Rice University to Add 2 New Colleges

Somehow I missed it, but my undergraduate alma mater, Rice University, has announced some major expansion plans. The school intends to increase the size of the undergraduate student body by 30 %. I'm not sure I agree with that move; I think perhaps Rice should stay the small---some would say "elite"---university it's been for so long. Anyway, to accommodate all these new students, the school will be adding two new residential colleges. That's right: a tenth and an eleventh. What's more, these two colleges are slated to be occupied by Autumn of 2009. It appears that the new colleges, along with their joint kitchen/servery, will be squeezed into the north side of campus, next to Jones. The tenth college will be named McMurtry, after a couple who began dating as Rice undergrads and who have recently donated 32 M$ to the University. That's 32,000,000 dollars. (I think it's safe to assume the McMurtrys are doing pretty well for themselves.)

A bit of Rice history: In the late 1990s, the University planned to add two new residential colleges to its set of eight. After the most recent recession began, the money dried up, so the plans were scaled back; only the ninth college was built. I guess the cash must be flowing more freely now, but I wonder how long it will last, or if the eleventh college will be constructed anytime soon.

I know two occasional readers of this blog are Rice alumni. I'd like to hear their opinions on this news.