SA Corner: Welcome to Rice!
The class of 2019 matriculates through the Lovett Hall Sallyport. The event was pushed back an hour due to rain, but the festivities and fireworks went on!
Welcome to Rice!
Jazz Silva, SA President
On behalf of the Student Association, I would like to welcome both new and returning students to the new semester. Despite it being the summer months, our team continued to meet and work for you. Now that the fall has arrived, we are happy to reveal our new website and our new monthly page in the Thresher!
As we begin this new academic year, I would like to remind each student that they have a voice. This means that at all times students have the ability to make changes they want to see become a reality. From the new off-campus meal plan to the restructuring of the economics department, it’s clear that students have the ability to make a difference when they feel empowered to speak up. I want to see this spirit of engagement continue at full force!
For all our new students on campus, I encourage you to apply for the new student representative positions at your respective colleges. This is the easiest way to get a real look at what campus government looks like and to develop leadership experience.
As promised in my campaign, the campus-wide senate meetings will now be held in the colleges. So, by the end of this year many of you will attend an SA meeting for the first time. I hope you can see how dedicated our entire team is to working for students. I look forward to a great year and thank you again for letting me serve as your president!
New initiative fund
The Student Initiative fund is a new funding opportunity created in light of the recent changes to the blanket tax system. This opportunity is available for all subsidiary organizations and active Rice student organizations. The Initiative fund money will be distributed via an application process that will be made available to all organizations. There will be two opportunities to apply for funding between the second and third SAPP deadlines each semester. Stay tuned for more information in the upcoming weeks on specific dates and application information. If you have any questions regarding the fund please feel free to contact satreas@rice.edu.
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Do more to make campus bird-friendly
April is the month of many things: Beer Bike, a solar eclipse, the last day of classes and, perhaps lesser known, Earth Month. As Rice launches a series of Earth Month events, I would like to address our potential as a campus community to be more environmentally conscious, particularly in an effort to make this campus more friendly to birds.
Take time for yourself during the summer
The academic year’s close means this issue will be our last until the fall semester, which gave us some time to reflect on what our editorial for our last issue should look like.
Student activism is working – and fear-mongering cannot hold us back
S.RES 02, titled “Student Association Boycott and Divestment from Corporations Complicit in the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza,” was presented to the Student Association on March 25. This resolution proposes the creation of an Ethical Spending Advisory Board designed to ensure that Blanket Tax funds are not dedicated to corporations that are complicit in Israeli colonial violence and apartheid based on guidelines created by the BDS movement.
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