Gifted and Black
Rice commemorates the 50th anniversary of desegregation and celebrates black undergraduate life on campus.
Fall 2016
Illustrations by Thandiwe Tshabalala
The following timeline and oral histories explore the steps that led up to Rice’s desegregation and feature the voices of black alumni who lived that experience.
BUILDING RICE: 1891 – 1945 Many aspects of the founding of the William Marsh Rice Institute in 1912 inspired wonder, respect and optimism. Its visionary young president...
SETTING THE STAGE FOR CHANGE: 1946 – 1959 During the 1940s, Rice begins an expansion built on its science and engineering prowess, nurtured by federal grants...
PUSH FOR INTEGRATION: 1960 – 1966 In order to bring Rice’s name in line with its identity as a broader educational institution, the Rice Institute changes its name...
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THE EARLY YEARS: 1968 – 1979 Rodrigo Barnes ’73, Mike Tyler ’72 and Stahlé Vincent ’72 enroll at Rice, becoming the school’s first black football players...
FINDING OUR WAY: 1980 – 1995 My dad wanted to go to Rice in the 1950s but wasn’t allowed. He said that since I got into Rice, I should attend. My most significant friendships have been from my experiences at Rice...
AN ALUMNI COMMUNITY GROWS: 1996 – PRESENT The Association of Rice University Black Alumni (ARUBA) is established. The volunteer-led alumni group strives to stimulate intellectual and social participation...
CHARLES FREEMAN III Freeman was the first black male undergraduate to be admitted to Rice University. Born in Harlem to Charles Edward and Ruby Freeman, a schoolteacher and a nurse, respectively, he grew up in Port Arthur, Texas...
JACQUELINE MCCAULEY Jackie McCauley was an academic star — the first black student in Texas to be named a National Merit Scholar — and some of the country’s most prestigious colleges were recruiting her...
TED HENDERSON The early 1960s was a heady time for kids like Ted Henderson ’70. Space Age competition between the Soviet Union and the United States...
LINDA FAYE WILLIAMS "I knew that when my sister went to Rice, it was the beginning of something big,” said Susan Williams Patterson ’77...