In 1917, when students from Southwest Conference football rival Texas A&M kidnapped the owl, Rice students pooled their resources and hired a private detective to go to College Station to find the missing mascot.
Upon recovering the owl, the detective sent a coded telegram to Houston that read "Sammy is fairly well and would like to see his parents at eleven o'clock," giving the mascot a name for the first time.
Sammy the Owl is also the mascot of a fictional high school in the movie Rushmore, filmed in Houston.
In 1995, following an incident during the Rice-Texas A&M football game, the question of who should be responsible for Sammy the Owl was raised.
Following much debate, it was decided that Sammy would remain an elected student, but would be formally accountable to the athletics department.