CALTECH STUDENT HISTORY NOTES
RICKETTS HOUSE
Adapted from the Caltech websiteWhen the fraternities were dissolved in 1930-31 many of the members of the Gnome Club or fraternity (see Fraternities) moved into the Ricketts House part of the new south house complex. Ricketts House was funded by and named for mining engineer L. D. Ricketts.
|
|---|
| Ricketts House courtyard |
Members of Ricketts House are called Skurves (or Scurves) due to a play on the similarity of the name Ricketts to the disease rickets and the fact that scurvy is another vitamin deficiency disease. Members of Ricketts House were known as Rowdies until about 1960; alumni of that period still draw the distinction between Rowdies and Skurves.
Ricketts traditions include fire-related activities and the brakedrum. Prior to early 2003, the Ricketts courtyard housed a large concrete firepot, in which massive fires were often enjoyed during cool Pasadena evenings. The courtyard originally featured a large Italian marble well head (historically attributed to and named "Millikan's Pot"). It was used as a measure for height of serves in the singles and doubles games of four square played in the courtyard. By the mid-1970s, it existed only as chunks of rubble, after destruction in an experiment in more exciting pot fires allegedly involving newspaper, xylene, and matches. Around that time, enterprising house officers arranged for its replacement with a large section of concrete sewer pipe, which was eventually replaced with a concrete facsimile of the original pot. Due to tightening of Pasadena fire codes and the Caltech administration's recent focus on liability concerns, the firepot was removed. A portable fireplace temporarily replaced the firepot. The brakedrum is a contest between the freshman class and the sophomore class over ownership of the brakedrum.
Ricketts House was known for athletics and student government in the 1950s, but soon after that they became known less for these activities and more for activities that pushed the motto "Take me as I am" to the limit. Recently, Ricketts had an inverted pentagram on the front wall of its dining room. Administration members called for its removal as it was a symbol that may have offended the general public who viewed the house during tours. The pentagram was originally painted in the dining hall for the Interhouse party of 1989 – prior to this time this symbol had no particular connection to Ricketts House. In later years the inverted pentagram was added to the Ricketts House crest (the original had had ship's wheels instead of pentagrams). During the renovations from 2004 to 2006, the mural was painted over, and a new mural policy was put in place. Conflicts regarding the new mural policy continued until the early 2010s, when the policy was relaxed. The house features a number of murals, including one featuring the cover art of the Grateful Dead's eponymous album that was painted in the 1970s. Today the house hosts a number of social events throughout the year, including a termly open mic night, featuring music performances by students, a termly formal dinner, and an interhouse party known as Apache.
The building has space for approximately 70 students, while the house had a total membership of about 110 at commencement in 2019. Two graduate student resident associates live in apartments in the house.
Ricketts remains the only house not to offer social membership. A referendum to add social membership in 2018 was defeated by vote of 16 in favour, 43 against, and 3 abstentions.
Notable Skurves and Rowdies include: Leo James Rainwater (1939, Physics) – physicist, Nobel laureate, Pupin Professor of Physics at Columbia University; Vernon L. Smith (1949, Electrical Engineering) – economist, winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, professor at the University of Arizona, George Mason University, and Chapman University; Carl V. Larson (1952, Mechanical Engineering) – former vice-president of Versatec, an electrostatic printing company acquired by Xerox; Anthony Leonard – Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics, Emeritus, at Caltech (1959); Bradley Efron (1960, Mathematics) – pre-eminent mathematical statistician, MacArthur award, Presidential Medal of Science; Cleve Moler (1961, Mathematics) – inventor of Matlab; Robert McEliece – Allen E. Puckett Professor and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Caltech (1964); B. Thomas Soifer – Harold Brown Professor of Physics, Emeritus at Caltech; Director, Spitzer Science Center (1968); Christopher Dede – (1969, Chemistry) educational researcher; Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Paul W. K. Rothemund (1994) – MacArthur Fellow, Research Professor of Bioengineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, and Computation and Neural Systems at Caltech; Edray Herber Goins (1994, Mathematics, Physics) – Mathematician specializing in number theory and algebraic geometry, professor at Purdue University and later Pomona College; C. Kevin Boyce (1995, Biology, Literature) – MacArthur Fellow, paleobotanist, professor at Stanford University; Nicholas R. (Nick) Hutzler (2007, Mathematics) – Assistant Professor of Physics at Caltech; Thomas (Tim) J. Litle IV – Founder and Chairman, Litle & Co.
|
|---|
| Front of Ricketts House |
A list of most of the Ricketts House presidents and resident associates is attached as Appendix RI.
Last updated 4/10/04.
Christopher E. Brennen