As the Association of Rice Alumni president, architecture alumna Tania Min inspired students with remarks during the matriculation ceremony that welcomed incoming students of the class of 2027 this past August. In her speech, she reflected on her experience at Rice, emphasizing that the relationships you develop underpin your time at the university. In her speech, Min also explained that learning goes beyond the classroom. She referenced Professor John J. Casbarian, who often observed that he taught not the facts of architecture but rather a way of thinking. Casbarian, FAIA, B.A. ’69, B.Arch. ’72, himself a Rice alumnus, whose pedagogy in Houston and Paris has influenced many generations of students, including Min’s. This lesson, which Min learned during her tenure at MD Anderson Hall, proved to be invaluable after graduation. “While personally meaningful,” Min mentioned while reflecting on her time here, “I also think it has a wider message of celebrating the School of Architecture, architects, different forms of being ‘smart’ and finding your people. If I hadn’t had my School of Arch[itecture] peers […] I don’t think I would have had such a positive view of Rice.” Above all, Min highlighted how the caring community—the sense that you matter—distinguishes Rice from other institutions. It is, Min said, a feeling you will carry with you after your time on campus has ended.
“On behalf of the entire Rice Architecture community, I’d like to thank Tania Min for her service to our university,” said Igor Marjanović, the William Ward Watkin Dean of Rice Architecture. “Her energy and love of Rice Architecture are both contagious and deeply inspiring, and I hope that other architecture alumni will follow in her footsteps and provide service and leadership to the Association of Rice Alumni.”
For more information on Min’s leadership as the Association of Rice Alumni president, click here.