This founder's memorial statue was dedicated in 1930 and sits in the center of the academic quad facing Lovett Hall. Every year for Willy's birthday Rice throws a big party in the quad. This is one of the most famous landmarks at Rice. The base of Willy's statue is pink granite, as seen in picture A , but this granite contains distinctive black markings like the one shown in B . At first glance these spots may appear to be gum, but in fact they are xenoliths in the granite.
Xenoliths are usually good markers of unconformities, or time gaps, that have occurred in bedding.
In this case, this black rock broke off and became incorporated into the granite, and we can assume that the xenolith is older. Using the penny for scale we can see this rock fragment is roughly three inches long. On the outside of the Physics Laboratory , marble decorates the arch windows. This Gray Tennessee Marble is the same marble that appears on Lovett Hall, which was completed in 1912 a year before the Physics building was finished. This is a picture of the water fountain outside of the Physics Building , quad side.