Rice renovates Brown and Jones Colleges

By Richie Su     9/17/24 11:07pm

Rice started a renovation project this summer to modernize existing colleges ahead of the construction of two more.The renovation is a multi-year project set to finish in the upcoming summer.

“The first in line for college renovations are Brown and Jones,” said Doug Schuler, the magister at Brown College. “This summer the improvements were to the common spaces, such as the Vator, our first floor and then in our basement.”

According to Schuler, one of the most prominent changes to Brown spaces is updating the interior design to make common areas more appealing.. 

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“We used to have some off-campus lounges down in the basement. Now [these] have come up onto the first floor,” Schuler said. “So it’s way different from before, because it’s kind of hip-hip and modern now.”

Some students at Brown think the renovation makes the college more lively and also a better place for student activities. 

“I was surprised when I first saw the renovations,” Cecilia Yang, a Brown College sophomore, said. “The new furniture and other stuff are great because the older ones were getting a little shabby. I really like the new color theme. It used to just be gray, white, and brown, but now it has much more colors.”

“The new gym is amazing and the basement renovations, especially the movie room, make it a great space to hang [out] with friends,” Ian Khemlani, a Brown College freshman, said.

Schuler said that in addition to the cosmetic changes, Brown has also renovated the bathrooms to include a gender-neutral bathroom. 

“We didn’t have [a gender-neutral bathroom] because of the historical nature when these colleges were made as single gender colleges, and now they are not,”Schuler said. 

People at Brown expressed their gratitude towards Housing & Dining’s effort to improve  living spaces.

“If we build attractive spaces, everyone is going to take pride in those spaces and take care of them,” said Schuler. “ We are very thankful for the people at H&D who decided to invest in Brown College.”

“I appreciate the makeover and Brown and H&D’s efforts. Now I  kind of regret moving off-campus,” Yang said.

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