Graduating, Art Cars, and Michael Skelly

At the risk of alienating my already tiny cohort of readers, I'm going to get all autobiographical on you. Today I graduated from Rice for the second time, earning my MBA. Last time I graduated, I didn't do the ceremony. This time, however, I decided to go for it, despite the requirement that we sit in the sun for three hours. Brutal, but I'm glad I did it.


These are some of my fellow MBAs, lined up under the arches of Lovett Hall as we were being led to our seats.

Former Rice University president George Rupp gave a moving address on the responsibility of students not to be wrapped in their own worlds, and to take a more global view of themselves and their country. The country he was referring to was the U.S., and he addressed the fact that the reputation of the U.S. has been squandered over the past few years in the eyes of friends and foes alike around the world. It was ironic, though, considering how many Rice students are from overseas. In a way, they weren't the intended audience, and yet they heard the message too, and in probably quite a different way than the American-born students.

When the master of Weiss College asked all friends, family, and alumni of Weiss to stand, I stood and was filled with pride.

Afterwards, feeling that we hadn't sweated in the sun enough yet, my sister Sarah and I popped on over to the Art Car Parade.


This is her in front of the Saint Arnold's beer car. (Saint Arnold's was founded by Rice MBAs, by the way.)

Democratic candidate for Congress Michael Skelly was working the crowd.



That's me on the left. Skelly has as good a chance as anyone has had for a long long time of beating Culberson for in the 7th Congressional District. It'll be a tough race--it's a very Republican district. But Culberson has been pretty terrible, and Skelly seems supremely qualified and appealing.