Rice football team to honor service members during Navy game

Naval ROTC members thrive at Rice while serving

Kai Hartman and Thara Venkateswaran, Rice Naval ROTC members

One of the themes for Rice University’s football game against the Naval Academy Nov. 2 is “Salute to Service,” and no two students better represent the values of both institutions than Kai Hartman and Thara Venkateswaran.

Hartman and Venkateswaran are Rice students and members of the Rice Naval ROTC . And while they’re torn on who they’ll be rooting for Saturday, both agree that the opportunities provided through the NROTC program are setting them up for success.

Kai Hartman and Thara Venkateswaran
Kai Hartman (left) and Thara Venkateswaran (right)

“The great thing about Rice and ROTC is you really get the best of both worlds,” said Hartman, a fourth-year civil engineering major from Tokyo currently serving as the Midshipman Commanding Officer in Rice NROTC. “I really enjoy being part of both institutions that have high goals and have high expectations for us.”

After graduating in 2025, Hartman plans on serving as a submarine officer in the Navy.

“I like to challenge myself, and I think that’s why I joined ROTC,” said Venkateswaran, a fourth-year neuroscience and cognitive sciences major and a Midshipman Executive Officer in Rice NROTC. Venkateswaran, a first-generation military member from Orange County, California, plans to serve in the Navy as a nuclear surface warfare officer after graduating in May 2025.

“I love leading people, and ROTC gives me a lot of opportunities to do that,” she said. “It gives me a job that isn’t going to be boring. I’m going to be learning new things and working really hard, but I think it’ll be really rewarding.”

The Rice NROTC unit is part of the Houston Consortium that serves Rice, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University and Houston Christian University. NROTC is a long-standing program through which the Navy and Marine Corps can commission officers in addition to the Naval Academy’s graduates. Midshipmen in the program complete basic physical, mental and professional training to prepare them for their future careers.

Kai Hartman and Thara Venkateswaran

When it comes to the football game Saturday, Hartman and Venkateswaran are split on their rooting interests — Hartman says he’s all in for the Owls, and Venkateswaran admits she likes Navy’s odds to come out on top. Regardless of the result, they’re looking forward to seeing the two teams collide.

“It’s pretty cool to see that happening here because this is pretty rare,” Hartman said. “I didn’t know Rice played the academy, and the fact that it’s at Rice about a half mile from our unit — I think it’s just a really cool story. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Before the game, we’re going to have an alumni meetup, and I think it’ll be super interesting to talk to people who were Rice students and went through the same program as us and are now coming back to their alma mater,” Venkateswaran said. “It is a really cool crossroads.”

Rice will welcome Navy to Rice Stadium for the first time since 2009 at 3 p.m. Saturday with coverage on ESPN 2. The game will be the 13th meeting between the schools with the series split evenly at 6-6. The schools first met in 1951 at Rice Stadium with the Owls winning 21-14, and Rice leads the series in Houston 4-3. They have split four meetings in Annapolis, Maryland, and Navy added a 20-7 win in the Cotton Bowl in 1958.

Tickets are available through TicketMaster or by calling 713-348-OWLS (6957).

To learn more about the Rice NROTC unit, visit nrotc.rice.edu.

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