Thirty years is a long time to wait for an addition to any family, even a family of residential colleges. This spring, the wait ended and the stork arrived once again at Rice University, delivering Rice’s ninth college, Marian and Speros P. Martel College.

Martel Commons, with its arched-beam ceiling and large windows, is a bright, inviting place to eat and socialize. The commons can easily be converted into a theater for drama productions.

Rice officially welcomed Martel into the residential college family on April 4. On hand were university officials, delegations from the other eight colleges, representatives from the Marian and Speros P. Martel Foundation, and hundreds of well-wishers from around the university. A lively reception and open house featuring performances by traditional Greek musicians and dancers followed the dedication ceremony.

In presenting the building, Rice Board of Trustees chair E. William Barnett said that the establishment of the college system was the single most important event in the way students live on campus, transforming undergraduate life at Rice. “We borrowed the college system from elsewhere,” Barnett acknowledged, “but no one would dispute the fact today that the college system is a distinctly Rice institution. As far as I’m concerned, ours is clearly the best in the country.”

Although Rice’s first president Edgar Odell Lovett had, from the beginning, envisioned residential colleges at Rice, the Rice Board of Governors did not adopt the residential college system until 1954. Instituting the plan took an additional three years and involved renovating the old residence halls and building a new building, as well as determining criteria for living and dining arrangements, student government, athletic and intellectual competition, and the masters in residence.

The large oak in Martel’s quadrangle gives the new building a sense of age and permanence. In the background, a bouzouki player entertains the crowd with traditional Greek music at the open house.

Martel College’s inception came in the mid-1990s as part of Rice’s strategic plan for the university’s future development. Because the existing eight colleges could house only 67 percent of undergraduates, a key element of that plan was adding a new college. Martel College and additions to neighboring Brown and Jones Colleges, scheduled for occupation this fall, will allow 80 percent of undergraduates to live on campus.

And at least as interesting as the increase in total numbers is that Martel’s location next to Brown and Jones will undoubtedly generate a shift in student life. Prior to the construction of Martel and the additions to Brown and Jones, only one-fourth of undergraduates lived on the north side of campus; this fall, it will be one-third. “Until now,” observed Rice president Malcolm Gillis, “the south colleges, by weight of sheer numbers, were the center of gravity of student life at Rice. Martel will help create a critical mass and also stimulate student life in the north end.”

The Martels
Major funding for Martel College came from the Marian and Speros P. Martel Foundation. “The directors of the Martel Foundation wanted to do something that would be lasting and that would provide a tribute to Marian and Speros Martel in Houston and a significant gift to Rice University for student enhancement,” said Ralph S. O’Connor, chairman and president of the Martel Foundation and emeritus member of Rice’s board. “Martel College was the perfect opportunity.”

Marian Fox Twyman Martel was a Vassar-educated Houstonian whose family had ties to Rice University. Speros Martel, a native of Cephalonia, a small Greek island off the southern coast of Albania, moved to Houston during World War I. The Greek influence in Martel College’s architecture and the Greek flag in the college banner honor his heritage. A self-made man, Speros liked to say he graduated from the school of hard knocks. He was friends with Houston developer Jesse H. Jones and George R. Brown, founder of Brown & Root and a longtime chair of Rice’s board, both strong supporters of Rice.

Alice Hill, Martel’s first president, and Ralph O’Connor, president of the Martel Foundation, cut the ribbon at the end of the dedication ceremony. Watching are, from left, architect Michael Graves, Rice president Malcolm Gillis, board chair William Barnett, board member Kent Anderson, and Martel masters Arthur and Joan Few. Zen Camacho, vice president for student affairs, looks on from behind the podium.

Together, Marian and Speros Martel laid the groundwork for a foundation that would benefit Houston civic and educational institutions, especially Rice University. Marian endowed four chairs at Rice in her 1956 will, and the Martel Foundation has established buildings, scholarships, endowed chairs, and programs at Rice since its formation that same year. “Marian and Speros Martel were generous donors to Rice University, and Ralph O’Connor and the Martel Foundation have continued that tradition,” Gillis said, noting that the foundation’s gifts to Rice now total well over $20 million.

The Architect
Martel College, the additions to Brown and Jones Colleges, and the Martel and Jones masters’ houses were designed by internationally known architect Michael Graves. Graves, who refers to himself as a “general practitioner” of design, has never limited his work just to buildings. He has achieved the status of household name by turning his hand to everything from master planning to interior design to creating useful objects for the home.

Above Left, the studentsuites, each with a living room surrounded by bedrooms, overlook the central quadrangle. Above Right, the Martel servery.

Other members of the architectural and construction team were Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville, executive architect; Miner–Dederick Constructors, general contractor; Walter P. Moore, civil and structural engineer; and Brown & Root, project manager. Barnett paid special tribute to George Miner, who was an alumnus of Rice and a past member of Rice’s board as well as a principal of Miner–Dederick Constructors. Although Miner saw students occupy the college he helped build, he did not live to participate in the dedication ceremony. (See page 47.) “This project would not exist without George,” Barnett said. “It was his steady and determined effort that overcame one little problem after another and brought us to where we are today.” One of those “little” problems was $1 million in damage caused to the partially completed structure by Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001.

The Facility
Construction of Martel College commenced in June 2000 and was completed in December 2001. Martel College residents occupied the building on January 28, 2002, Martel Commons opened about three weeks later, and the North Kitchen/Servery, which serves the
residents of Martel, Brown, and Jones, opened on March 10.

The130,000-square-foot Martel College building has four stories of student suites that open onto exterior balconies overlooking a central quadrangle. In the quadrangle, a large oak that was preserved during construction lends both shade and a sense of age to the new structure. Entry to the quadrangle from the south is through a sallyport constructed of the same green and gray Italian marble used in Herzstein Hall (formerly the Physics Laboratories).

The student suites are like apartments, with a living room surrounded by four to six single bedrooms and a bathroom. All entry doors are wide enough to admit wheelchairs, and a number of the suites comply with regulations established by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. These suites have one larger bedroom that can accommodate a wheelchair’s turning radius and a larger second bathroom with a wheelchair-accessible shower. Chih-Ming Cheng, a sophomore majoring in economics, said the suites are what she likes most about Martel. “It’s nice having roommates,” she said, “and having your own room at the same time.”

Martel Commons connects to the college through a circular student lounge. Eight arched wooden beams lend a graceful touch to the dining hall, and large windows fill the room with light. The commons is designed with wiring that allows it to be converted into a theater for drama productions. The second floor of the commons has a private dining room for meetings and gatherings. Over the lounge is a patio that already has become Martel’s most popular student hangout, and above that rises a three-story tower with a spiral staircase.

The student lounge is topped with a balcony and a three-story circular tower.

In addition, the structure has three computer rooms, three classrooms, a library, a game room, a TV room, five student kitchens, two music practice rooms, and a large laundry room. Martel also has a distinctive feature not currently in any other college—an apartment for short-term visiting faculty and scholars from all disciplines. The apartment, which is on the ground floor of the west wing, has a living room, study, bedroom, kitchen, and bath.

The Martel Community
In truth, though, a residential college is not a building—it is a community, and the establishment of the Martel community is a story in itself.

Martel’s founding masters, Arthur and Joan Few, served as masters of Baker College from 1994 through 1999. Arthur Few earned a Ph.D. at Rice in 1969 and is a professor in both the physics and astronomy and the civil and environmental engineering departments. Joan is an archaeologist who has taught at Rice and at the University of Houston. “The Fews’ success in creating a vibrant community promises a most auspicious beginning for Martel,” said Gillis. “The experience and the personal warmth that they bring to this new college will give new life to Edgar Odell Lovett’s words on the cornerstone of Rice’s first residence hall: ‘To the freedom of sound learning and the fellowship of youth.’”

The Martel College community began in October 2000 with a founding committee made up of the Fews, 12 associates, and 16 student members—two each from the eight existing colleges. Like the Fews, most of the founding associate members had previous connections with other colleges. “We talk about Martel as ‘the new college,’” said Arthur Few, “but from its very beginning, Martel College was an amalgamation of all of the components of the Rice University college system. Martel draws its strength from the contributions of all of the colleges.”

By January 2001, the Martel community had grown to 166 students, all volunteer transfers from other colleges. In March 2001, Martel elected its first officers and parliament, and the students of the founding committee passed the torch of governance to the newly elected team. The following November, 63 volunteers from the class of 2005 were recruited to transfer to Martel.

As the fall 2001 semester began, Martel was officially a college, but the term “residential” wasn’t yet entirely applicable because the building wasn’t finished. “All of you familiar with the college system know about the pain and dislocation that occurs when students are forced to move off campus,” Arthur Few said at the dedication. “In the past, some colleges have had to force a whole class to move off campus. Last fall, all of Martel College moved off campus, and we want the other colleges to appreciate the sacrifice and difficulties that are associated with having the entire college student population living off campus with no on-campus home.”

Although move-in originally was scheduled for the beginning of the spring 2002 semester, repairs to damage caused by Tropical Storm Allison delayed that by about two weeks. But when Martel residents did move in on January 28, they did so as a community. “We now have 305 members,” Joan Few told the audience. “This includes eight alumni, 65 associates, and 232 students, with all four classes and all disciplines represented. We have our associates; our college coordinator, Maria Burns; two resident associates, Gary Morris and Tina Villard; and a Beer-Bike team with bicycles. In the fall, we will be assigned our first freshman class of approximately 78 students. This will be a very important event in the short history of Martel College because these will be our first students who don’t have a tag that says ‘I came from another college.’”

One year might not seem like a long enough time to develop the sort of traditions that the other colleges have had for 30 years or more, especially since only one semester of that has been in official residence. But the Martel community is hard at work on that angle.

“In Martel’s short history, it has seen many things,” Martel’s first president Alice Hill said at the dedication. “It has seen a 3 a.m. heroic effort by Miner–Dederick to complete the college in time for students to move in. It has seen another 3 a.m. heroic effort, this time by the Martel students in retaliation of jacks the week before Beer-Bike. Martel has seen the first visiting faculty members live in a residential college. We’ve seen toilet-papered trees, a pet goat come and go, and more college spirit than I’ve ever seen at Rice. And all this since we moved in just over two months ago. I cannot even begin to fathom the awesome, humorous, and amazing things that have yet to come for Martel’s future.”

The Martel masters have high aspirations for that future. “We have the opportunity at Martel to be as original and as different from the other colleges as we dare to be,” said Arthur Few. “We do not have the burden of 40 years of traditions to bear—we are tradition-free, which is a very cleansing feeling. This is an opportunity that should not escape us, because if we develop a better model for a college, then we can lead the college system to a new horizon.”

Undoubtedly, that new horizon will include its share of college alliances and rivalries. “Nobody needs to be told that Rice’s colleges have developed many traditional rivalries,” said Gillis. “Martel is the first to have a natural ally—Baker College, our oldest residential college. Not only did Baker College pass to Martel its well-loved past masters, Arthur and Joan Few, but Kindra Welch, an architecture major and member of Baker College, was active in the design process of Martel during her preceptor year with architects Michael Graves and Associates. Baker College also contributed Martel’s founding prime minister, David Schrewdy, and sent a delegation of friendship to Martel’s first cabinet meeting. That will surely rank up there with anything that Machiavelli did.”

Carrying the torch of governance, Alice Hill, Martel’s first president (right), leads the Martel community through the new college’s sallyport.

Perhaps, but after Hill and O’Connor cut the ribbon, there was nothing Machiavellian in Hill’s tone when she looked at the Martel students seated before her and said with obvious emotion, “Okay, Martel, let’s go home.”