Rice University announced plans to redesign its Academic Quadrangle later this year, including moving the founder’s statue to a less prominent location on campus. The university announced Monday that landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz (NBW) has been selected to lead the project because their vision “is in line with the desire to enrich the student experience, promote inclusiveness, and celebrate Rice’s evolution and values while respectfully recognizing the gift of founder William. Marsh Rice.
In the center of the Academic Quadrangle, which is assigned to the Lovett Gall and Fondren Library, is the Founder’s Memorial with a statue of William Marsh Rice. For many years, the cult space has served as a venue for opening ceremonies and other events. According to the release, the need to “recontextualize” the Academic Quadrangle arose after years of discussion around the history of the founder as a slave owner.
“Rice and the Board of Trustees have worked hard to take into account all the points of view expressed by the university during these conversations, as well as to keep in mind the need for bold change, which the Task Force on the Slave Trade, Segregation and Racial Injustice highlighted in its 2021 report. “About the Founder’s Memorial,” Rice President Reginald DeRoches said in a statement. “Nelson Bird Woltz’s concept recognizes our desire to create deeper thoughtfulness within the Academic Quadrangle and awakens the site’s potential to be a dynamic and welcoming place for students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors to meet all year round.”
As part of the plan, the Academic Quadrangle will instead feature a major new piece of art that will “mark the beginning of integration at Rice” while also reserving space for future monuments commemorating other university milestones. At the time of this writing, it is unclear exactly where the statue will be moved within the quadrilateral.
With offices in Virginia, New York and Houston, NBW has previous experience in designing culturally and historically significant properties. The landscape architecture firm’s recent projects include the landscaping of Thomas Jefferson’s Burial Ground for Enslaved People at Monticello; the home of John and Alice Coltrane in Dix Hills, New York; the 600-acre Machikomoko State Park in Virginia, dedicated to the history and culture of Native Americans; Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and the master plan for Memorial Park in Houston.
NBW is expected to release a redesign visual of the Academic Quadrangle this spring. Rice plans to begin work on the project this fall.
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