A five-day crisis arose on the campus of Rice University in February 1969 following the appointment of Dr. William H. Masterson by the Board of Trustees as the university's new President to succeed Kenneth Pitzer, who had resigned in August 1968.

The Owen Wister Literary Society (OWLS) was founded by Adele Roensch in 1924. It was named after Owen Wister, an American writer famous for his novel The Virginian. The purpose of the organization was to further cultural and social interests on the Rice campus and to promote friendship, understanding, and fellowship among its members.