Old Sid to be demolished, 2 new residential colleges expected by fall 2026

By Prayag Gordy     5/19/23 12:40pm

Rice intends to build two new residential colleges with an accompanying servery, President Reggie DesRoches and Vice President for Finance and Administration Kelly Fox announced in an email sent May 19. 

The old Sid Richardson College building, opened in 1971, will be demolished as “part of this project,” the announcement added.

The construction of the new colleges is “expected to be completed by fall 2026,” and each will have a capacity of over 300 beds, according to the message.

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The decision to build Rice’s 12th and 13th residential colleges comes as undergraduate enrollment has grown from 4,052 in Fall 2020 to a projected 4,800 by Fall 2024. The email from DesRoches and Fox said that Rice aims to house 80% of students on campus, an increase from the current 70%.

Rice shared plans to build a 12th residential college in March 2021, but the announcement of a 13th college and servery are new. Then-President David Leebron had told the Faculty Senate that Rice anticipated a 12th college opening in 2025.

McMurtry and Duncan Colleges opened as Rice’s 10th and 11th residential colleges in 2009, also in response to an expansion of the undergraduate population.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

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