History

The history of Lovett dates back to the late 1960s, when the Board of Trustees was approached about building a new all–male college on the south side of campus. Edgar Odell Lovett College, named after Rice's first president, opened in 1968, comprised mostly of volunteers from the other colleges. The distinctive brutalist architecture, part of the architectural movement that flourished from the 1950s to 1970s, of Lovett has led many to compare it to a giant toaster. This is due to the concrete grating that surrounds the third, fourth, and fifth floors. This grating is part of the architects' intent to make Lovett riot–proof in reaction to the student riots of the late 1960s. This grating now protects Lovett students from hurricanes, allowing the students of Lovett College to remain in their rooms through Hurricanes Rita, Ike, and Harvey.

As an homage to Communism and the purported Soviet architecture of the college, the men of the founding class named their college government the Central Committee. The original Central Committee had five members who had four–out–of–five veto power over the various subcommittees; this system was soon changed because of its inefficiency. Urban legend holds that the Central Committee's first decree was to disband themselves and use their budget to buy beer. Another urban legend says that the stags in the college crest are taken from the logo of the brand of beer they bought. The first urban legend is of disputable truthfulness, but the second one has been shown to be false—the college crest is based upon a Lovat family (not related to Edgar Odell) family crest.

In 1971, Sid Richardson College was built in Lovett College's parking lot. This displeased the members of Lovett, and in retaliation they declared Sid to be their colony. In past years, an integral part of the Lovett College Government was Sid-Gov, which existed to govern over the Sid Rich colony. Today, Lovett has gone through yet some more changes, including the addition of the Stinky Suites (an old Baker wing) and Seibel Servery.

An announcement was made on September 18th, 2024

We are excited to announce significant news regarding our residential college system. Lovett College, one of our foundational colleges named after the university’s first president, Edgar Odell Lovett, is set to undergo a transformative change. This decision comes after a thoughtful and deliberate process by university leadership, including the board of trustees, and years of student leader advocacy and reflection on our commitment to maintaining our goals and priorities related to undergraduate housing.

In fall 2026, Lovett College will be adjacent to college No. 12 (not yet named). These two colleges will be connected by a shared servery. The Dean of Undergraduates Office will work closely with college leadership on planning Lovett College’s move and populating college No. 12. We are in the process of developing a 10-year capital plan that will include the addition of college No. 13 at a later date and after additional evaluations have been completed.

Edgar Odell Lovett

"The new institution aspires to university standing of the highest grade ... For the present it is proposed to assign no upper limit to its educational endeavor."

—Edgar Odell Lovett

Edgar Odell Lovett is famously known for being the first president of Rice University (then known as the Rice Institute), in addition to being the namesake of the best Residential College at Rice.

Lovett was born in Ohio in 1871 and received a B.A. from Bethany College and Ph.D.s from the University of Virginia and the University of Leipzig. In 1897, Lovett became a professor at Princeton University, eventually becoming the head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy. In 1907, Lovett was recommended to lead the new Rice Institute by future President of the United States Woodrow Wilson (then the President of Princeton University). In 1908, he accepted the offer from the Rice Board of Trustees and became the Rice Institute's first president.

Lovett's visions are still largely continued at Rice today, including being an institute focused both on technical skills and liberal arts. Much of Rice's beautiful architecture and spaces was inspired by Lovett's travels to prestigious universities while developing what Rice was to be. Lovett's legacy lives on over 100 years after Rice was founded, and in honor of his contributions, during the centennial celebration in 2012, a statue of Edgar Odell Lovett was added to the Rice campus.