The Sallyport is the central feature of Rice University’s first building, Lovett Hall. The carved faces that decorate the four corners of the archway depict a Rice student as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.
It is a superstition at Rice that students who pass through the Sallyport from west to east prior to their commencement ceremony will not graduate, or will at least require additional semesters to do so. As a result, many students will walk all the way around the building rather than tempt fate by passing "the wrong way" through the Sallyport.