Residential Colleges of Rice University - Lovett College

Edgar Odell Lovett College is the seventh-founded residential college, named after the university's first president. Lovett opened in 1969 as an all-male college, becoming co-ed in 1980 when members of the college exchanged places with the female members of Jones College. Its first class mostly comprised volunteers from other colleges. Lovett sponsors numerous community and social events throughout the year, including theater productions and the Lovett Undergraduate Research Symposium. Lovett's college crest is interestingly based upon the Lovat family crest, who are not related to Edgar Odell Lovett.

The distinctive brutalist architecture 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, a design feature intended to make Lovett riot-proof in reaction to the student riots of the late 1960s, most notably the Abbie Hoffman riot of 1967. Other riot-proofing features include the limited reach of the elevator, which does not reach the sixth floor, to prevent students from throwing furniture off of the only exposed higher floor.

"The grating" now protects Lovett students from hurricanes; in fall of 2005 Lovett students were among the only Rice students allowed to stay in their rooms during Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike. As a tongue-in-cheek 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 main body of the crest was taken from the Clan Fraser of Lovat and modified by adding a stag to each side.

Lovett is made up of four buildings: a six-story residential building, an additional two-story residential building, which was acquired from Baker in fall of 2010, a single-story commons, and the Masters' house. All of these buildings are structurally connected but have separate entrances and spaces. The majority of the rooms in the residential building are two-person suites, connected in pairs by a shared bathroom. Lovett House is a full two-story home in which the masters reside. The masters often host dessert at their house for special occasions, as well as private Central Committee meetings. The Lovett basement contains a number of facilities for use by the college members, as well as storage space for the various committees. The basement has a game room with various gaming tables, a movie room with couches and a projector, a kitchen, computer room, music room, weight room, and other spaces. The Wiener Hole is Lovett's public study space. It contains the Lovett test file, which contains records of previous tests in various classes. Lyle's, named for former Lovett resident associate Lyle Angene and also known as the Lovett Undergrounds, is a combination bar and performance space located in Lovett's basement. Lyle's is equipped with a sound system, stage, and lights, as well as bar equipment, including a kegerator. Seating for more than two hundred people can be moved into the space for performances. Lovett Theater and various Rice-wide performance groups, such as the Rice Philharmonics and Spontaneous Combustion, often use Lyle's for their performances; it also often acts as a space for smaller private parties.

In 2009, work began on renovating a portion of Baker College's former New Section, which was transferred over to become Lovett's New Section starting the in 2010 fall semester. A new servery, shared with Will Rice College, was recently built as part of the construction project and named Seibel Servery.

Notable alumni include José Cruz, Jr., John Doerr, Brock Wagner, John Kline, Ann Saterbak, Alberto Gonzales, and Matt Anderson. Nobel Laureate Robert Curl was the first college Master, and George H.W. Bush served as a community associate.