HOOTS

High Order of the Owl Tailgate Society
a Rice organization that gives scholarships to children of the employees of Facilities & Engineering and Housing & Dining.

Jose Moreira says he will graduate from Rice this year because a lot of people gave a hoot about his education.

Nelson Correa, an air conditioning technician and executive director of HOOTS.

The senior has been receiving $400 a semester for the past four years from the High Order of the Owl Tailgate Society (HOOTS), a Rice organization that gives scholarships to children of the employees of Facilities & Engineering and Housing & Dining.

Children of Rice employees who are admitted as full-time students receive free tuition, but the extra financial help from HOOTS contributes to covering other expenses such as room, board, and books that can be a hardship to some families. Moreira, whose mother, Maribel Moreira, works in Housing & Dining, says he used the money to buy textbooks for his classes.

“Our department has some of the least affluent people at Rice,” says Nelson Correa, an air conditioning technician and executive director of HOOTS.

Originally, HOOTS was started in 1999 to promote a sense of community among the staff members of Facilities & Engineering (F&E) and Housing & Dining (H&D). The group began organizing tailgate parties before every Rice Owls home game. The regular events, offering drinks, snacks, and an occasional live band, quickly attracted a large crowd.

But Correa was not satisfied with throwing parties. He wanted his group to make a significant contribution to Rice. “We support this university by going out to fix things,” Correa says, “but if we are not personally involved in making this a better place, then our job is just a job.”

Also, Correa says, when he started working at Rice in 1992, he had a sense that people from his department felt that they were not an integrated part of the university. “You have this atmosphere in which people who teach and work here are the best in their profession. We wanted to know how can we be part of that greatness,” Correa says.

Correa came up with the idea of starting a HOOTS scholarship program and began using the tailgate parties as fundraising events, selling T-shirts and cookbooks. “The party with a purpose” events did raise funds, but F&E staff members also generated some money by salvaging and selling for parts an old chiller from the air conditioning system of the former graduate house that was being demolished.

Correa then went to work on formalizing the scholarship program by inviting Rice attorney Carlos Garcia to volunteer his time to draft a constitution, bylaws, and procedures for administrating the scholarships. Correa even took a class in fundraising through Rice’s School of Continuing Studies.

The first scholarship was awarded in 2000. Every year since then, scholarship funds have been divided equally among the F&E and H&D employees who have children attending Rice full time. All students who qualify are awarded a scholarship. Scholarships also are offered to students who are attending Trinity University and Austin College—schools with whom Rice has a reciprocal tuition-free program for children of employees.

HOOTS continued to grow, and a six-member board was created in 2001. As more funds came in, the board decided to award scholarships for middle and high school students attending the Rice summer school program. Applicants are awarded scholarships based on a one-page essay, “Why is education important?”

For the 2003 academic year, a total of nine students attending the summer program and college have been granted scholarships, ranging from $200 to $800.

Thanks to the generous contributions from the Rice community members, the HOOTS scholarship program now has an endowment of $57,000. Among those who have given are President Malcolm Gillis and Elizabeth Gillis; Vice President for Resource Development Eric Johnson and his wife, Kathleen Minadeo Johnson; and Vice President for Public Affairs Terry Shepard.

For giving back to Rice through his work with HOOTS, Correa was honored at the December 2000 meeting of the Rice Board of Trustees with a certificate of recognition. President Malcolm Gillis presented the certificate, which recognizes Correa for making an impact on the lives of others and for serving as a positive role model for his fellow Rice employees. A year later, Correa also received the Distinguished Employee Award. “This place allows you to be your best,” Correa said at the awards ceremony. “We’re an example to Houston and have the opportunity to do great things.”

Of course those who are most grateful to HOOTS are the scholarship recipients. Shawna Plate, a junior from Martel College, says “I feel so honored to have so many people supporting me in my education.” Plate’s father, Danny Plate, is an elevator technician. Plate is majoring in English and managerial studies and used her scholarship to buy books. “The scholarship is an important link between the students, their families, and a special group of the Rice society, HOOTS,” Plate says.

Erika Hofer, a sophomore at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, is majoring in studio art with an emphasis on graphic art and design. “I think this scholarship is important,” Hofer says, “because it allows for students who may not be able to afford a college education to go to college and receive the education that they want.” Her father, Hannes Hofer, works in the F&E department and her mother, Monika, works at the School of Continuing Studies.

For Jose Moreira, the scholarship means more than just receiving financial aid. “It feels great to know that there are people willing to invest in your future. It’s almost as if they’re cheering for your success,” Moreira says, “It’s a good feeling.”

He adds: “The scholarship is important because it lets the people know that I’m not alone in this journey through college. The people from HOOTS are with me along the way. This scholarship affords me the convenience of not having to worry too much about money. It allows me to focus on what I’m really here for—my education.

—by David D. Medina
Photos by Tommy LaVergne