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As part of a larger redesign of its central Academic Quadrangle, Rice University will move a statue of its founder and namesake, William Marsh Rice, to a less prominent location within the quad, Chron reported Wednesday. The university also recently announced the landscape architecture firm that will lead the redesign: Nelson Byrd Woltz.
According to Rice’s announcement of the project last year, the new location of the Founder’s Memorial will include “historical context and information” about Rice, who enslaved people. The announcement noted the administration has already stopped using the memorial as an “iconic image of the university in its publicity.”
The decision to relocate the monument came after a recommendation from the university’s Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice and a resolution from the Rice Student Association.
“Rice and the Board of Trustees worked diligently to honor all of the viewpoints expressed by the university during those conversations, while also being mindful of the need for bold change that the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice emphasized in its 2021 report, ‘On the Founder's Memorial,’” Rice president Reginald DesRoches said. “Nelson Byrd Woltz’s concept both respects our desire to create deeper thoughtfulness within the Academic Quadrangle and awakens the site’s potential to become a dynamic and welcoming gathering space for students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors year-round.”
A monument celebrating integration at the university will take the statue’s former place in the quad. The redesign will also include designated space for future monuments and artworks.
