What began in 1994 as a fun weekend getaway to New Orleans among four Rice alumnae has grown into an annual reunion that has endured for nearly three decades. At the heart of it all are women who attended Rice during a pivotal time in the university’s history: the mid-1960s through the late-1970s, when Jones and Brown Colleges were women’s-only residences.
The yearly reunion started when Linda Cherrington ’72 invited three friends — Madeleine Duvic ’73, Catherine Krahl Faubion ’72 and Kathleen Ryan McLaurin ’73 — for a weekend trip. Two years later, six friends gathered in San Antonio. Over time, the group continued to grow by the dozens as they met in cities across Texas, returning once more to New Orleans. The only interruptions came in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We chat, eat, chat some more and eat some more,” Julie Itz ’72 (Jones College) said. “We didn't necessarily know each other at Rice, so this gives us an opportunity to connect and get to know each other better. My youngest daughter used to say, ‘Mom, I like it when you go off to the Jones/Brown weekend because you come back so happy.’”
Julie has become the organizing heart of the gatherings, stepping up to coordinate when Linda passed the baton in the early 2000s. “I started keeping the list,” she said, referring to a spreadsheet of 120 to 150 alumnae. She shares life updates and photos to help maintain bonds between reunions. Each year, she books hotels and restaurants, leaving time for local exploration, such as museums or carriage rides, and for catching up over wine and snacks.
“I try to go every year,” said Ann Greene ’71 (Brown College), who has attended for over a decade. “I usually come with one of my college roommates. We laugh, reminisce, eat and enjoy each other’s company. The nights get shorter as we get older, but the time always flies.”
This past April, the group gathered on Rice’s campus, a location full of shared history, as many had recently marked their 50th reunions. “I thought it would be nice to come back and see what’s changed and what hasn’t,” Julie said.
In addition to creating plenty of nostalgia, the weekend included a new dimension: preserving stories. The alumnae worked with Rice University historian Portia Hopkins to share their personal histories with the Woodson Research Center at Fondren Library. They arrived with scrapbooks, mementos and vivid memories of a formative era.
“These women are incredible,” Portia said. “They shared these beautiful stories about experiences living on campus in the early 1970s that you cannot get just by exploring the Campanile. The way they’ve built and sustained community through these reunions is truly special.”
From protests over Vietnam and the Masterson affair, to the end of Saturday classes and curfews, the women witnessed a dramatic shift in culture and university life. “We had to sign in and out, dress for dinner and we had a house mother,” Ann recalled. “By the time we graduated, those rules were gone. We had dignified protests. The women were dressed up, and the men wore suits and ties. We didn't want to look like rowdy students.”
Portia noted that the women’s stories help document Rice’s transformation. “These were women at a university undergoing a ‘second founding,’” she said. “They came to an integrated, tuition-charging institution with a 4:1 male-to-female ratio. They built community and formed bonds, played bridge and had beer mattress parties, cheered at the football games and marched to protest the Vietnam War. They lived through so much between 1963-1977 that they can really speak to the immense changes that oc curred throughout the country, but also right here at Rice. The embodied knowledge we are documenting brings the archive to life.”
Julie emphasized the urgency of preserving these memories. “We’re getting older, becoming the bionic women with hip and knee replacements, and we’re starting to lose people,” she said. “We felt like we were at Rice during a tipping point, and I wanted to capture that while we still could.”
Portia helped guide group conversations during the weekend, unlocking powerful moments of reflection. “Portia was incredible at asking the right questions,” Ann said. “Everyone had something unique to share. One woman said that our time together had given her a chance to revisit her younger self, and I think that was true for all of us.”
The women also had the opportunity to view the Rice archives and look at memorabilia from their time at Rice. “I really have to shout out ‘Team Woodson’ for this one,” Portia said. “Our archivists pulled the Jones College and Brown College records for the women to explore. Everything from college meeting-minute-notes to college publications, alumni scrapbooks, photos from Tea Trike and KTRU digitized files. The women enjoyed exploring the yearbooks and singing ‘Rice Fight’ and ‘American Pie’ during our interviews.”
Beyond storytelling, the weekend included campus tours and updates from faculty, staff and leaders, including Matthew Loden, dean of the Shepherd School of Music, and Amanda Focke, head of special collections at the Woodson Research Center. For Ann, who still lives in Houston, campus is familiar territory. “I married a fellow alum, and we have been active with Rice over the years,” she said. “I’m here a lot, but for others, it’s a rare visit. So much has changed. It’s hard to remember what the footprint of the campus was like all those years ago. It can be disorienting but also amazing. I'm very proud of Rice and all that it continues to accomplish.”
For this group of Jones and Brown women, what started as a simple getaway has become a cherished ritual — one that honors the past, celebrates the present and ensures their stories remain part of Rice’s living history.
