approximately half of the incoming class will give back to the Houston community Aug. 20 with volunteer service at various Outreach Day sites. O-Week will conclude later that day with the first ever Welcome Back Concert at Tudor Fieldhouse featuring hometown indie-pop group Wild Moccasins and Academy Award-winning hip-hop sensation Three 6 Mafia. More information about the concert, including how to get tickets, is available at http://rpc.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=201&linkidentifier=id&itemid=201.

A full schedule of O-Week activities is available at http://oweek.rice.edu/undergrad.cfm?doc_id=8741.

Sunday will serve as a much-needed day of rest for Rice’s new students in preparation for the beginning of fall classes on Aug. 22.