In 1891, Rice decided to charter a free-tuition educational institute in Houston, bearing his name, to be created upon his death, earmarking most of his estate towards funding the project.

Rice's friend and personal lawyer in Houston, Captain James A. Baker, aided in the discovery of what turned out to be a fake will with a forged signature.

Patrick was found guilty of conspiring to steal Rice's fortune and he was convicted of murder in 1901 (he was pardoned in 1912 due to conflicting medical testimony).

Lovett called for the establishment of a university "of the highest grade," "an institution of liberal and technical learning" devoted "quite as much to investigation as to instruction."

"[25] In 1923, a Ku Klux Klan event was held on a Rice-owned Louisiana Street location, near to the home of a Black woman who had filed a lawsuit against the institute in 1909.

President John F. Kennedy then gave a speech[34] at Rice Stadium reiterating that the United States intended to reach the Moon before the end of the decade of the 1960s, and "to become the world's leading space-faring nation".

[35] The original charter of Rice Institute dictated that the university admit and educate, tuition-free, "the white inhabitants of Houston, and the state of Texas".

[41] Select Rice undergraduates are currently guaranteed admission to Baylor College of Medicine upon graduation as part of the Rice/Baylor Medical Scholars program.

The university's first president, Edgar Odell Lovett, intended for the campus to have a uniform architecture style to improve its aesthetic appeal.

Noteworthy exceptions include the glass-walled Brochstein Pavilion, Lovett College with its Brutalist-style concrete gratings, Moody Center for the Arts with its contemporary design, and the eclectic-Mediterranean Duncan Hall.

[48] After improvements in 2006, the stadium is currently configured to seat 47,000 for football but can readily be reconfigured to its original capacity of 70,000, more than the total number of Rice alumni, living and deceased.

[49] The stadium was the site of Super Bowl VIII and a speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962, in which he challenged the nation to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade.

In early 2019, Rice announced the site where the abandoned Sears building in Midtown Houston stood, along with its surrounding area, would be transformed into "The Ion," the hub of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) South Main Innovation District.

[67] During Orientation Week, students must take and pass a test demonstrating that they understand the Honor System's requirements and sign a Matriculation Pledge.

Hermann Park features many attractions, including the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Miller Outdoor Theatre, and a municipal golf course.

The Houston METRORail system provides access to downtown's theatre and nightlife district and Reliant Park, with a station located adjacent to the university's main gate.

Jacks (pranks) are especially common during Willy Week; some examples in the past include removing showerheads and encasing the Hanszen guardian."

Beer Bike is Rice's most prominent student event, and for younger alumni it serves as an unofficial reunion weekend on par with Homecoming.

The 2009 Beer Bike race was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Bill Wilson, a popular professor and long-time resident associate of Wiess College who died earlier that year.

Rice Coffeehouse began in Hanszen College, where students would serve coffee in the Weenie Loft, a study room in the old section's fourth floor.

Rice Coffeehouse has also adopted an unofficial mascot, the squirrel, which can be found on T-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers stuck on laptops across campus.

Prior to fall 2009, it was regularly published three times a semester with a wide array of content, running from analyses of current events and philosophical pieces to personal essays, short fiction and poetry.

[156] Rice is the second-smallest school, measured by undergraduate enrollment, competing in NCAA Division I FBS football, only ahead of Tulsa.

The victory made Rice University the smallest school in 51 years to win a national championship at the highest collegiate level of the sport.

Though not a varsity sport, Rice's ultimate frisbee women's team, named Torque, won consecutive Division III national championships in 2014 and 2015.

Tensions remained high between the athletic department and faculty, as a few professors who chose to voice their opinion were in favor of abandoning the football program.

In 2008, the football team posted a 9–3 regular season, capping off the year with a 38–14 victory over Western Michigan University in the Texas Bowl.

[158] In previous decades, the university kept several live owls on campus in front of Lovett College, but this practice has been discontinued, due to public concern regarding animal welfare.

[159] In science and technology, Rice alumni include 14 NASA astronauts; Robert Curl,[160] Nobel laureate discoverer of fullerene; Robert Woodrow Wilson,[161] winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation; Matthew Sands,[162] physicist and co-author of The Feynman Lectures on Physics; David Eagleman,[163] celebrity neuroscientist and NYT bestselling author; and NASA former Apollo 11 and 13 warning systems engineer and motivational speaker Jerry Woodfill.

Brigance,[197] Larry Izzo,[198] James Casey,[199] Courtney Hall,[200] Bert Emanuel,[201] Luke Willson,[202] Tony Cingrani,[203] Anthony Rendon,[204] and Leo Rucka,[205] as well as three Olympians[206] (Funmi Jimoh '06,[207] Allison Beckford '04,[208] and William Fred Hansen '63).