It is a fact that many international students are vastly less interested in sports like Football. It's not their fault nor is it even a flaw... it's just something that they are not nearly as familiar with. That's not their fault, but it certainly DOES impact student interest in Football.

How much we support one group or another doesn't depend on how it compares to the other groups... it depends on how it compares to what other schools are supporting those groups. If you want to do better with international students than Harvard, then you put more emphasis on them than Harvard.... you don't put more emphasis on them than athletes at Rice. They can't quit being international and start being athletes, but they CAN quit attending Rice and start attending Harvard.

The cost of a Rice education and the cost of living in Houston (which is an extraordinarily large part of institutional support) is different from the cost of other schools and other states, but it doesn't really show any more or less attention to those people... Tuition, books and board are what they are. Out of State tuition in Austin, which delivers a mostly comparable educational value to Rice is a little more than $10,000 less than Rice. So if you're a potential student and Rice offers you a scholarship that we value at $50,000 while UT offers a scholarship they offer at $40,000... plus $10,000 more in services or benefits... then it would most likely SEEM that you were getting far more emphasis at UT than at Rice.

I'd like to see how much we spend on athletics, net of the cost of attendance... relative to how much our peers spend on athletics, net of the cost of attendance. THAT is how you demonstrate what or whom you value.... and a good measure of your success is how you're doing with those groups. How did we become more successful with students from China? We spent more on recruiting and marketing to them. We spent more on programs designed to make them feel more comfortable and welcome, etc etc etc. If you want to be more successful with minorities, then you need to spend more on recruiting and marketing to them... spend more on programs designed to make them feel more comfortable and welcome. If you want to be more successful in athletics, then you need to spend more on recruiting and marketing to them... spend more on programs designed to make them feel more comfortable and welcome.

We have historically been in the middle of the pack overall... and the results overall have reflected just that. I wonder how our other departments compare to peer schools?