Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Friday, March 29, 2024 — Houston, TX

Maddy Scannell


OPINION 4/14/20 3:57pm

Believing survivors is not a political convenience

I said I wouldn’t write another opinion for the Thresher after the Facebook comments I received for a submission about Brett Kavanaugh. Kind of feels like shouting into the void, anyway — am I really going to change someone’s mind who doesn’t want to listen to folks who say they’ve been sexually assaulted? But I’m back! Facebook comments be damned!Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee following Bernie Sanders’ endorsement, has been accused of sexual assault. Tara Reade, a former Senate aide who worked in Joe Biden’s Senate office, claimed that he sexually assaulted her in 1993. The details are disturbing. Reade allegedly told multiple friends and her brother about the incident. 


OPINION 11/12/19 10:19pm

Our votes, our rights

This past Tuesday, Nov. 5, voters across Harris County went to the polls to cast ballots in local elections. Here at Rice, 851 individuals voted at the Rice Memorial Center. Many important municipal positions were on the ballot, including the Houston mayoral and city council races, along with Texas constitutional propositions. However, a number of Rice students who tried to vote at the RMC did not have an equal opportunity due to gross violations of one of our most essential rights.



OPINION 10/17/18 12:51am

Letter to the Editor: Rice College Republicans say they’re committed to registering voters. Their recent record indicates otherwise.

In the Oct. 3 issue of The Rice Thresher, the Rice University College Republicans claimed to support increasing voter turnout. RUCR President Juliette Turner claimed in her interview with the Thresher that her group has not been invited to participate in campus events to increase voter registration. 


OPINION 10/2/18 11:52pm

Confirming Kavanaugh sends wrong message

The #MeToo movement was supposed to be a national reckoning, an exposure of the frequency of sexual violence across America — from Hollywood to government to college campuses. Rice, to its credit, has attempted to reduce the frequency of assaults in a number of ways. The Critical Thinking in Sexuality program is a strong step beyond our peer institutions, and Rice is reportedly reevaluating the practices of Student Judicial Programs after the departures of Donald Ostdiek, the former associate dean of undergraduates, and Lisa Zollner, the former director of SJP. But we, as students, have to acknowledge that Rice is an outlier. In much of the country, this issue is largely swept under the rug.