Rice University in Houston has announced a $100 million gift from the Moody Foundation in support of a new student center and an endowment for student opportunity programs.

The Moody Center for Student Life and Opportunity will replace the existing Rice Memorial Center, which was built more than sixty years ago, with current plans calling for a few elements of the old center — the chapel and the cloisters — to remain intact. The new center has been designed by Sir David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates, whose other works include the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture. The project is expected to break ground in early 2022, with construction to be finished in late 2023.

In addition, the gift will support the Moody Fund for Student Opportunity, an endowment dedicated to student programs physically anchored in the new student center and elsewhere in the university.

"As a Rice University alumna, I know this gift will have a profound and lasting effect on the campus and its students," said Elle Moody, a trustee of both the Moody Foundation and the university. "This investment is supporting much more than just a building. We're investing in every student, so they have access to pursue any endeavor, whether it's leadership, artistic, athletic, global, or more."

"We are extremely grateful for this extraordinary philanthropy in support of Rice students," said Rice University president David Leebron. "This gift will enable our students to broaden their engagements and experiences while at Rice in ways that will empower their success throughout their lives. It will also enable us to both connect more deeply with Houston and with the world. This will be the epitome of what an inclusive and outward-looking student center should be. It will serve the twenty-first-century understanding of the essential elements of student education, which go far beyond the classroom experience."

(Photo credit: Adjaye Associates)