Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Summer 2002

Getting the Job Done: Going the Distance
Spring 2002
VOL.58, NO.4
Getting the Job Done: Going the Distance
“Every time my husband and I visit Houston, we ask, ‘Should we come
back here? Should we retire here so we can go to events?’” Most people
may not create their retirement plans around Rice alumni events, but would
you expect anything less from the president of the Association of Rice
Alumni?
Then again, maybe it’s fate that keeps bringing Vicki Bretthauer ’79 and
her husband Neil back to Rice. When she was a high school senior in
Illinois, Vicki planned to study engineering at Purdue University. “Then my
English teacher caught me in the hall and asked, ‘What if you don’t stay in
engineering? What are you going to do? Haven’t you looked anyplace
else?’ I said, ‘Well . . . MIT,’ and he shook his head.” But Vicki had also
heard about “this little school in Texas called Rice,” and both her teacher
and guidance counselor encouraged her to visit. “I left Chicago in a snow
storm and arrived in Houston in 82-degree weather,” Vicki says. “I jumped
in a cab, and when we got to campus, the driver chose an entrance because I
didn’t know where to go. I got out of the cab, and someone asked, ‘Are you
Vicki?’” That voice belonged to Don Macune ’78 who was waiting to take
her to the residential college where she would be living. “Now, what are the
odds of that happening? The things that work out are amazing!”
Although engineering did not remain Vicki’s focus for long—she switched
to managerial studies after two years—the Rice college system did. “My
college was like a family. It was absolutely wonderful. At Rice, I found out
about other parts of life, and that’s what’s most important.”
So maybe it’s Vicki’s extended family that keeps bringing her back.
Whether in California, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, or Illinois—where Vicki
and Neil currently make their home—she enjoys volunteering and staying
connected to her alma mater. “I do a lot for alumni and admissions because
I want to be sure that students who will be a good fit at Rice get into Rice,”
Vicki says. “I want them to have the type of experience I had. I’ve also
been very active in Chicago where many alumni come for graduate school.
You want people to stay involved with Rice, and it’s difficult for them
when they’re in grad school. You want to be sure that you plan events that
are affordable, enjoyable, and even educational. It’s really fun to get
parents of current students to attend our events. When they hear how
enthusiastically we talk about the university, they feel so much better.”
Vicki and other regionally based volunteers work to ensure that there’s a
wide range of activities planned to keep alumni involved, despite the
distance from Rice. She even organized an event to rally Chicago-area
Rice, University of Texas, and Texas A&M alumni. “We actually had more
alums come than either of the other two schools!” Then there are those
special individuals who make events worthwhile. “Rachel Stevenson from
the class of 1928 used to come,” Vicki says. “She was working well into
her late 80s. You don’t often get to meet people like that. She was an
inspiration to the whole Chicago group.”
Also See:
The Rice Degree of
Difference
Far Beyond the Hedges
“At Rice,
I found out
about other
parts of life.”
Vicki Bretthauer
Year: 1979
College: Jones
Major: managerial studies
Undergraduate
Activities:
president, Jones College
student representative,
committee to select social
sciences dean
tutor, athletic department
adviser, freshman
orientation
athlete, intramural sports
Volunteer
Commitments:
president, Association of
Rice Alumni
interviewer and chair,
undergraduate admissions
solicitor, reunion class
giving
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