Residential Colleges of Rice University - Wiess College

Harry Carothers Wiess College /ˈwaɪs/ was one of the original four colleges created when the residential college system was implemented in 1957. In 2002, Wiess became the only college at Rice to relocate from one building to another. Wiess is currently the southwesternmost residential college, located adjacent to Hanszen and the South Power Plant. Male and female members of Wiess College are known equally as Wiessmen.

Wiess College is named for Harry Carothers Wiess (1887–1948), one of the founders and one-time president of Humble Oil, now ExxonMobil. He was elected as a life member of the Board of Trustees of Rice University in 1944 and appointed vice-chairman in 1946. He left money for the construction of a new dorm after his death in 1948.

Wiess Hall was completed in 1949, but carried the name "North Hall" until its dedication in March 1950. It was laid out as an E-shaped building, with three north-south wings, joined on the north ends by a long east-west spine, forming two open quadrangles. The building was two stories high except for the three-story center wing. The hall was designed to house about 200 students in 20 single and 90 double rooms. Each room at Wiess opened directly to an exterior walkway that wrapped around the entire building. This design incorporated two features that were innovative at the time: every room had a semi-private bathroom and every room (except room 228, which was reserved for freshmen) had windows on at least two sides—an important adaptation in the years before air conditioning.

Wiess Hall became Wiess College in 1957. Converting the dormitory into a college included the creation of two Resident Associate suites, construction of Wiess House, the home of the Master and family, and construction of the Wiess Commons (designed by Wiess undergraduate architecture students Tim "Frog" Barry and Dan Canty for a class project), the eating hall and round-the-clock gathering space for college members.

Because of Wiess's outward-facing architecture, life at Wiess centered on the outdoors. The two quadrangles developed distinct characters. The quad between the center and west wings became known as the "Acabowl" and was the center of the college's social and recreational activity. At various times students installed a trampoline ("Aca-tramp") or above-ground pool ("Aca-pool"). The other quadrangle, between the center and east wings, was known by analogy as the "Backabowl" and tended to be used for quieter activities, such as sunbathing.

The original residential building suffered from rapid deterioration in the 1990s. In 2002, the university opened a new building for the college, located south of the original building. New Wiess encloses a single large quadrangle, which retains the "Acabowl" name. The new building also preserved what Wiessmen considered a salient feature of the old: the fact that all rooms at Wiess open directly onto exterior walkways or balconies. A glass-walled commons forms the north side of the Acabowl, with three four-story residence wings forming the other sides. The portion of the Acabowl immediately adjacent to the commons is known as the Acaterrace. The original Wiess Hall and its adjoining commons were razed during the winter break between Fall 2002 and Spring 2003.

Wiess considers itself to have an intense community spirit, signified by the slogan and cheer "Team Wiess", which has been used consistently since the 1970s.

Aspects of Wiess life include family-style dining and freshman waiting, Tabletop Theater, the Ubangee, pumpkin caroling, Night of Decadence, Hello, Hamlet!, the Pace Mannion fan club, the turning of the statue of university founder William Marsh Rice, and the War Pig.

One of the most influential persons in Wiess history was electrical engineering professor Bill Wilson, who served as resident associate from 1978 to 2006 and as interim Master in 1982-83, which was also the year in which Wiess became a co-ed college. Wilson, known to generations of students as Dr. Bill, was a fixture of Rice's college system and the keeper of many Wiess traditions. In addition to his many teaching awards, he is the only person to have won the Student Association's Mentor Recognition Award twice. After his unexpected death in January 2009, his memorial service was held at the Wiess commons. In December 2009, the Rice board of Trustees, with the consent of Wiess College, decided that the new Masters' residence at Wiess will be named Wilson House, in honor of Dr. Bill. Dedicated on March 11, 2011, Wilson House is the first building at Rice named after a college Master or Resident Associate, and the first Masters' residence to bear a name distinct from that of its associated college.

Notable Wiessmen include Walter Loewenstern (1958), Harold Solomon, and Ricky Pierce (1982).