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August 19, 2005 > News > Forman encourages freshmen to do research as undergrads

Forman encourages freshmen to do research as undergrads

By Amber Obermeyer and Nathan Black | Thresher Editorial Staff

Almost 800 newly-arrived students and their O-Week advisers filled Stude Concert Hall Sunday night to hear four speakers’ advice. The students then made a fireworks-decorated procession through the Sallyport.

President David Leebron, first to speak, began by defining the word “matriculation.”

“It does not mean merely ‘to begin’ — rather, it means ‘the official admission to membership,’” Leebron said. “This ceremony celebrates not the beginning of your time at the institution, but rather your becoming a member of the community.”

Leebron told stories about coincidentally seeing his college roommate in Philadelphia last year and about speaking with Rice alumni in China this summer.

“Today … you join a community,” Leebron said. “It is not merely the small, welcoming community of your residential college, but the community of the Class of 2009, the community of all students returning next week, the community of faculty and staff, and the community of all Rice alumni. You will find members of this community wherever you may go, all over the world.”

Leebron encouraged the freshman class to embrace change instead of fearing it. He explained how the movie industry initially regarded videotapes as a threat, but about half of movie revenues today come from video rentals and sales.

“The thing that the industry had so feared was the very thing that makes it more profitable today,” Leebron said. “Sometimes the things that we are most afraid of are the ones that will lead us to new and better things.”

Students should pursue a broad range of experiences while at Rice, Leebron said.

“If you start finding your experience here entirely comfortable, you’re doing something wrong,” Leebron said. “Now is the time to try new things. Take an art class, even though anything not expressed in numbers starts to give you a hive. Play an intramural or club sport, even if you aren’t very coordinated. Speak up, even if you are shy.”

Leebron said the colleges are a supportive environment that allow for exploration.

“There is something so special … during these years that you will cherish it and build upon it for your entire life,” Leebron said.

Forman began his speech by asking what makes students successful.

“But the primary goal is not for you to succeed at Rice — the primary goal is for you to succeed after Rice,” Forman said. “Put yourself in a position [so that] when you graduate, you’re ready to make an impact on the world, on your profession, on your community.”

Forman encouraged all undergraduate students to get involved in research projects.

“It is by doing research that you really learn how to use that knowledge and the limits of that knowledge,” Forman said. “I believe that research is for everyone. Getting involved is not just for scientists, not just for people planning to go to graduate school, not just for people planning to be professors. Getting involved in research is an experience that changes you … and prepares you to lead a more rewarding life.”

Forman told stories about Ben Franklin and Leonardo da Vinci and said both were fundamentally researchers.

Forman concluded by introducing the academic deans, who were seated behind him.

Next, Student Association President James Lloyd also advised freshmen to branch out. He started by asking students to name the best residential college, then the best university.

Lloyd, a Brown College senior, encouraged the new students to think about their personal goals.

“Who do you want to be?” Lloyd asked. “Unlike ‘What do you want to be?’ this question is not based on standardized test scores, nagging from your parents, trends in employment rates or how well you interview. The question ‘Who do you want to be?’ is completely up to you — it is answered through your actions, your words, thoughts and dreams.”

Lloyd said coming to college allows students to remake themselves.

“No one but yourself knows who you were yesterday, and no one but yourself knows who you want to be tomorrow,” Lloyd said. “You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become whoever you want to be.”

The ceremony’s final speaker was Association of Rice Alumni President Jeffery Rose (Will Rice ‘77), a corporate trust officer at Wells Fargo Bank.

“My being here today is proof enough — if you didn’t believe it already — that dreams do come true and miracles are real,” Rose said.

Rose said the new students already share a bond with the members of the Association of Rice Alumni.

“As students here, we loved Rice … most of the time,” Rose said. “Most days were good, some days were bad. It was challenging, but it was fun.”

Faculty address

In her faculty address Monday, English Professor Lucille Fultz took new students on a whirlwind tour of the Rice experience.

“You’re going to observe your four-year growth spurt in 30 short minutes,” Fultz said to the Stude Concert Hall audience.

Fultz began with the westward march through the Sallyport new students experienced at matriculation Sunday night.

“I want you to imagine this campus as a kind of Eden … a place where you are able to think freely and openly, where you are temporarily removed from the throes of worldly responsibilities while simultaneously preparing to assume those responsibilities,” Fultz said.

Fultz encouraged students to form meaningful relationships.

“I want you to promise yourself as you enter the Sallyport that while you are at Rice you will find at least five people who will help you … learn how to live, ” she said.

Students chanted college cheers and anti-cheers before the speech started, and Fultz acknowledged the social potency of the college system.

“[But] you must remember that ultimately … you are now part of the larger Rice community,” Fultz said.

Fultz told freshmen they should try to persevere in difficult classes.

“Don’t balk at or buckle under the strange or unfamiliar ways of doing things,” she said. “Pay attention and ask, ‘What is the bottom line?’”

Fultz returned to this advice later in her speech.

“When you get a low grade … don’t waste time being angry at your professor,” Fultz said. “Get even by acing the next exam.”

Fultz reassured students that they will mature rapidly.

“You should be ready to greet the Class of 2010 with confidence — perhaps a little arrogance,” she said.

She encouraged the class to study foreign languages and inscriptions on campus buildings as sophomores. Juniors should read for themselves instead of for their professors, Fultz said.

“Can you imagine yourself at 21 … uncovering flaws and exposing fraud?” Fultz asked. “Ask any Rice junior, and you’ll see how easy it is.”

Fultz cautioned the students not to focus too narrowly on one field of study as juniors.

“Don’t avoid courses because you feel they have nothing to offer you because you’re majoring in a certain discipline or because they seem out of step with 21st-century issues,” she said. “Wouldn’t it be exciting to learn from Professor Smalley what ancient scientists informed his work? … You may find some kinship between the music of Bach and the Beatles.”

Offering advice for the senior year, Fultz gave “Sixteen Don’ts of College Life,” including “don’t circulate a petition without reading it,” “don’t extend the life of a rumor” and “don’t expect to be rewarded for mediocre work.”

Fultz told the new students that they will be ready for the eastward march out the Sallyport by May 2009.

“You will be a finer person — one prepared to take risks,” Fultz said.

At the end of her address, Fultz encouraged new students to take interpersonal risks.

“Dare to walk across the dining room and join a group of students who do not look like you,” she said. “Find the hook that will link you to a stranger.”

End of article

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