You may have seen or heard of a local television news report last night about our discussions with Rice University. Please know that the report contained serious misinformation. In fact, the news media is closely watching the governing board meetings under way at both institutions today, and this was a case of a reporter acting on an incorrect rumor.

No decisions about a merger have been made or will be made this week. The boards will learn more about what our discussions to date have produced and may decide whether these discussions should continue. In any case, we will share that information with our own communities as soon as possible.

After some digging, we found a summary of the news story:

NEW TONIGHT, EYEWITNESS HAS LEARNED THERE ARE TALKS OF A MERGER BETWEEN THE BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND RICE UNIVERSITY. TOMORROW THERE ARE NUMBER OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS ON THE RICE CAMPUS WHERE THAT POSSIBLE MERGER WILL BE TALKED ABOUT. WE HAVE LEARNED IF GIVEN A THUMB’S UP BAYLOR WOULD BE DISSOLVED INTO THE RICE AND BAYLOR ORIGINALLY CAME TO RICE TO TALK ABOUT THE PROPOSAL. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF PROS FOR EACH. RICE WOULD GET A MEDICAL SCHOOL AND THE FEDERAL GRANTS THAT COME WITH IT. BAYLOR WOULD GET SOME OF THE TOP UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS INTO THE COUNTRY.

Not that exciting, but created a little flurry of searching, even before we heard the hospital news.