A Toast to the Toaster:

Lovett Memories Through the Years

Few residential college buildings at Rice are as instantly recognizable as the one that housed Lovett College for more than fifty years. Nicknamed the “Toaster” for its concrete grating, the dorm helped define Lovett culture for generations of students and alumni.

Student chants like “Toaster, Toaster, Toaster” and “Love it, hate it, burn it down,” reverberate through the decades, inspired by the building's distinctive brutalist architecture.

This fall, Lovett residents will move into a newly constructed building adjacent to Chao College, while the Toaster transitions into the renamed Main Street Residence, which will operate as apartment-style housing unaffiliated with a specific college.

To mark the end of an era, the Lovett Associates Committee hosted “EOLogy: Odell to the Toaster,” a final gathering for students and alumni to celebrate the building and its legacy. More than 300 attendees revisited familiar hallways, Commons spaces and basement rooms ahead of the building’s transition into Main Street Residence.

As the Toaster enters a new chapter, alumni Ed Emmett ’71 and Andrew Lin ’02 and current Lovett president Bruce Hurley ’27 looked back on the traditions, friendships and spaces that defined life inside its walls and the culture they believe will outlast the building itself.

Ed Emmett ’71 | Andrew Lin ’02 | Bruce Hurley ’27

Ed Emmett ’71: Early Days of Lovett

Before Lovett became known as the Toaster, Ed Emmett ’71, one of the college’s first residents and its oldest living president, saw the building as something fresh and exciting.

“Those of us in the older residential colleges looked at Lovett and thought, ‘There’s a bright, shiny new building,’” he said. “Coming from places like Will Rice, Hanszen and Baker, where you had communal bathrooms at the end of the hall, suddenly we had en suite bathrooms, which I thought was a great improvement.”

From his sixth-floor room, unobstructed by the building’s signature grate, Ed could see across downtown Houston. At night, he could even hear the distant roar of lions from the Houston Zoo.

In spring 1968, Ed was elected treasurer before later becoming president. “I thought I was a big deal,” he laughed. “We weren’t into partisan politics. We were just figuring out what we wanted the college to be. I went door to door talking with people about what mattered to them.”

Lovett’s early years unfolded during the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement and a period of national upheaval. “When Lovett was formed and for the next three years, it really didn’t have any traditions,” Ed said. “The campus tended to look outward more than inward. We were all just really wrought up about what was going on nationally. And there were campus-wide upheavals such as the Masterson crisis.”

Yearbooks, he said, captured the visual record of that shift. “In ’68, it was coat and tie and short hair. By ’69, a little fuzzier. By ’70, full hippie mode. That showed the changes better than anything.”

As Lovett slowly developed its own identity, some of Ed’s fondest memories centered on family-style college dinners. “It was a chance for everyone to come together, make announcements, talk and just get to know people.”

At the farewell event, Ed was able to dispel a few lingering Lovett myths. “Several current students came up and asked if it was true that the first government spent its entire budget on beer,” he said. “I told them that’s not true because I was the treasurer at the time.”

Seeing current students carry on Lovett traditions reminded Ed how much the college had evolved since those early years. “My son and daughter-in-law graduated in 2005 from Lovett,” he said. “By then, there were cheers and coed activities — it had become a much more cohesive college. We didn’t really have that. I’m proud of what it’s become.”

Even as Lovett residents prepare to leave the Toaster behind, Ed believes the culture students built over decades will continue into the college’s next chapter. “Freshmen coming in won’t know the difference,” he said. “They’ll just pick up the traditions.”

Andrew Lin ’02: Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Andrew Lin’s ’02 first introduction to Lovett began during O-Week. “You’re getting dropped off, and people already know your name because they’ve memorized all the students,” he said. “It’s this week of bonding that is very Lovett and very Rice.”

He lived his first year on the fifth floor behind the grating. “It’s dark, not much light came through,” he said. “But the people made it great. We’d hang out in each other’s rooms all the time.”

Lovett’s centralized Commons and basement became gathering spaces that shaped the college’s culture. “There was always a group watching ‘The Simpsons’ at dinner,” Andrew said. “You’d see people hanging out in the Commons — watching TV, studying, someone was always there. There was a liveliness to both the lower and upper Commons. My friends ran a Friday night coffee house in the basement. It was super fun and chill. It was the kind of place where people naturally gathered.”

For Andrew, that sense of community defines Lovett. “Some of my closest friends are from Lovett,” he said. “I have friends from all over campus, but your own college is always special. It was a catalyst for so many of the relationships I still have today. Lovett is an important part of who we are. It means a lot to us.”

Andrew’s connection with Lovett has evolved over the years. “I’m an associate, so I’ve been involved with Lovett since I moved back to Houston around 2014,” he said. “I was on the committee for the Lovett 50th celebration in 2018. It’s been wonderful getting to interact with students, hear their stories and mentor them. They’re doing so much more than when I was a student, but there are still parallels — the supportive culture and the work-hard, play-hard attitude.”

While the building helps shape an iconic part of Lovett life, Andrew said the culture ultimately lives in its people. “Students want to continue that culture of connection and support,” he said. “That’s what it means to be a Lovetteer. The students will continue traditions that make sense and create new ones of their own. Change is inevitable, but Lovett will continue to be the best college.”

Bruce Hurley ’27: Lovett is More Than a Building

From O-Week drum rolls to surprise birthday parties in the Blue Room, Lovett has always felt like home to senior Bruce Hurley ’27. “It’s really one big family,” he said. “It’s a smaller college, so you get to know people by name. Sharing spaces is important. We get to know each other on a deeper level.”

A positive O-Week experience and mentorship from Lovett’s president inspired Bruce to deepen his involvement in student government. Over the years, he served as an O-Week advisor, O-Week coordinator, vice president and eventually president of Lovett College. “I wanted to immerse myself more in what makes Lovett special,” he said. “Through those roles, I’ve experienced Lovett culture from multiple perspectives and helped carry it forward.”

Bruce believes Lovett’s architecture has played an important role in shaping its culture. “There’s not a lot of natural light in the rooms, which I think draws people out of their living spaces and into shared spaces, where we experience the highs and lows of college together,” he said. “There’s a sense of never feeling alone. You can walk into the Commons at any hour of the day or night, and someone is there. That’s the essence of Lovett.”

For Bruce, those shared spaces serve a purpose beyond academics. “They give students a place not just to study, but to simply be people first,” he said. “College teaches you a lot about who you are, and those spaces are the nucleus of that community.”

One of Lovett’s most defining spaces is its basement, home to the movie room, music room, weight room, Blue Room and Lyle's. “There’s really a space for everyone — that says a lot about Lovett."

The Blue Room, one of the basement’s most beloved gathering spots, also holds some of Bruce’s favorite Lovett memories. “My freshman year, I had my first-ever surprise birthday party there,” he recalled. “It was such a beautiful moment. It made me realize this was where I was meant to be, surrounded by the people I was meant to be around.”

As current Lovett residents prepare to move, Bruce is confident the college’s culture will endure. “We are Lovett — it lives within all of us,” he said. “This year has brought a lot of nostalgia, but also a stronger sense of community.”

The EOLogy: Odell to the Toaster event reinforced that belief. “Looking at the generations of Lovetteers walk through the space and relive memories was heartwarming,” Bruce said. “The college is the people who came before us and the people continuing to build it today. It gave me comfort knowing this community will live on in the new building.”

The concrete walls may remain behind, but the community built inside them will continue into Lovett’s next chapter.