Residential Colleges of Rice University - Jones College

Mary Gibbs Jones College, built as the first women's dormitory at Rice University, is named after Mary Gibbs Jones, wife of prominent Houston philanthropist Jesse Holman Jones. Jesse H. Jones supported its initial construction with a $1 million donation.

The college was built in 1957, consisting of two four-story structures named "North" and "South." It was designed by architects Lloyd & Morgan. Not only was it the first housing for women on campus, it was also the first building designed specifically as a residential college and also the first building to be centrally air-conditioned. Lloyd & Morgan used pink marble in the construction of Jones College to indicate its status as housing for female students. In 2002, an additional four-story building, "Central," was built in between North and South. The new building connects to both original buildings at every level except the ground floor (a short walk separates South and Central). The wing was designed by noted post-modern architect Michael Graves.

In the early days, the culture of the all-female Jones College was quite conservative. At meals, each table had a hostess, and dinner was served family style. Strict rules were enforced by house mothers when men from the south colleges visited the female students. The students even had to abide by a strict curfew - 11 p.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends.

In the 1970s, Jones began phasing out many of the strictest rules, and in the fall of 1980 Jones became co-ed. Male students from the south colleges were given the chance to apply for transfer to Jones. Lovett, another Rice residential college, went co-ed the same year, so many of the new Jones residents were former Lovett residents. Jones women who disagreed with the decision to go co-ed were allowed to transfer to Brown College, which remained all-female until 1987. In 2001, construction began on the new Jones Commons and Jones Central. The new Jones Commons opened for use in March 2002. Jones Central opened in August 2002. During the same time, Jones lost its parking lot to the newly constructed Martel Dormitory.

Jones' student government is set up as a Cabinet comprising the Executive Officers, elected representatives from each floor, and one elected off-campus representative. The Cabinet meets bi-weekly, and by tradition Cabinet meetings are preceded by a study break.

Jones is a college with an indoor setup which has a kitchen and two lounges on every floor. Jones is unique among the colleges due to its large number of singles. Jones also has 4 4-single suites and 2 6-single suites, along with doubles and freshman corner doubles.

Notable alumni from Jones include George P. Bush and current Mayor of Houston Annise Parker.