jacks
Category:Informational -> Traditions
Jacks are a Rice-wide tradition in which members of a college (or rarely a conglomeration of colleges) pull some sort of prank on another college or the university as a whole. Jacks are performed at two times in the year: O Week and Willy Week. Jacks are often related to the O-Week of Willy Week theme of the jacking or jacked college.
Safety
In the past, some jacks have been dangerous or malicious. For this reason, the position of Jack Coordinator was created to oversee and approve jacking operations. All jacks must be approved by the Jack Coordinators of both the jacking and jacked colleges, who ensure safety and ease of clean-up. Jacks that do not go through this process are called “unapproved” and looked unfavorably upon by university administration.
Cleanup
A jack must be cleaned up by the jacking college within a certain amount of time that is determined on a year-to-year basis by the committee of Jack Coordinators.
Typical Jacks
- Moving around commons furniture.
- Placing noisemakers/sirens.
- Eating in another college commons en masse, dressed to a theme.
- Hanging large, insulting signs.
- Anything that points out the phallic construction of Sid Rich.
Epic Jacks
There are two past jacks in particular, both executed on the whole university, which have reached epic status due to scale and quality of execution.
- The turning of Willy’s Statue (in the 80s?) by mostly Wiessmen.
- The invitation of the Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker (a Jones alum), to speak at the school for Willy Week 2010 by Jones College, in which the mayor delivered a speech involving Jones cheers.