Rice remembers iconic JFK speech: 'His call to action about the difficulty of the future moonshot endeavor got my attention'

A private Houston university is looking back on its role in one of the most iconic speeches made by a U.S. president. 

It was 60 years ago on Monday when President John F. Kennedy delivered his “Moon Shot” speech on the campus of Rice University.

According to a Rice-issued press release, the crowd at Rice Stadium was moved by the 35th president’s call for America to aim higher beyond the heavens. 

"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," Kennedy said, giving life to Houston’s strong association with space.

Rodney Griffin said in the release that he and a group of students from nearby Jack Yates Senior High School took a bus to Rice for the event.

“The yellow bus rolled into Rice stadium and rolled into history as well,” Griffin recounted. “His call to action about the difficulty of the future moonshot endeavor got my attention.”

Then-Rice student Homer Walker attested to the young president’s charm, recalling the cheers JFK drew.

“The crowd went wild cheering for him,” Walker, who graduated in 1966, said, according to the release. “It was a remarkable demonstration of his charisma, before he even said a word.”

According to the school, a young Dan Rather covered the speech for a station in Dallas.

"I was at Rice Stadium in Houston when President Kennedy committed us to the moon," Rather said in the release. "And it was, without apologizing, a thrilling moment.”

Aside from being the venue of the “Moon Shot” speech, Rice achieved another connection when the president asked why it played the University of Texas (UT) to illustrate the need to answer what was then a huge challenge.

Houston Daily reported that the Owls football team paid tribute to the watershed moment by wearing space-themed uniforms in its home game against McNeese State on Saturday.

Rice defeated the Cowboys 52-10 to go 1-1.