Visiting Rice Univ., Shepherd Music School in Houston, Texas

My daughter and I are in Houston, Texas visiting Rice University and
the Shepherd Music School. Jessica is now staying over in one of the
dorms (at Jones College). Of the universities she and I have visited,
Rice feels most like Carnegie Mellon U in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
They are both strong Engineering schools with excellent programs
in the humanities, sciences, professions, and music. We had to come
to Houston because Shepherd only offers on-campus auditions (no
regional auditions).

We walked from our hotel to Jessica’s audition at Shepherd this morning.
Houston is cold and rainy and there are vast puddles and red mud everywhere.
The most common trees seem to be big oaks, many of which are edged in tiny
ferns and moss. The flat campus is bordered with huge parking lots.
Most of the signs relate to parking rather than to the buildings or
life of the university.

The only graffiti I saw was on a section of
the Berlin Wall in the lawn outside of the Baker public policy building
(that is, Official Historical Graffiti). Very few of the buildings have
more than a discrete identification label. Our student tour guide said
that about 3/4 of the students
live on campus but cars still seem a big part of campus life. I saw some
bicyclists but this is clearly not a bike school like the University of California campuses at Davis or Santa Barbara.

The campus has all been built since 1912 and there are clear generations
of architecture among the brick and stone buildings. The school’s founder

William Marsh Rice was murdered in 1900 (yes, the butler did actually do it) but his money ended up creating an impressive and clearly well funded
institution. The center of the school is the bronze statue of founder “Willie”. Interestingly, it was James Baker the lawyer who found out
Willie’s murderous butler. His descendent, James A. Baker, III founded Rice’s
Institute for Public Policy.
This is the same institute which recently issued the controversial

Iraq Study Group Report.

Jessica was happy with her very brief vocal audition but we will not know
until 1 April what their acceptance decision is. The Director of Admissions said it was mostly a “numbers game” and that excellent students were turned away every year. Shepherd only accepts about 30 students a year in
all areas (instrument, voice, music theory, etc.). We were surprised to
find out that Rice has an “all or nothing” admissions policy. If a
student applies to a school in Rice and is not accepted, they are not
accepted to Rice at all even if they have other academic interests. I
am not sure how Rice manages students who enter with an undecided major.

During our brief orientation at Shepherd this morning, we were told that
music students are discouraged from trying to double major. However, the
Rice Senior with whom we went to lunch
said that “Musies” (music school students) often did double major and should
not let Shepherd push them around about their life choices. He also said it
was easy to transfer from school to school, which does not seem to go with
the all or nothing admissions.

After she left with her dorm hostess, Jessica was going to visit a class by
one of the Shepherd teachers she asked for. Shepherd has students apply to work with individual professors rather than to the school as a whole. Since
I did not see a class, I have less of a feel for Rice than I do for other universities.

I was concerned to hear one of our tour guides, a Mechanical Engineer,
say that most Engineers have either a desktop or laptop computer but some
don’t have either. Coming from the Silicon Valley, I know very few High School
students who don’t have their own laptop. In the dorm room we visited,
both students had up-to-date desk computers. It feels odd for a famous
and well funded Engineering school to have students without their own computer.

Another concern was physical safety. There is a prominent framed sign in
the women’s bathroom at Shepherd about sexual harassment and rape,
giving very detailed instructions about what to do if it happens. When
I was walking back to the hotel, a man stopped me and said I should hide
my gold necklace chain because it might be stolen.

I liked the Rice institution of college Masters. These are professors
and their families who live in an on-campus home located near the dorm
which is part of each college. Our tour guide said that the masters
provided all of the good parts of family (an emergency ride, a shoulder
to cry on) without complaints about finishing homework and room cleaning.

I walked over to Rice Village after visiting campus. In addition
to national chain stores, there were a few local shops and a wide variety
of restaurants, including many international choices. The campus
area seems prosperous. This is not a student slum with funky stores but
rather an upscale community outdoor mall: more like Stanford Shopping Center
near Stanford Univ. than Telegraph Avenue near U.C. Berkeley or
Isla Vista near U.C. Santa Barbara.

The two edges of campus I walked along were more designed for cars than
pedestrians. The sidewalks were often broken or tilted and there were
sections roped off where the walkways were ripped out entirely. The
family homes were interesting with varied architecture. Most
provided large private parking areas in front with small border gardens.

I look forward to hearing what Jessica has to say about her dorm visit.
Her hostess said they planned to have dinner tonight at Rice Village.
We plan to visit the Menil Collection and
Rothko Chapel tomorrow (they are
about 2 miles from Rice). My mother’s old friend Walter Hopps was Menil’s
first Director and the collection is the listing for Houston
in one of my favorite travel guides 1000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List by Patricia Schultz (2003).