Already it’s begun. The Harry-Potteresque sorting hat has been placed over all of us ’11 Owls, and most have been placed into one of the 8 decent colleges, but the lucky few have been allowed to join Sid Richardson, well known as Rice’s best residential college. Although separated even before any of us have met, a strong bond has been created between all of us Sids that will last for the rest of our lives. It’s unusal for US colleges to do this separation. Usually you group your friends around the year of college you are in. Freshman with freshman. Seniors with seniors; Rice, however, has elected to draw these original socializing lines not on a class year basis but on line that cuts class year apart, yet unites students with others from all 3 class years.

This practice is intersting in its automatic rivalry. Already, I’m claiming that my college is the best (claiming correctly, that is). We try to divide the lines of inter-class-year hesitance, by drawing lines amongst the class years. Luckily, this is only a feigned sense of hatred. I doubt any Rice student places any amount of spite behind his shouts that “Baker sucks!” or “Martel isn’t a real college!” It’s not that sort of Gryfindor v. Slytheran type of mentality. It’s just a fun way to give the entering class some sort of competition amongst themselves. Make stronger bonds by uniting them into smaller groups.

Let’s hope it works.