Some may ask why a small school like Rice University plays such a big school like the University of Texas. JFK said why…
… But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And
they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly
the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this
decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because
they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the
best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we
are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which
we intend to win, and the others, too.
John F. Kennedy – September 12, 1962 – Rice University Stadium