Students cannot return to campus and all classes are remote until Feb 15
Undergraduate students will not be able to return to campus until Feb 15, according to an email from President David Leebron sent out this morning. The email also states that all classes this semester will begin in an online format and that Rice will move to Research Stage 2 in which essential on-campus research will be able to continue but with added safety protocols.
According to Leebron in the email, these changes are in response to worsening COVID-19 conditions nationwide and within the city of Houston.
“The number of COVID-19 cases in Houston has never been higher,” Leebron wrote. “We’ve seen a sharp spike in positive cases and hospitalizations that started in early December, and that has been accelerating over the holidays. At hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, the positivity rate increased last week to 15.2%, and across Harris County it has recently surged to over 20%. Daily new hospitalizations for COVID-19 have more than doubled since just before Thanksgiving.”
Leebron wrote that some students may be granted exceptions for living on-campus prior to the Feb. 15 return date, if they are already currently living there or if they are able to successfully petition the Dean of Undergraduates to return early.
According to Leebron, graduate students are advised to stay home as much as possible and only essential staff workers are encouraged to return to campus before Feb. 8.
More from The Rice Thresher
Michigan professor Amy Dittmar named Rice’s next provost
Amy Dittmar, the senior vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs and a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan, has been selected as Rice’s new provost, incoming president Reginald DesRoches announced Thursday. DesRoches, the current provost, will become Rice’s president on July 1, and Dittmar will start August 1.
Commencement returns to the stadium for Class of 2022
The 109th Convocation ceremony was held in person this past Friday night, with no restrictions on attendance. Hundreds of class of 2022 Rice undergraduates passed under the Sallyport before meeting at Rice football stadium for the ceremony.
‘I’ve always loved football until [he] came …’ players say Bloomgren has lost the locker room
Late in the 2019 college football season, with his team yet to win a game, Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren called a team meeting. According to Cooper*, many of his teammates were taken aback by what their coach had to say.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.