Pub opens to champagne toasts and fire alarms
At the invitation-only formal opening at 7 p.m., President Malcolm Gillis praised the decision to rebuild the Pub.
"I think this is a great facility. I hope that all of you understand that within 48 hours of the tragedy we had down here, we decided to rebuild so that this would be a gathering place for all of our students," he said.
Gillis emphasized that not all of the beverages to be served at the new Pub will contain alcohol. "I want to remind everybody that a lot of coffee will be served down here as well as the other stuff."
Gillis praised the people who had worked to rebuild the Pub, including students, Pub staff and Student Affairs personnel. "I think that they all deserve a pretty big hand and I'm going to give them one," he said as he led the room in applause.
After Gillis' brief appearance, Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho spoke about the work that went into making the rebuilding possible.
"I don't know how many of you were in that room the very first day that we met right after the fire. I remember walking into that room and there was this quiet -- almost sorrow," he said.
Camacho recalled telling the group, "You realize that we've just been given a fantastic opportunity."
"And now you're seeing the results of that fantastic opportunity," he said.
He especially praised student involvement in rebuilding the Pub.
"[From] the very first moment -- the very first meeting -- the first very minute, we turned to the students and asked them `What do you want?'" he said.
"Tonight is a great night of celebration and I want to thank everybody for being here," Camacho said.
Pub Manager Christy Hard, who had been hired just days before Willy's Pub was destroyed in the April 6 Student Center fire, also thanked those who helped to build the new Pub.
"I think that the greatest part of rebuilding the Pub is that so many people have really come to realize what a special place the Pub is and what it means to a lot of us," Hard said.
Camacho, his wife Ellen and Assistant Pub Manager Kenny Yates toasted the Pub with champagne.
"To good friends, to good times, to good beginnings, to the Pub," Yates said.
The Pub welcomed many long-time and new patrons at the 9 p.m. student opening.
Hard said that over 800 students attended the event; lines at one point were seen extending the length of the Student Center.
The opening continued despite a fire alarm which went off at approximately 9:30 p.m. The alarm may have been triggered by smoking or smoke from the newly installed pizza ovens in the Pub, Student Center Director Steve Sutton said.
The Pub sign, one of the few items salvaged from the old Pub, was unveiled by Student Association President Maryana Iskander shortly after the conclusion of the 10 p.m. SA meeting.
The Pub was originally conceived in early 1975 by a student committee in response to the death of several Rice students in drunk-driving accidents during that year.
Gillis was not the first Rice president to open the Pub. In April of 1975, then-President Norman Hackerman drew the first pitcher of beer; 1,700 attended that opening.
This item appeared in the News section of the September 1, 1995 issue.
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