Festivities planned for final SWC game
Dr. Zenaido Camacho, vice president for Student Affairs, won the election for homecoming king, and Sammy the Owl was elected homecoming queen. The elections were held over the Internet.
To commemorate what Associate Director of University Events Jennifer Harding called "a bittersweet ending," alumni from the classes of 1930-90 will be attending their reunions on Dec. 1 and 2. A combined attendance of about 8,000 is expected. The bonfire and pep rally party will take place Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the band field. This pregame bonfire tradition was rekindled three years ago.
The convocation and annual meeting of the Association of Rice Alumni will be held at noon on Saturday.
The meeting will include a special presentation honoring the All-Time Rice Football Team (pre- and post-World War II), as chosen by Dave Campbell in the June 1995 issue of Texas Football . This group will also be honored in a special halftime ceremony at the game.
In order to make this game the final conference game, Rice moved the starting time to 4 p.m., which is two hours after the University of Texas and Texas A&M University game is scheduled to begin.
The national anthem will be sung by the Fort Bend Boys Choir, after which the Texas Air Aces will fly overhead.
The coin toss will be observed by representatives from the eight SWC schools. For the halftime show, the alumni band will join the Marching Owl Band to lay the SWC to rest in a mock funeral.
Following the game, the end of the SWC will be finalized as an individual chosen through a drawing sponsored by the Houston Chronicle "pulls the plug" to "turn out the lights on the SWC."
A fireworks display will signal the end of the SWC and usher in the newly-reorganized Western Athletics Conference.
Several activities have been planned for the returning alumni, including pregame lunches, academic lectures and sporting events.
There will also be several events appropriate for alumni with young children. An archives exhibit featuring uniforms of Rice teams and MOBs from the years 1914-95 will be presented by the Rice Historical Society in the rotunda of the Fondren Library.
A homecoming concert featuring the Choral Ensembles of the Shepherd School of Music will be held at Stude Concert Hall on Saturday at 8 p.m. The women's basketball team will also be playing against Bradley University at Autry Court at the same time.
Traditionally, Esperanza has been held on homecoming night; this year, however, students decided to hold it earlier in the semester. Homecoming was scheduled late this year to celebrate the end of the SWC.
Harding has been working closely with homecoming chairs Mary and Don Macune and the Rice Program Council to put on the event.
"[The Macunes] and the alumni volunteers have been wonderful," Harding said. "It's been a lot of work and a lot of fun.
"This is a nice time for everyone to come back to the university and see old friends and renew old acquaintances," she said.
This item appeared in the News section of the December 1, 1995 issue.
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