1. “A society grows great when old
men plant trees whose shade they
know they will never sit in.”
One hundred years ago William Marsh
Rice wrote a charter for a new institution.
One that a hundred years of eager
students, exceptional faculty, a budding
city, and a growing world would benefit
004
Opening
from.
Since that charter in 1912, 50,000
students have benefitted from the shade
of 4,000 trees, whose roots spread
throughout the 297 acres of Rice’s
campus. Students will continue to learn,
live and grow, grounded by the roots of
institution’s past, and inspired by the
Theme
005

2. Masked Defiance; LGBT Life Begins
1979
In the late 1970s, a young female Rice student discreetly approached
her professor after class one day and handed him a slip of paper with the
request that he call the phone number written on it. He did as he was asked
and called the number. A young male student answered, appealing to the
professor to serve as the faculty sponsor of the LGBTQ group they were
attempting to form on campus. The students knew that the professor was
not gay, but hoped that he would feel more comfortable being associated
with the organization since all of the previously asked gay faculty members
refused to risk outing themselves. The professor accepted the students’
offer, and the university’s first Gay and Lesbian support group was
recognized in 1979.
In 1983, a photo of the LGBTQ support organization first appeared
in the Campanile. Twenty of the organization’s members were featured
standing in front of Willy’s Statue; eighteen of them wore paper bags over
their heads to preserve their reputation. Following the list of fake names
used to caption the picture were the words “Approximately 10% of Rice
students, faculty and staff.”
In 1986, students used pink triangles, in reference to the symbols that
LGBTQ prisoners in Nazi concentration camps were forced to wear, as
their method of facial obstruction. Rather than using their own names, they
captioned the photograph with the names of historical people thought to be
LGBTQ.
In 1989, members held signs protesting Texas Penal Code 21.06, the
law against Homosexual Conduct. In this yearbook photograph, only one
person hid their face.
In 1993, the first yearbook photograph was taken of the support
group members with real names and no facial obstructions. There were 42
students and four faculty members in the picture.
In 2012, the support group, now known as Queers & Allies, attended
the Campanile’s Picture Yourself event to take their club photograph.
Members were featured holding nothing but their spirit fingers.
Since that day in the late 70s, when Chandler Davidson, the previously
mentioned professor, and Mayor of Houston Annise Parker ’78, the student,
allowed for the founding of the organization, it has taken roughly 14 years
for LGBTQ students to feel comfortable in revealing their identities. Rice is
now at the forefront of the human rights movement, firmly holding a place in
the top queer-friendly campuses in the country.
192
Divider
March
193

3. ame
s
love
In a climate of
national social
progress for
LGBT issues,
Rice helps
celebrate
Houston Pride
PRIDE! Tye Dye-clad Rice
Photo courtesy of Public Affairs
"I believe in
equality,
I believe in
tolerance,
I believe in
compassion, and
I believe in change.
And I believe that
Houston is at the
forefront of the biggest
civil rights movement of
our generation."
-Macklemore
380
Closing
ondring
B ove a
CAUSE
Macklemore & Ryan
Lewis invite Mayor Annise
Parker on stage at FPSF
Same Love, a song by
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring
Mary Lambert, reached number 11
of the Billboard Hot 100 with over 60
million YouTube views, and number
one in both New Zealand and Australia
as of July. The song, addressing
marriage equality and human
rights, was performed by the artist at
the Annual Houston music festival,
Free Press Summer Fest. Macklemore
has been dubbed one of the most
progressive proponents of gay rights in
hip-hop by multiple media sites. It is no
surprise, then, that his work attracted
the attention of Mayor Annise Parker,
one of the first openly gay mayors.
Mayor Parker personally greeted
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis when they
arrived at the festival grounds, and was
invited to stand on stage with him.
Julia Bleck '13, describes her
experience at the performance:
"Singing that song and bringing out
mayor Annise Parker had the crowd in
an uproar, even in tears. It felt almost
like a political campaign of sorts mixed
with some sort of Woodstock vibes.
I felt so happy to be a part of such a
loving crowd of people all supporting
each other for just that moment."
Oppose allowing lesbians
and gays to marry legally
60%
that the case on Proposition 8
lacked the proper standing. The
Human Rights Campaign released
a statement on their website about
the decisions: “The Supreme Court
victory in United States v. Windsor
striking down the discriminatory
federal Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) affirms that all loving
and committed couples who are
married deserve equal legal respect
and treatment from the federal
government.”
The decisions were released
during Houston’s Pride week, just
days before the 35th Annual Houston
Pride Parade, which attracted a
crowd of about 350,000 people. The
week included festivities ranging
from parties, panels, and musical
performances, all made possible by
various public, local, and individual
sponsors. Rice University continued
their tradition of participation by
revamping the rainbow-colored float
sporting a large poster of Rice Alum,
Mayor Annise Parker. Over 40 Rice
students, alumni, staff, faculty and
friends, all dressed in rainbow,
tye-dyed Rice shirts, participated
by riding the float, walking beside
it, or driving the Segways loaned to
the participants for the event. The
Rice Pride Committee, which unites
several lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender campus organizations,
organized the university’s parade
entry with support from the Gay and
Lesbian Alumni Association, Rice
Queers and Allies, the Rice Graduate
Student Association and the Office
of University Relations in Public
Affairs.
&
QA
President
Amanda Mills '13
"I think it's really exciting that
the section of DOMA preventing same
sex married couples from receiving
federal benefits has been declared
unconstitutional! Q&A is proud of our
supreme court's decisions on both DOMA
and prop 8. The fight is not over, however,
because now each state must allow all of
its citizens equal rights. I hope Owls will
continue to register to vote in Houston
because their votes for mayor, governor,
etc. make a huge difference on these
issues. I also hope people will remember
that marriage equality isn't the end goal:
it's just one facet of the equal rights we all
deserve. Q&A will keep fighting until all
people, LGBT or not, have equal access to
housing, jobs, education, federal benefits
and equal protection against violence and
discrimination."
While this year has seen many
victories for social progress in
equality, there is still much more
to be checked off of the human
rights agenda. Legislation like the
Employment Non-Discrimination
Act is being pushed by the Human
Rights Campaign to protect LGBT
people from being fired or evicted
just because of who they are. A
multitude of social equality activist
groups, pride celebrations, and
organizations exist and continue
to grow. It is clear that until full
equality is achieved for all humans,
LGBT or not, there is still a fight
worth fighting.
CHANGING
57
40%
HUG IT OUT Macklemore embraces Mayor
Annise Parker on stage at Free Press Summer
Fest. After his performance, he brought the
Mayor out on stage, saying "Never have we
pulled up to the show, and the Mayor has
greeted us outside of the festival!" Mayor
Parker returned from out of town just to show
her support for the event. Photo is a screen capture of
a video by Sama'an Ashrawi
50
43
35
Favor allowing lesbians and
gays to marry legally
20%
2001
attitudes
students smile as they throw out
various prizes to the crowd the
Houston Pride Celebration on June
29th. the float was decorated by
volunteers with the usual rainbow
colors and a large photograph of
Rice alum, Mayor Annise Parker.
NBA star Jason Collins became
the first active male professional
athlete to officially come out as
gay. Guy Erwin became the first
openly gay bishop to be elected in
the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of America. Exodus International,
the world’s biggest ex-gay Christian
organization, shut down after
issuing a letter of apology to
the LGBT community. The Boy
Scouts of America voted to allow
openly gay scouts. The Defense
of Marriage Act (DOMA), was
ruled unconstitutional by the U.S.
v. Windsor Supreme Court case.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s song
for human rights reached number
11 in the charts. Marriage equality
was achieved in Maine, Washington,
California, Delaware, Rhode
Island, Maryland, and Minnesota,
putting the total at 13 states, with
seven others allowing domestic
partnerships. All of this occurred
between August 2012 and July 2013.
The fight for marriage equality
and human rights for the LGBT
community has been touted by many
as the greatest civil rights movement
since the 1960’s. During this year’s
Supreme Court case hearings, about
2.7 million Facebook users changed
their profile picture to the Human
Rights Campaign-inspired red equal
sign logo in the span of just a week.
Once the decisions were released
on June 26th, social networking sites
blew up with public opinions about
the cases. While many lauded the
victory of the unconstitutionality
of DOMA, others expressed
frustrations with the court’s decision
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Source: Aggregated data from Pew Research Center polls conducted each year
Staff/Colophon
381

4. u ri s h
loLovett e
F at
Love
s
“Life is long.
You have time.
You have time to figure out
what you want in life,
and then to change your mind.
To experience terrible hardship,
as well as great happiness.
And you have time to fall in love.”
-Deborah Harter
put a
RING
on it
By the power vested in Lovett College
by Rice University, we now pronounce
the following couples married:
Matters of the Hart
Lovett’s Head Resident Fellow, Deborah
Harter, surprised Lovetteers during
Central Committee one night with
the announcement that she and her
boyfriend, Bob Loiseau, eloped in Las
Vegas a few weeks ago. In their honor,
Lovett Culturals, Tova Weiss ’15 and
Natalie Breen ’13 turned Lovett’s pub
night into a wedding reception for the
happy couple. Many Lovetteers came
out to celebrate the happiness of the
beloved resident fellow as well as their
own. Photo by Enrique Vázquez
032
Lovett College
Mrs. Maria-Paula Muñoz : Mr. Nicholas Thorpe
Mrs. Maria-Paula Muñoz : Mr. Maurice Harari
Mrs. Maria-Paula Muñoz : Mr. Grant Nunnelee
Mrs. Maria-Paula Muñoz : Mr. Sal Tijerina
Mrs. Maria-Paula Muñoz : Mr. Michael Lauck
Mr. Andrew Wilson : Mrs. Sneha Rao
Mrs. Celia Fialos : Mr. Ian Loya
Mrs. Celia Fialos : Mrs. Shannon McNamara
Mr. Jared Shull : Mrs. Shannon McNamara
Mr. Ian Loya : Mr. Landon Blair
Mrs. Kanna Deutsch : Mrs. Emma Welch
Mr. Maurice Harari : Mrs. Liz Tacy
Mr. Sal Tijerina : Mrs. Krystal Lau
Mrs. Krystal Lau : Mrs. Katherine Wei
Mrs. Nirali Desai : Mrs. Rachel Gray
Mr. Clean Steve : Mrs. Megan Chang
Mrs. Natalie Breen : Mrs. Andrea Mansur
Mrs. Tova Weiss : Mrs. Juliet Welcome
Mrs. Sima Shalchi : Mrs. Annie Heinrich
Mr. Daniel Imas : Mrs. Claire Garney
Bromance Zack Timmons ’15 chivalrously carries Greg Aird ’15, over
the threshold. Timmons and Aird had a very fast, but beautiful courtship and
ceremony.
Let them eat cake Frances Collins ’16 enjoys a piece of Deborah
and Bob’s wedding cake. In addition to cake, the wedding reception also had
champagne, a speech from the bride, and the ceremonial removal of the garter.
Classy girls Joane Guidry ’14 and Kayla Opall ’14 celebrate their
friendship as well as Deborah and Bob’s marriage. Because the pub night was
themed around such a special event, attendees came dressed to impress. And
yes, that is a dress made of duct tape.
Forever and Always Maria-Paula Muñoz ’14 and Maurice Harari ’15
enjoy the honeymoon period with Beatrice Herrmann ’16 and Krystal Lau ’13.
Pub nights are great events for students to hang out-- and get married.
Pub Night
033