MARION HICKS
Hicks has been doing that job as head of Food and Housing for 22 years, following three years as Head of Food Services. He's outlasted four university presidents, overseen dozens of major and minor renovation projects, helped out at an economic summit, an Olympic festival and a Super Bowl. Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire even proclaimed a day, Aug. 7, 1986, in his honor. He's the only head F&H has ever had, and he's seen a lot of the controversy which accompanies that position.
One of the greatest challenges of his job, Hicks says, is staying proactive, rather than reactive. "Rice students are on the very cutting edge of things, and it's a very big challenge at Rice University to be there before the students," he said.
"I find myself being somewhat reactive to students. It's not planned that way, but it's hard to guess what they want. Actually, the biggest challenge is knowing exactly what to do, not actually doing it ... knowing what's most popular. It's tough to be competitive with 1,700 moms' cooking," Hicks said.
And when the occasional impractical or unreasonable demand comes up, Hicks handles it "very carefully. We try to be innovative and flexible and responsive." He stresses the fact that "my door is always open, and I'm always listening. And if you don't believe it, just try me out."
Food
Hicks feels that "in a lot of ways, Rice hasn't changed that much, but if you look at Food Service, my department, there's been a huge change in the dietary needs of students: what they need and want today. There's been a big change in what keeps them happy. Students are more calorie and fat conscious.
"We've actually changed a lot and improved in what we offer. When I came, dinner was pretty much an entree, a salad, a couple of vegetables and one dessert; there were no choices. Now, we've moved to something like 30-item salad bars, two to three entrees, sandwiches made-to-order, cold cuts, yogurts, ice creams, the bottled juices and more vegetarian foods," Hicks said.
Hicks does not believe that the food served on campus is perfect. He also acknowledges that there has been a shift in the attitudes of students and what it takes to satisfy them, "but we really are willing to go that extra mile. They may not think so, but we strive to keep communication open. We encourage student involvement.
"I'd still like to see an improvement in the labeling of food; giving you, the student, better information about what you're eating, like with nutritional values," he said. "This is something we can do; the goal's within reach, and we're currently working on it."
The greatest complaints come up, Hicks says, "when things are done without advising the students before doing them."
One such situation arose when F&H added a surcharge on shrimp. The students responded by boycotting the item.
Housing
In the housing sector, the changes have been in the form of remodeling projects. The newest college, Sid Richardson, was built just before Hicks was hired in 1970.
One of the first major projects was the renovation of the old sections of Will Rice, Baker and Hanszen Colleges. According to the June 26, 1975, Thresher : "... the old sections of the three colleges, some of the oldest buildings on campus, were collapsing from within. Roofs and windows leaked, there wasn't enough access to the outside to pass modern-day fire codes, cockroaches were reportedly approaching the size of cats and the shower water was rusty. Something had to be done."
In the summer of 1975, all three buildings were gutted and rebuilt. At the same time, the Wiess commons was almost doubled in size.
The $2 million project was almost complete by the time classes started in August. By then, though, a new project was on hand. On June 5, the Hanszen commons was destroyed by a fire of mysterious origin.
One of the most outstanding controversies that Hicks recalls is the Brown College bathroom-splitting. In the spring of 1994, F&H announced plans to split the single co-ed bathroom on each floor into two single-sex facilities. Despite the fact that a majority of the college residents signed a petition against the renovation, the construction was completed.
As far as changes go, Hicks is looking forward to seeing the completion of the college renovations. "Wiess is the last college to have a major renovation, but it's also the biggest. Once that's done, then we can do additional work on the others.
"We've hopefully made things better ... by our renovations, like the installation of cable and networking in the colleges."
Memories
Hicks has been recognized with several prestigious awards, but the one he is most proud of is the Mentor Recognition Award from the Rice Student Association, which he received on May 8, 1992.
"Rice University is a fantastic place to work. It has the greatest group of students and the greatest group of administrators. It's been a challenge and a pleasure, and no two days have been the same. ... Rice has been a great opportunity. It's the greatest place I know of to work, and I hope to end my career at Rice," Hicks said.
"I see our business as a service business. We provide the best we can and hopefully everything you'd ask for," he said. Despite the criticism, Hicks maintains, "I do enjoy the students. I love working with them: They're the future of the world, and they're a bright group of young people."
As a teenager, Marion Hicks vividly remembers looking up to a cousin who got a job and began earning $700 a month. At that point in his life, he says, "My expectations were not that high. I thought, `If I ever make that kind of money, I'll have made it.'" Now, Hicks has exceeded the goals he set at a younger age, "with the help of all my friends, past bosses and customers."
Another memory comes from several years ago, when there was a severe blackbird problem on campus. "There were tons of blackbirds. I mean, you couldn't walk under the trees without an umbrella, and the ground was white every morning because of those birds. So one day, on the menu, we had `veal birds', and the students were so upset they piled blackbirds on our doorstep."
Rice tried some rather extreme measures when trying to rid the campus of the creatures. "We tried trimming the trees all over campus. We installed speakers in the branches to scare the birds away. They even got a helicopter to come and place a net over the trees around the president's home, but nothing worked," Hicks recalled. "Finally, the birds just left."
This item appeared in the Features section of the October 6, 1995 issue.
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