Lovett O-Week:
Pass the Torch
What is Lovett?
What is O-Week?
Important Information for New Lovetteers
Rice’s Orientation Week is fondly referred to as O-Week. It is an experience unlike anything else on any other college campus. O-Week is a fun-filled, one-of-a-kind introduction to all things Rice and Lovett! It’s a week-long, entirely student-run look into every facet of life at Rice. By design, O-Week serves many roles. O-Week is meant to be a time where you settle into Lovett and to become familiar with campus, your room, new friends, and new classes.
O-Week marks the beginning of your academic career at Rice. Half of the week will be about getting you prepared academically for the upcoming year, including getting your fall schedule set up and coming up with a (tentative) outline for whatever major(s) you might be interested in. Each and every academic question you have will be answered by one of the tons of qualified academic personnel during the week, including faculty Advisors in your area of interest and Peer Academic Advisors (PAAs), highly trained academic wiz-kids who know everything about scheduling, registration and requirements. Another awesome resource at your disposal is your very own Lovett Advising Team! Your Advisors have been at Rice for a while now, so make sure to seek out Advisors who share your area of interest to ask them for tips about classes/ professors: they’ll be more than happy to help! During O-Week, you’ll also get to learn about and have the chance to sign-up for a huge variety of clubs and student-run organizations around campus! From our student newspaper, The Thresher to the Rice Cyber Sports gaming club, from the Rice Student Volunteer Program to our improv comedy group Spontaneous Combustion, there are tons of different clubs and groups at Rice catering to every interest! You’ll also be introduced to a slew of important folks on campus, including members of Health Services, campus administration, and the Rice Police Department (RUPD). The other half of O-Week is devoted to getting you fully accustomed to both Rice’s and Lovett’s specific college cultures, including social life.
Your O-Week group will be made up of seven or eight other new students, coming from disparate backgrounds and having sundry academic interests. The leaders of your group will be your three fantastic student Advisors, two from Lovett and one Co-Advisor from another college. Your Advisors will be your enthusiastic guides through O-Week, introducing you to all of our unique traditions, and your O-Week family is a support structure that stays in place long after O-Week and is there for you no matter what. You will get to know your roommates and suitemates as well, and make friends with your fellow new Lovetteers and new students across campus. You’ll also get to know our awesome Lovett adult leadership, including our Masters Jose and Mayra Onuchic, Head Resident Fellows (HRFs) Sergio Chavez and Robin Paige, Residential Associates (RAs) Molly, Laura, and Angel, and our absolutely amazing College Coordinator, Sharon.
By the time class starts on August 25th, you’ll be fully confident about your academic endeavors and will be fully-integrated as a proud member of Lovett College. O-Week is a truly unique Rice phenomenon, possible because of our small size and residential college system, and we pride ourselves on having an orientation unlike any other. It’s an experience that sticks with Rice students for years, and many people look back on the time spent during O-Week as one of the best parts of their Rice experience, a time when lifelong friendships are born and an amazing sense of community is fostered. O-Week is the common bond that all Rice students share, and it sets a great foundation for your years to come at this wonderful institution. So get excited! O-Week is coming, and it’s going to be great!
CONGRATULATIONS! If you’re reading this, it can only mean one thing: you are now part of Edgar Odell Lovett College! We’re aware that it might not mean much to you right now to be a Lovetteer, but just wait! Before you know it, you’ll be swept up headfirst into Lovett’s loving arms and you will see firsthand why we are all so proud to call Lovett our home. As your O-Week coordinators, we’ve been hard at work for months getting ready to welcome you to Lovett and to Rice University! This book will be your first introduction: consider it a road-map of sorts for your O-Week to come and for the fantastic, fun-filled years at Rice that will follow. Your O-Week will be many things, including both an introduction to academic life at Rice and to the residential college system. But, like generations of Lovetteers before you, we hope that your O-Week will be defined by those countless in-between moments: late-night food runs, funny conversations as you walk from place to place, crazy fun, games and spontaneous shenanigans that will form the basis of new friendships and community that will last throughout your Rice career, and hopefully, for the rest of your life! Both during and after O-Week, your advisors, coadvisors, and affiliates will be your trusted resources and first new friends, and will teach you everything you need to know about academics, social life, and how to thrive as a successful Rice Owl and Lovetteer. We, your coordinators, are also always available to answer any questions you have, as is every member of our amazing adult support staff! Lovett College has been around for over 40 years, and over that time, innumerable stories and traditions have sprung up that form the basis of our college’s spirit and identity. Lovett prides itself on its inclusivity, an aspect of our culture that we hope you will take full advantage of by breaking out of your comfort zone, knowing that Lovett will always have your back. We hope that Lovett spirit captures you just as it has us, as there’s truly nowhere else in the world we’d rather call home.
Tour of Lovett
(video is in two parts, second video starts with a room tour)
How do I get there?
If you are arriving by car:
From the north or south: Take I-45 to US-59 South
From the east: Take I-10 West to US-59 South
From the west: Take I-10 East to I-610 South to US-59 North
FROM US-59... take the Greenbriar Dr/Shepherd Dr exit off of US-59 and head south onto Greenbriar. Make a left onto University Blvd, and you will see Rice on your left. Turn left onto Main Street. Then take a left on Cambridge St. This will be Entrance 3 at Rice, and you will see Lovett College on your left!
(From the west you can also take I-10 East, exit on Studemont, and turn right at the light. Studemont will become Montrose, which intersects with Main St. Turn right on Main, drive past the Rice main entrance and turn right at Cambridge St. This is Entrance 3!)
If you are arriving by plane:
From Bush Intercontinental (IAH): Follow signs to US-59 South. Once on US-59, proceed south about 25 miles and take the Greenbriar Dr/Shepherd Dr exit. Turn left onto Greenbriar and then turn left onto University Blvd. Make a left onto Main Street. Then turn left into Entrance 3 at Cambridge St.
From Hobby (HOU): Exit onto Broadway and follow the signs for I-45 North. Take I-45 North about 6 miles to US-59 South. Proceed about 3 miles south and then take the Greenbriar Dr/Shepherd Dr exit. Turn left onto Greenbriar and then turn left onto University Blvd. Make a left onto Main Street. Then turn left into Entrance 3 at Cambridge St.
SuperShuttle provides service from both airports to the Houston Plaza Hilton, the Medical Center Marriott, and the Holiday Inn on Main Street, all of which are only about five minutes from Rice. From IAH, the base fare is $29, plus $7 for each additional passenger. The ride usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour. The SuperShuttle ticket counter is located at terminals A, B, C, & D at the lower level baggage claim area. From HOU, the base fare is $23, also with an additional $7 charge for each extra passenger. The ride usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes. The SuperShuttle ticket counter is located in the baggage claim area on the lower level. Visit supershuttle.com for more information. Taking a taxi is a bit more expensive. From IAH to Rice via Yellow Cab the estimated base fare is around $32. From HOU to Rice it is about $51.
Places to Stay:
The following is a list of hotels and bed and breakfasts that are located near campus. Many of these hotels offer a special discount to Rice families. Ask for the “Rice Orientation Week Rate.” Please note that all information is subject to change. Please call the hotel to verify rates and availability.
HOTELS
Courtyard by Marriott at West University 2929 Westpark Dr. Houston, TX 77005 (713) 661-5669
Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites 6800 Main Street Houston, TX 77030 (713) 528-7744
Crowne Plaza Hotel 1700 Smith St. Houston, TX 77002 (713) 739-7307 or 1-800-980-6429
Houston Plaza Hilton 6633 Travis Street Houston, TX 77030-1308 (713) 313-4000
Four Seasons Hotel Houston 1300 Lamar Street Houston, TX 77010 (713) 650-1300
Hotel Zaza 5701 Main Street Houston, TX 77005 (713) 526-1991
Holiday Inn at Astrodome/Reliant Park 8111 Kirby Drive Houston, TX 77054 (713) 576-5086
Residence Inn by Marriott at West University 2939 Westpark Dr. Houston, TX 77005 (713) 661-5669
La Quinta Greenway Plaza Hotel 4015 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77027 (713) 623-4750
Marriott Medical Center 6580 Fannin Street Houston, TX 77030 (713) 796-0080
Residence Inn - Houston Astrodome/Medical Center 7710 Main Street Houston, TX 77030 (713) 660-7993
Best Western Plaza at Medical Center 6700 S. Main Street Houston, TX 77030 (713) 522-2811
BED & BREAKFASTS
Robin's Nest 4104 Greely Houston, TX 77006 (713) 528-5821 or 1-800-622-8343
Patrician Bed and Breakfast Inn 1200 Southmore Houston, TX 77004 (713) 523-1114 or 1-800-553-5797
Modern Bed & Breakfast
4003 Hazard
Houston, TX 77005
(832) 279-6387
Soon, you can click to download the O-Week Book, which contains information about Rice, Lovett, O-Week, move-in, and much more!