President’s Notes
A Changed World
Amid the uncertainties brought about by COVID-19, Rice transforms its campus in every imaginable way and reaches out to help its neighbors.
Message from the President
In his 1912 inaugural address, Rice University president Edgar Odell Lovett set forth an ambitious vision, proclaiming, “The new institution … aspires to university standing of the highest grade… For the present it is proposed to assign no upper limit to its educational endeavor.”
Rice has followed Lovett’s vision even as it has transformed over the years. As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice continues to aspire to pathbreaking research, unsurpassed teaching and contributions to the betterment of the world.
- David W. Leebron, President
Message to the Rice Community from President Leebron and Provost DesRoches
June 16, 2020
To the Rice community:
We have each written recently of the impact of the murder of George Floyd on our community, the university and American society at large. In our communications, we stressed the need for university participation in the response, both in improving our own institution and in making a contribution to solutions more broadly.
Today we write with some initial actions. These are a beginning. We need to undertake a broader campus conversation around these issues. We have started those conversations, will do more over this summer and continue to do so in the fall.
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Town Hall 2020
President Leebron presents an update on our past year and Rice’s response and planning surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.