"One of the best pieces of advice that I found was that our passion projects that are the most personal to us, that are most important to us, are never urgent," Huang said in an audience Q&A June 27.

As the music video director of songs by KATSEYE and Yaeji, Huang came to Rice's Moody Center for the Arts as part of HTX MADE Presents, a series showcasing creatives "looking to authentically engage with the Greater Houston Community."

In the Lois Chiles Theater, nearly 100 attendees viewed a selection of Huang's music videos, followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A segment. He touched upon topics ranging from his experience in the music industry to his relationship to "queering art" during the audience Q&A segment.

Huang said that his own inspiration comes from his college years. Huang began his journey as a film major at the University of Southern California, producing student films in his dorm room to circumvent the fact that upon producing a film in the program, the university owns it.

"I approach every project that I do like a student," he said.

Two viral sensations during this time during and after USC advanced Huang to where he is today: in 2008 on the three-year-old Youtube, which provided him with commercial work, and in 2012, when a Vimeo video caught Bjork's attention.

When collaborating with high-profile artists, Huang's direction choices are motivated by his student-like research and impression of the artist, he said. Still, how much authorial control musicians want over the project varies. During a photoshoot discussion with Charli XCX, Huang asked her what intent it should have.

"She was like, 'Whatever babe, it's not that deep,'" Huang said.

The music industry is "broken", he said, and salaries for individuals like him are low because musician's salaries are too. While Huang makes a living off of music videos, he doesn't own any of them.

"I take a personal authorship in my work, but monetarily, I don't see any royalties. When a video is done, the label owns it," Huang said.

While still producing music videos - the most recent being KATSEYE's "Gabriela" - Huang is applying this expertise to short films.

"Working in music videos is kind of like Kumon for indie filmmaking," Huang said.

During the screening, he showcased "Kiss of the Rabbit God", a short film blending Chinese and gay culture, and "Tiger Girl," a feature-length movie set in 1960s LA centering Chinese American teenagers that is currently 10 years in the making.

This long production process was caused by budget difficulties. Huang said that while he wants to tell diasporic stories, the "corporate shackles of filmmaking" are a constant concern.

"It takes money to make fantasy and world-building, and so it boils down to the allocation of capital to independent filmmakers," Huang said.

Huang chooses to work with artists deliberately based on his own style, and his works have a firm commitment to narratives that reference romantic poets and contemporary events alike. Take the case of Mike Hadreas, better known by his stage name Perfume Genius.

"Hadreas has a lineage of videos that feel like homages to queer cinema," Huang said. "I am responding to the zeitgeist. We made [the Perfume Genius music video] literally a few months after Trump was elected in his first term - the villains, you know, they have red hats."

Huang said that even when he acts like a "chameleon" to better mesh with artists he works with, he tries to maintain his individuality.

"I think people often, when they think that as an artist, you have to find your voice," Huang said. "They mistake that for style choices. But I actually think finding your voice is more about finding the process…the workflow, rather than the aesthetic result."

A visual artist and filmmaker, Andrew Thomas Huang will be a part of an inaugural HTX MADE Presents artist series. The event will run from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Moody Center For the Arts, and will present Huang's works followed by a Q&A.

Huang's appearance at the school is part of the Liu Distinguished Visitor Series, a program under the Chao Center for Asian Studies. The panelists joining Huang in a Q&A are also from Rice; Will Rice College sophomore Chi Pham is an intern with the Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA), and Michael Robinson, the founder of the Big Queer Queer Picture show, is a Rice Film alum.

The creator of HTX MADE Films, Li Lu said that she hopes that through this event Huang can generate deeper insight into what it means to be an artist in Houston.

"HTX MADE Presents is inviting artists, filmmakers, creative folks from outside of Houston who want to authentically engage with Houston," Lu said. "There's something really important about bringing people physically to our communities, for them to experience what's here, and therefore experience what local artists are trying to create."

HTX MADE Presents is a subsection of HTX MADE, an organization that depicts the wealth of creative talent in Houston. HTX MADE serves as a pipeline for artists to bring exposure to their work. One example is "The Strike," which is a feature documentary that was shown at Rice Cinema in February and was organized by Marc Armeña, the program coordinator for HTX MADE.

Armeña is collaborating with Lu for this event. Since much of Huang's work centers his Asian American identity, Armeña sought out germane Houston creative organizations, such as the HAAA.

The event will be held at the Moody Center's Lois Chiles Studio Theater. Doors open at 7 p.m., and discounted parking for $6 is available in West Lot 4. RSVPs are recommended, as space is limited to 150 participants.

Lu said that she hopes attendees can experience horizontal conversations on Friday - ones where panelists, guests and Huang can discuss his works as equals.

"I'm looking forward to a very generative and very kind of communal atmosphere where it's not just about a one directionality of experts and audience," Lu said. "It's really about trying to meet each other and see the commonalities in our creative process."

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™ in Concert"

June 27 - June 29

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you don't want to miss out on this concert with the Houston Symphony. Watch the fourth installment of the beloved series on the big screen as the Triwizard Tournament unfolds while a live orchestra brings Patrick Doyle's thrilling score to life. From the eerie mystery of the Dark Mark to the grandeur of the Yule Ball, this cinematic concert experience casts a powerful spell. Whether you're a longtime Potterhead or just love epic movie scores, this magical night at Jones Hall promises an unforgettable ride.

Houston Ballet

"Sparrow"

June 12 - June 22

The Houston ballet's final program of the season features three one-act ballets by legendary choreographers, each bringing something unique to the stage. First up is "Sparrow" by Stanton Welch, a lively and colorful ballet set to some of Simon & Garfunkel's most famous songs like "Cecilia" and "Scarborough Fair". It's full of energy, storytelling and '60s vibes. The program also includes "Four Last Songs" by Ben Stevenson, a moving and emotional piece set to beautiful music by Strauss, and Balanchine's "Theme and Variations", a stunning showcase of classic ballet set to Tchaikovsky.

Toyota Center

ENHYPEN World Tour "WALK THE LINE"

August 12 - August 13

K-pop fans, mark your calendars. Formed through the hit survival show "I-LAND", ENHYPEN has quickly risen to global fame with their sharp choreography, catchy songs and unique storytelling. Known for hits like "Fever," "Drunk-Dazed" and "Bite Me," the seven-member group blends pop, hip-hop and rock into a style all their own. Catch them live at the Toyota Center for a night full of stunning visuals, high-energy performances and fan-favorite tracks.

Summer Symphony Nights

July 4

July 11 - 12

July 18 - 19

Come on down to the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park to listen to some great orchestral music, completely free. Bring a picnic blanket and some bug spray to enjoy some great music while relaxing on the hill. Great for a romantic outing or a night out with friends, summer symphony nights are a great way to make some summer memories without breaking the bank. Plus, for a classical Fourth of July celebration, there's a special "Star Spangled Salute" theme night.

Houston Shakespeare Festival

July 31 - August 9

Put on by the University of Houston, come experience the classic shakespeare plays: As You Like It, and Henry V on alternating days throughout the first week of August. These performances are completely free at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. You can pack a picnic and eat on the hill, or reserve a spot under the awning of the theater to better spot the actors. Either way, this is a great way to experience some free theater right before school starts!

Sitcoms are back, and they're actually funny.

FX's "Adults" is an original comedy following a friend group navigating New York and what it means to be an "actual adult." From ever-mounting medical bills to chaotic dinner parties, the group attempts to tackle this new stage of life together, only to be met with varying levels of success.

One of the best characteristics of the show is the comedy and improv. While the dialogue and playful banter among the group might lend itself to some secondhand embarrassment among viewers, the show is overall very funny and has some great moments. Some sitcoms may try to force funny moments by overlaying laugh tracks throughout scenes, but "Adults" is a naturally comedic show, and does not force any scene deliveries.

However, "Adults" is a comedy that is fit for the audience more than critics, since the humor is more tailored towards Gen-Z. This is reflected through a 15 percent difference between audience and top critics' reviews. This is good. Shows such as "Sex in the City" or "Friends" appeal to their own core audience, just as "Adults" does for young adults.

While the show feels underdeveloped at times, or limits interactions among certain members of the group, it allows the personality of each character to shine. Each character has at least one episode where they are spotlighted. Specifically, the character will have a "flaw" that usually complements itself with another friend's strength in the group, and the "flawed" character will learn more about themselves or how to become better through a chaotic, but realistic situation. This tends to be the general formula for each episode.

The idea of spotlighting characters in each episode is ultimately a rational decision on writers Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw's part. Much of the cast are actors new to the entertainment space, with "Adults" being either their first or one of their first projects. The exceptions are Owen Thiele (who stars as Anton and has recently appeared in "Overcompensating"), Charlie Cox and Julia Fox. Cox and Fox are guest stars on the show.

Each character is developed enough to introduce their background or experiences that shaped them as a person within the first two episodes of the series.

Moreover, "Adults" is a real sitcom. While the show presents its own niche references, each episode layers upon itself until the finale to showcase the relatability of the show. Even if the comedy does not appeal to everyone, there is at least one scene or moment that a viewer has experienced or may experience in the future.

Ultimately, the show also grapples with hard realities such as expired green cards and limited access to abortion. The dynamic format of "Adults" ensures that, in addition to each character's and the group's strengths, the audience is left with hope that they can overcome the challenges that come with being an adult.

Shorts ranged from intimate documentaries to paper stop-motion, and each held an indelible flavor of Texan identity. Here are five of this writer's favorites.

"Closing Time" (dir. Sherwin Lau)

A matter-of-fact but tender documentary of director Sherwin Lau's parents, this film centers their immigration story from growing up in Hong Kong traveling to the United States and their eventual retirement after their decades-long work in the restaurant industry.

Through close-up shots where Lau's parents dart through rooms and across sidewalks, there is a certain stillness in motion. A particular sense of time is evoked; you know the parents will have been retired, but their history is ever present. Lau speaks to you more as a friend than an advocate trying to pin down a centralized Asian-American identity. Here, he says. These are the people I love.

Score: 4/5

"A Hurt like Mine" (dir. Kahea Kiwaha)

With lingering hallway scenes reminiscent of Stephen King's "The Shining" and dreamlike sequences out of Wong Kar-Wai's "Chungking Express", Kiwaha treads through Keoki's (Kai Johnson) life in a women's domestic violence shelter with his mother Reina (Cher Alvarez).

Kiwaha cuts between the maintenance involved in healing (eating too much cereal) and ongoing pain (a mirror-child who haunts Keoki) signify a precision in storytelling, and the set design brings a sense of quiet dilapidation that nevertheless highlights the characters' care for each other.

Score: 4/5

"Halmoni's Pot" (Grandma's pot) (dir. A. L. Lee)

Against my misconceptions, the witty Halmoni (Alexis Rhee) isn't cooking anything; instead, she's buying cannabis for a grandson in this comedy short. But she's not here only to buy, but to drive a hard bargain from an irritable weed dealer Jack (Haulston Mann) and his accomplice Sam (Wesley Han).

In the car, misfires abound between the less-than-fluent "granny pothead" and the drug dealers. Through a tight storyline, the jokes slip in much subtler than this arduous pot-swap, and leave viewers with a hearty laugh even after the film concludes.

Score: 4/5

"Nirmalya" (dir. Aniket Chandrakant Dhavale)

"Nirmalya" opens with a grandmother (Radhika Hingwe) hurriedly interrupting the titular story about a pregnant princess. "It's not auspicious," she scolds the parents as they're about to tell their daughter the ending. When the mother (Priyanka Shinde Jachak) and father (Saurabh Jachak) reassure her, the grandmother solemnly completes the story; telling the child that the princess gave birth to a frog.

When the parents' child is born with a single ventricle heart defect, the story coalesces around a central question: will they keep the child and undergo risky surgeries, or provide comfort care to give alleviate the baby's pain in the last days of its life? Some of the side actors are a bit stilted as they help the parents grapple with the decisions, but in shots such as those of the parents discussing with another family whose child had the same condition, latticed glass and a stone background imprint themselves upon both the viewer and parents as they approach their decision.

As the crayon picture book read at the story's beginning becomes a haunting omen of the parents' experience, you wonder alongside them: what if the story was never finished? But the conclusion, as it always will and would be, arrives heartbreakingly.

Score: 4/5

"it is now tomorrow" (dir. Mỹ Trinh)

And when Giles Corey was under the duress of stones - peine forte et dure - and accused of witchcraft in Salem, what did he say but "more weight"? In the best way, one can feel the pressure that "it is now tomorrow" exudes across the film, shots are tantalizingly long, yet you want them to be longer. Scenes may be heavy, but very deliberate.

The story centers around Junie, a self-isolating 26 year old who rolls through the window of her childhood bedroom. Her mother died on this day, and she is joining her sisters to mourn. It is a hot Texas summer and dry; there is no A/C in the house. The sisters make dinner and sup with an uneaten bowl, an empty chair. At her mother's altar, Junie lights incense, she bows to her mother more so with her arms than hips.

Director Mỹ Trinh from art syndicate 86luck bends time and space for the film's themes to flow in. While of an everyday flavor, shots are artisanally plucked and expressive: A sliver of a sister's face hesitates in a thin mirror, a stringed "moon" light hangs underbackyard oak, overhead shots watch hands, then knives chop yellow onions and younger scallions. Junie, the middle sister, gripes upon how they're cooking bitter food. Nia, the eldest, replies that bitter melon soup was their mother's favorite.

The youngest sister Kimmy (Gracie Blu) steps in to break up arguments, but the sisters still use mundanity to muzzle their tenderness and hurt another. "You look tired", Nia tells Junie. Then , they argue over their 40 hour work weeks, accusing each other of themselves.

But underneath it all, the sisters display a devotion for each other and their mother that illuminates a bond: surely austere, but sufficiently strong. Under the night, a wide shot holds the sisters around a poker nightstand, cards folded around wine glasses, all of them dreaming, thinking oftheir mother in impossible quiet. Around them, the wind falls in like stones.

"it is now tomorrow" is an incredibly careful film. It does not succumb to spectacle; it dwells upon the normal: normal houses, normal sisters, normal days. But before tomorrow comes for Junie and the viewing room is pitch-dark, one can feel the force of loss - that even in the most ordinary death, its weight is overwhelming. .

Score: 5/5

Honorable mentions:

"Incomprehensible" - Big Thief

"One of Us is Lying" - Lucy Bedroque

"Immortal Hands" - Stereolab

"world's end" - John Michel and Anthony James

"Two Riders Down" - caroline

"Romeo" - PinkPantheress

"Magic, Alive!" - McKinley Dixon

The Top Ten:

"Nettles" - Ethel Cain

Ethel Cain trades dark ambient soundscapes for dust‑caked porch folk on the lead single to August's "Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You." Over finger‑picked guitar, fiddle and banjo, she time‑travels through memory, tracing loss, first love and roadside graves beneath prairie skies. "Nettles" feels less like a song than a faded diary page sung aloud - proof Cain can distill gothic Americana into something intimate enough to bruise but grand enough to haunt.

"Walk of Fame" - Miley Cyrus feat. Brittany Howard

Sampling New Order's 80s alt-dance classic "Blue Monday," Cyrus slams retro synth stabs against Brittany Howard's gospel‑tinged howls, creating a stadium‑sized dance anthem about rewriting your own legend. The production swerves from rubbery bass to squalling guitars without ever losing its neon pulse, while Miley toggles between raspy belt and honeyed coo. It's the culmination of every era she's tried on - punk, country, glam - welded into one defiantly future‑facing banger.

"Lotus" - Little Simz feat. Michael Kiwanuka & Yussef Dayes

Simz opens with whispered reflections, then Michael Kiwanuka's velvet hook blooms like sunlight through stained glass. By verse two she's spitting double‑time bars about generational trauma, social media noise and guarding her peace, her cadence tightening as the instrumental swells from beautiful hip-hop piano and drums to full‑blown psych‑soul. The track's final minute, where jazzy drums, wah‑guitar and Kiwanuka's falsetto spiral upward, feels downright transcendental. "Lotus" isn't just an album centerpiece - it's a mission statement for artists refusing to shrink to fit audience expectations.

"Look Down on Us" - Maruja

Ten minutes, two sax freak‑outs and one seismic tempo shift: Manchester's Maruja cram a whole protest rally into a single track. Isaac Wilkinson's verses snarl at Forbes‑list greed and "genocide abundant" warmongers, while the rhythm section detonates with post‑punk ferocity. Midway, the storm calms into elegiac horns before rebuilding into a furious, love‑as‑resistance crescendo. By the final refrain - half‑sung, half‑screamed - the song argues empathy itself is a revolutionary weapon. It's exhausting, exhilarating and already a front‑runner for song of the year.

"Got To Have Love" - Pulp

Unearthed from early‑2000s demo reels and super‑charged with disco sparkle, Pulp's second "More" single pulls Jarvis Cocker's heart out of storage. The verses reclaim a scrapped "We Love Life" melody, but the strings and gospel call‑and‑response vocals push the track somewhere gloriously new. Lyrically, Cocker flips the snark of "F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E." into a middle‑aged pep talk: spell the word, mean the word, stop hiding behind irony. For a band famous for youthful sarcasm, this candid self‑intervention feels downright radical.

"Fame is a Gun" - Addison Rae

Dark, Y2K‑tinted electropop pulses under Rae's feather‑light vocals, creating a tension that's equal parts MARINA‑esque camp and pop hyper‑gloss. Synth bass throbs like a heartbeat while she flips "The Glamorous Life" into a cautionary mantra. "Crash and burn, girl, baby swallow it dry," she coos, mapping the cost of constant exposure over neon snares and chrome‑shiny pads. It's both jab and acceptance - proof Addison can poke fun at influencer culture even as she owns the spotlight.

"Rope (Away)" - Swans

Across 19 hypnotic minutes, Swans weave two movements: "Rope," an ascending instrumental built from hammered dulcimer, acoustic strums and slowly multiplying drones; and "Away," Michael Gira's elegiac roll call for departed friends. The studio version swaps the tour's seismic improvisations for a more oceanic swell, letting each texture meld into a single tidal surge before collapsing into whispered farewells. Gira's repeated "away" feels less like resignation than ritual-closing one era, preparing another rope to the sky. It's towering, tender and terminally haunting.

"Angels All Around Me…" - Kali Uchis

Kali splits this two‑part cut between celestial swagger and hushed prayer. Act I drifts on woozy trip‑hop drums, harpsichord sprinkles and heavenly ad-libs as she thanks her guardians for a life bathed in abundance. Mid‑song, the beat flips to half‑time gospel‑soul; instruments shimmer and her focus widens to family, unborn children and community protection. The gear‑shift trades euphoric triumph for intimate vulnerability without losing its psychedelic pulse. It's spiritual summer‑night perfection.

"Lead Paint Test" - billy woods feat. E L U C I D & Cavalier

Over a dusty soul loop and turntable scratches, three emcees walk the creaking halls of an ancestral address - "124 Bluestone crouched on thin haunch." E L U C I D details cracked plaster and summer‑swollen doors; Cavalier recalls parents chasing ownership "to break the chains." woods closes the door behind them, his voice half ghost story, half eviction notice, pressing an ear to the locked room nobody opens. Household decay becomes a map of generational trauma, each verse a new layer of toxic paint we suddenly realize we're breathing.

"Dudu" - yeule

Named for their beloved cat yet the opposite of cuddly, "Dudu" disguises anguish in candy‑coated indietronica. Breakbeat drums and chirping vocal chops bounce like a kids show theme, yet the lyrics spiral through overdose wards, poison rain and "unstable butterflies." yeule's voice hovers, glassy and bruised, vowing to "leave a trace before you forget my face" while the refrain's coos loop like nervous laughter. It's unrequited love rendered as glitch pop: irresistibly cute on first spin, tragic once you read the fine print.

The brief was filed in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts on June 9.

Amicus curiae, or 'friend of the court' briefs, are legal documents filed by third parties that allow them to speak on the subject matter of the case.

In the brief, the universities involved state that they are participants in "historic collaboration" between the federal government and universities, dating back to research in the second world war. The research partnerships are described as being mutually beneficial to higher education and the interest of the country.

"Terminating funding disrupts ongoing projects, ruins experiments and datasets, destroys the careers of aspiring scientists, and deters investment in the long-term research that only the academy-with federal funding-can pursue, threatening the pace of progress and undermining American leadership in the process," the brief reads.

A spokesperson for Rice declined to comment specifically on the amicus curiae brief.

Mentioned in the brief is government funded research at Rice that yielded the left-ventricular heart bypass device, alongside many others conducted at other institutions named in the amicus curiae.

"These discoveries would not have occurred without federal funding," the brief reads. "Often, that is because the basic research universities conduct is so fundamental that it is hard to predict how it might be commercialized."

In addition, the brief argues for an economic dimension to federal research funding.

"Federal investment in U.S. universities has also been a powerful driver of economic growth for Americans," the brief reads. "University-generated research has created and expanded industries and produced some of the Nation's largest companies."

Although the lawsuit details research funding cuts to Harvard, the brief argues that cuts to one institution affect the entire research ecosystem.

"Scientists work across institutions; grants issued to one university frequently support researchers from others," the brief reads. "And cutting-edge research is often conducted via collaboration."

Christopher Johns-Krull, the incoming interim internal vice president for research, said that research cuts at Harvard extend to Rice.

"Many of our researchers have direct research collaborations with researchers at Havard. In addition, the research and scholarly enterprise is very collaborative, with results coming out of Rice and other institutions having impacts across the field," Johns-Krull wrote in an email to the Thresher. "As a leading research university, negative impacts to Harvard will certainly have negative impacts throughout the entire research enterprise."

The Trump administration, with its repeated targeting of higher education, sent Harvard a letter April 11 alleging, among other things, that Harvard's admissions practices were discriminatory and the university had not done enough to deter antisemitism on campus.

Harvard rebuked a set of demands placed on it by the Trump Administration, with Harvard President Alan Garber calling them "unprecedented demands being made by the federal government to control the Harvard Community." The Trump administration then froze over $2 billion of Harvard's federal grant money.

Harvard filed its lawsuit April 21, alleging the funding freeze was unlawful.

In February, Provost Amy Dittmar submitted testimony to a case involving research funding cuts from the National Institutes of Health, making many of the same points found in the brief.

"Slowdowns or halts in research by Rice and other American universities will allow competitor nations that are maintaining their investments in research to surpass the United States on this front, threatening both our Nation's national security and its economic dominance," Dittmar wrote in her testimony.

In a May 6 letter to the campus community, President Reggie DesRoches said universities would continue research efforts despite fiscal uncertainty.

"In a moment like this, it's important to remember that universities are built for times of change and uncertainty," DesRoches wrote. "We generate new ideas and solutions, we question assumptions, and we adapt with purpose. We are resilient."

This article was updated Monday, June 23, at 10:27 p.m. to include more information.

The mayor opened the talk with a discussion of the city's finances.

"I inherited a $160 million shortfall," Whitmire said, referring to the projected deficit the city of Houston faced when he took office in 2024.

"Houston has really been neglected over the years, by many local stakeholders and certainly by the state of Texas. We need an urban agenda," he said.

Whitmire recently unveiled his proposed budget of $7 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, which he said will close the city's current projected deficit of $330 million without raising taxes.

Ten minutes into Whitmire's discussion of the financial state of the city, two people in the audience stood and shouted at the mayor.

"You've budgeted city services with $290 million in budget cuts to parks, transit and health," one woman said. "You're leaving us to drown."

Whitmire's proposal has faced scrutiny from those who say it balances the budget at the expense of public services. Several voiced these concerns to Whitmire at a city council meeting the day prior to the event, which the mayor referenced after the two women were escorted out of the Baker Institute by HPD officers.

"That's never happened here before," Whitmire said. "I thought I was in the city council for a minute."

Whitmire continued his discussion of the city's financial situation, emphasizing the need to cut back on unnecessary costs while also investing in crime prevention.

"Public safety is my highest priority," Whitmire said. "Yes, I just gave the police officers a competitive salary with Dallas, Austin and San Antonio."

Whitmire also mentioned his willingness to work with Republicans such as Gov. Greg Abbott for funding to balance the budget and congressman Dan Crenshaw in order to help improve water treatment plants.

"I've been a Democrat my whole career," Whitmire said. "But I run a city that doesn't look at your label."

Emmett turned the conversation towards infrastructure, asking Whitmire to talk about water, given Houston's susceptibility to hurricanes and tropical storms. Whitmire noted that he was not in charge of the county's flood control district, but said that despite issues with drainage, the city is preparing for this year's hurricane season.

"It's partly [that] our drainage system hasn't been maintained for years," Whitmire said. "My job is to have my first responders as prepared as possible…every day we're getting ready for summer storms."

In January, the Supreme Court of Texas denied the city of Houston's appeal in a lawsuit concerning drainage projects. The lawsuit, which was brought in 2019, argued that the city had shortchanged the amount of tax money set aside for drainage and road repair projects.

The court ruling would have mandated that Houston allocate an additional $100 million for the projects this year, but Whitmire recently announced a settlement with the plaintiffs for a gradual increase in funding instead.

The mayor also discussed transportation issues, saying that he wanted to prioritize roads for the city's growing population over METRO projects or additional bike lanes.

"I'm not for disturbing mobility when our congestion is growing and growing," he said. "I've got a responsibility to the people that need to get to work and to school."

Near the end of Whitmire's remarks, two more audience members interrupted in protest.

"Hurricane season starts in three days, and you're denying $100 million of flood protection," one said. "You're leaving Houston to drown."

Another called out about the proposed budget cuts to city services.

"You are holding our city hostage, you are stealing money from every single social service that there is," she said.

The second set of protestors were also escorted out by officers, and Whitmire concluded the event with a discussion of mental health and the need for public resources to aid the homeless population and criminal justice system.

"They're common sense resources. You pay now, or you're gonna pay later," Whitmire said. "You've got me fired up, I'm going to leave here and run back to city hall."

The Department of Homeland Security moved to terminate Harvard's access to the Student and Exchange Visitor System, which is used to maintain information about international students May 22. This would end Harvard's permission to host international students. The Trump administration recently asked Harvard to provide extensive data on international students, which the university partially complied with.

DHS previously said that SEVIS registration has been restored for individuals who have not had their visas revoked. The DHS said that they have not reversed any actual visa revocations, and still have the authority to terminate status for other reasons.

All of the five Rice community members whose statuses were terminated are among those whose records will be restored, said Rice officials in an April 28 email. International students make up 14% of the Rice class of 2028.

A SEVIS termination means students lose all employment authorization and cannot re-enter the US, which also applies to the dependents of graduate students on associated F-2 or M-2 visas.

A SEVIS termination is not the same as a visa revocation. The Trump administration's officials said in April that solely SEVIS terminations, which are the vast majority of cases, do not impact a student's non-immigrant status or equate to a visa revocation on their own.

While Immigrations and Customs Enforcement develops a new framework to review international student visas, no students will have their records terminated from the SEVIS federal database based on criminal history.

A review from the American Immigration Lawyers Association of over 300 recent cases of visa revocations and SEVIS terminations said that only two of the affected students had ever reported any history of political protests.

Many of the students had prior interactions with law enforcement, such as minor traffic violations or instances of theft.

Rice officials said in an April 22 email that the university remains deeply committed to supporting the international community and providing lawful assistance to those navigating visa-related challenges.

Erica Augenstein, Rice Grad Campaign president, said they wanted to emphasize that Rice's overall response is indicative of a culture of compliance with authoritarianism. She said that Rice has continually responded to the visa challenges by encouraging students with SEVIS terminations to leave the country.

"Rice has yet again demonstrated that it will sacrifice our community members for any sense of institutional safety," Augenstein said in a message to the Thresher. "We know that students with SEVIS terminations have had to take on debt for thousands of dollars of legal fees as well as living expenses during their time without stipend payment."

No students have been asked or encouraged by Rice administrators to leave the country, a Rice spokesperson said in an email to the Thresher.

The Rice chapter of the American Association of University Professors said that they are asking Rice administration to confirm the number of students affected, the reasons for their terminations of status or visa revocation, their countries of origin and their fields of study. Both Rice AAUP and Rice Grad Campaign are asking for financial support for affected students.

"We received word last night from immigration attorneys we work with that about 50% of all status terminations in the past few weeks had been reinstated," Kamala Visweswaran, Rice AAUP president, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Visweswaran said this is likely due to judges across 23 states, including at least four in Texas, issuing temporary restraining orders that block the government's actions.

"We are asking Rice to provide all affected students with financial and legal assistance, including filing [temporary restraining orders]," Visweswaran wrote. "Students cannot afford to take out loans to fight their cases in court, and Rice should stand by its students and provide full financial support."

[6/4/2025 7:20 p.m.: A previous version of this article said it was unclear if any students had been asked to leave the country by Rice administrators. This article has been corrected.]

Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates called for a brief moment of silence prior to the ceremony for Ryan Dullea, a Jones College student who died in 2022 and was a member of the class of 2025.

Robert Ladd, chairman of Rice's Board of Trustees, opened the ceremony by acknowledging faculty and staff.

"I'd also like to thank our staff, faculty, deans and our leadership team for another year of accomplishment as we strive for excellence at Rice University," Ladd said. "We are thankful for their work that they are doing in what we would call a more stressful and abnormal time in Higher Education."

Ladd also proffered three pieces of advice to graduating students.

"One, you're well prepared. As I visit with many of our alumni, the one common thing I hear is how hard Rice was and how well prepared they were in their careers," Ladd said. "Second, stay connected, find ways to stay engaged with the university… Third, remember those less fortunate than we at Rice."

Next on stage was Brown College senior Kelsea Whiting, delivering the undergraduate student address. Whiting, a cheer captain and first-generation college student, touched upon themes of community and adaptability that she said stood out from her college experience. After graduating from Rice, Whiting will attend law school at Belmont University on a full ride scholarship.

"Embracing the unexpected is a lot easier when you're surrounded by dynamic individuals who make you feel at home," Whiting said. "Let's go make the world a little brighter, a little kinder, and a lot more like Rice."

President Reggie DesRoches spoke after Whiting, focusing on Rice's resilience during challenges from Covid to the Trump administration.

"The world you're stepping into feels fast, moving and unpredictable, socially, politically, economically and technologically," DesRoches said to the graduating students. "But here's what I want you to know. Rice graduates, you are more ready than you realize. The uncertainties you faced at Rice didn't break you, they made you into more adaptable, more resilient and more responsible individuals."

DesRoches also emphasized Rice's mission to provide unparalleled education and research opportunities, which build their foundations upon diversity.

"Fulfilling that mission requires an unwavering commitment to academic freedom," DesRoches said. "We also continue to uphold our values of excellence and diversity. Our programs seek individuals with a great variety of interests, talents, leadership, abilities and life experiences, which may arise from but are not limited to differences in race, gender ideology, politics, ability, geography and special talents."

DesRoches concluded by asserting the strength of the graduating class.

"Despite the challenges and headwinds that you may hear about in higher education, I firmly believe that our universities, and in particular our university Rice, has never been stronger," DesRoches said. "All of our graduates, you are better prepared than any before you to face uncertainty and the exciting opportunities ahead."

The commencement speaker's address was delivered by Huda Zoghbi, an internationally recognized neurogeneticist and trailblazer in the field of neurological disorders. In her speech, Zoghbi spoke about the lessons that higher education taught her.

"Each critical juncture in my life involved people who acted selflessly for a higher purpose," Zoghbi continued. "Their only expectation was that I would eventually pay it forward. This is the beauty of academia. It is a gift economy, not a market economy."

Concluding her speech, Zoghbi called on students to reflect upon those who supported them through their academic career, and to prioritize such relationships.

"Choose friends and loved ones who will help you become stronger in character, gentler in spirit, and truer to our best self," Zoghbi said. "Step by step, hour by hour, we can each make the world a slightly better place. May your future be filled with joy and fulfillment."

Moody X-Fest exists because of the Moody Foundation's 2021 $100 million donation for "beyond the classroom" experiences. Brown College senior Sara Davidson, a member of this year's new student advisory committee, warmed up the crowd by rattling off just a few of the programs that money fuels - from Moody Global Fellows to new humanities research grants.

The festival began with a performance from Mariachi Luna Llena, one of five student acts chosen through the festival's new campuswide application.

"[Mariachi Luna Llena] definitely expanded my horizons … these were very compelling performances," said José Cicerchia, a lecturer in the department of modern and classical literatures and cultures.

Jones College junior Hayne Lim said K-pop dance crew BASYK's performance was a highlight.

"BASYK always puts on such a good performance," Lim said. "I feel like BASYK really fits the Moody vibe because they're really festive and they're all about the visuals and getting everyone's energy up."

BASYK president Hanna Zhang said the team spent months polishing a set that carried over from their Cypher showcase a few weeks prior.

"The energy was really high, really nice, and I think overall, we all were pumped for our last performance of the semester," said Zhang, a Duncan College junior.

For some performers, the quad-sized crowd was a thrilling first.

"I had never performed any of this in front of a crowd before," said Amy Wang, a Kasama performer and Lovett College freshman. "Honestly, [performing] was so fucking fun."

X-Fest veterans arrived armed with a game plan to take advantage of the seven vendors. Duncan junior Amy Lee said visiting Moody X-Fest for the food has become a ritual among her friends.

"It became our tradition to come and grab food … of course, we love free food and to see people around who I would have not run into in my classes and catch up," Lee said. "I've seen people grabbing [food] very strategically, going and grabbing six boxes."

Back in October, 1,560 students ranked potential headliners; bôa topped the list.

Some students said they knew bôa only through the TikTok revival of their 1998 song "Duvet." Martel College sophomore Sarah Tabrez, who voted for the band in the fall because of the song's popularity, said she was thrilled her vote paid off.

"I voted for them in the survey and they're actually playing … I'm so happy," Tabrez said.

Sid Richardson College junior Arjun Surya said he crammed before showtime.

"I have listened to ['Duvet'] before on Spotify…and it's pretty good," Surya said. "I listened to 'Twilight' on the way here just to get my homework done, so I would recognize more than one song."

McMurtry College freshman Stella Shrinsky-de Armas, a self-described longtime fan, staked out the barricade.

"[bôa] played everything I wanted to hear," she said, guitar pick and set list in hand. "'Drinking' is like the best song ever."

bôa vocalist Jasmine Rodgers turned the quad into an interactive experience: she led a "Happy Birthday" serenade for a fan named Kyle and dedicated "Beautiful & Broken" to "anyone that feels a little bit broken but also a little bit beautiful."

Before the inevitable closing song "Duvet", Rodgers teased the audience.

"You've been so deliciously patient," Rodgers said. "[The next song] is called something that we only call it in the U.K., here you call it a comforter."

"Duvet" - bôa's most streamed song - sent phones skyward and voices hoarse. Shrinsky-de Armas said she stood "a foot" from the stage.

"I ascended, it was beautiful," Shrinsky-de Armas said.

Initially unfamiliar with bôa's discography, Collin DeSoto, a McMurtry freshman, said he left with a larger playlist.

"I would say I discovered some new songs today," DeSoto said.

According to Moody X-Fest program manager Andy Osborn, attendance has climbed from an estimated 1,500 in year one to just over 2,000 this year.

"That growth is the best metric of success we have," Osborn said in an email to the Thresher. "Students keep showing up, so we'll keep growing the event with them."

Elijah White, a McMurtry freshman, said the turnout was the best part of the show.

"It's really hard to get some Rice kids out of their caves," White said. "Seeing them actually come out and enjoy themselves was cool."

Amid nationwide threats to research funding, over $10 million of research funding is proposed to be cut at Rice by the government, President Reggie DesRoches said in a KHOU 11 interview. Two-thirds of undergraduate students are involved in research with Rice faculty, DesRoches said.

The program provides funding for up to one year for graduate students, postdocs and research faculty whose federal grants have been terminated or reduced. Costs will be split, with half from the researcher's department and the other half from centralized university sources.

Funds for the Bridge Funding Program will be drawn from several sources, including the Rice endowment, Provost Amy Dittmar said.

"The operating budget provides funds for strategic investments in addition to the ongoing operations," Dittmar wrote in an email to the Thresher. "The centralized bridge funding will be funded as part of the university's strategic investments reflecting the strategic importance of faculty research."

Rice currently withdraws about $400 million or 5% of the university's endowment each year as part of operating expenses, which represents around 40% of the university's operating revenue. About half of this revenue goes to financial aid.

"Bridge funding is intended to be a temporary support mechanism, structured as a cost-sharing partnership among the central administration, school, principal investigator's department and the PI," the Bridge Funding Program website reads.

The university is currently under investigation by the Department of Education for "race-exclusionary practices" in graduate student admissions. If found guilty, Rice could lose access to more federal funding.

Rice has also testified in lawsuits against the National Institutes of Health's proposed funding cuts, and faculty have offered testimony on the value of research funding in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas, Dittmar said.

The university's Office of Research Development has provided resources for bearing scrutiny, including adding a decision tree for grant seekers to avoid language related to diversity, equity and inclusion that could trigger flags for research funding under the Executive Orders and Funding section of its website.

In addition, the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence is naming a director of communications and projects in free expression, Dittmar wrote.

Academic institutions, particularly the most prestigious private universities, are often cast as the ultimate backstop against threats to civil society, which is precisely why Columbia was so strongly condemned for caving to the Trump administration's demands.

That said, we don't need to look far to see that what universities are presently doing is anything but unprecedented. Rice's own history makes clear the university's long-standing relationship to pressing social and political change: obstructionist at best, active antagonist at worst.

Below are what I identify as three core pillars of how Rice has responded to "inflection point" moments like this one, which I believe are instructive for how we ought to understand these institutions.

#1: Feign helplessness, typically under the guise of "bureaucratic challenges"

Rice administration has cited "the bounds of the law" and "[external] economic headwinds" as reasons for limited support on matters such as international student safety and research funding. The university would love to do more, it purports, but there is simply nothing else that can be done due to factors beyond Rice's control.

This claim is patently false. A recent Thresher editorial mentioned clear actions related to providing legal assistance and protecting private spaces that the university could implement to better support international students. Rice's April 22 message announcing "even more" help merely offers to pay for initial consultations if outside immigration lawyers are needed, while requiring a ticket for the upcoming commencement ceremony is the extent of spatial safety measures.

On the financial side, Rice has been dubbed one of the most "Trump-proof" universities in terms of its institutional capabilities and relative lack of federal reliance. Rice's endowment exceeds dozens of countries' entire GDP; notably, about half of this funding is not restricted by specific usage requirements. As former Vassar College president and economist Catharine Hill wrote to The Harvard Crimson, "In times of crisis some of the normal rules/practices around endowment spending can/should be relaxed. If you do not use reserves for this type of situation, what are reserves for?"

Hiding behind dubious bureaucratic hurdles to avoid bolder action is hardly new. During its desegregation process in the early 1960s, Rice leadership fiddled around with a lawsuit requesting court permission to change the university charter before admitting Black students. Even Rice's then-president Kenneth Pitzer acknowledged this was unnecessary: the charter already granted authority over admissions decisions, and the original text, designating only Houstonians as beneficiaries, had been sidestepped many times prior. Only in this moment of potential social progress did contrived technicalities become a cause for hesitancy.

#2: Use institutional tools to water down the fight for change

What responses Rice has mustered are far from an institutional challenge to the realities of this moment. Outright authoritarian immigration policies have essentially been met with a travel advisory and emails referring community members with questions or concerns to various offices, the usual note about the Wellbeing and Counseling Center tacked onto the end.

Likewise, Rice pats itself on the back for hopping aboard a lawsuit against federal funding cuts, contributing a "lengthy, detailed, and sworn" declaration that would easily fit on a single page of the Thresher.

Rice's track record in the face of injustice over the years is similarly devoid of meaningful subversion. A "Special Presidential Commission" convened after the university refused to allow anti-Vietnam War activist Abbie Hoffman to speak on campus. Records indicate the group never held a single meeting, let alone fostered any tangible changes.

Years later, as the divestment movement during South African apartheid gained momentum, Rice instead adopted the Sullivan Principles, a set of guidelines so feeble the South African government expressed support for the largely symbolic alternative to genuine economic pressure. Opportunities for the university to make a more substantial impact are, through institutional structures, often whittled down to inconsequential tinkering.

#3: All the while, aid and abet the systems attacking social and political freedom

The April 11 statement regarding international students described the barrage of detentions and visa revocations as "unsettling for all of us." At the same time, Rice has taken part in bolstering the immigration policing apparatus that carries out these heinous activities.

Rice was evidently not unsettled when partnering in government-sponsored imaging and compressive sensing research that has "direct application…for military, law enforcement, and border security uses." Rice is also a university partner of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, a research consortium affiliated with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Universities champion an idealistic self-portrayal that, to quote Rice administration, prioritizes "supporting our students, advancing discovery, [and] making an impact in our community and on the world."

That would be ideal: higher education institutions could and should be bulwarks that leverage their place in society to act independently from and counter the ideas and tools of fascism. If history is any indication, such an approach from universities like Rice would be the truly unprecedented part.

In many ways, the current landscape of American higher education is unprecedented. Sweeping cuts to federal research funding, overt government efforts to control academic departments and censor campus protests and arbitrary arrests and visa revocations have rightly been criticized as ushering in the latest iteration of fascism.

Academic institutions, particularly the most prestigious private universities, are often cast as the ultimate backstop against threats to civil society, which is precisely why Columbia was so strongly condemned for caving to the Trump administration's demands.

That said, we don't need to look far to see that what universities are presently doing is anything but unprecedented. Rice's own history makes clear the university's long-standing relationship to pressing social and political change: obstructionist at best, active antagonist at worst.

Below are what I identify as three core pillars of how Rice has responded to "inflection point" moments like this one, which I believe are instructive for how we ought to understand these institutions.

#1: Feign helplessness, typically under the guise of "bureaucratic challenges"

Rice administration has cited "the bounds of the law" and "[external] economic headwinds" as reasons for limited support on matters such as international student safety and research funding. The university would love to do more, it purports, but there is simply nothing else that can be done due to factors beyond Rice's control.

This claim is patently false. A recent Thresher editorial mentioned clear actions related to providing legal assistance and protecting private spaces that the university could implement to better support international students. Rice's April 22 message announcing "even more" help merely offers to pay for initial consultations if outside immigration lawyers are needed, while requiring a ticket for the upcoming commencement ceremony is the extent of spatial safety measures.

On the financial side, Rice has been dubbed one of the most "Trump-proof" universities in terms of its institutional capabilities and relative lack of federal reliance. Rice's endowment exceeds dozens of countries' entire GDP; notably, about half of this funding is not restricted by specific usage requirements. As former Vassar College president and economist Catharine Hill wrote to The Harvard Crimson, "In times of crisis some of the normal rules/practices around endowment spending can/should be relaxed. If you do not use reserves for this type of situation, what are reserves for?"

Hiding behind dubious bureaucratic hurdles to avoid bolder action is hardly new. During its desegregation process in the early 1960s, Rice leadership fiddled around with a lawsuit requesting court permission to change the university charter before admitting Black students. Even Rice's then-president Kenneth Pitzer acknowledged this was unnecessary: the charter already granted authority over admissions decisions, and the original text, designating only Houstonians as beneficiaries, had been sidestepped many times prior. Only in this moment of potential social progress did contrived technicalities become a cause for hesitancy.

#2: Use institutional tools to water down the fight for change

What responses Rice has mustered are far from an institutional challenge to the realities of this moment. Outright authoritarian immigration policies have essentially been met with a travel advisory and emails referring community members with questions or concerns to various offices, the usual note about the Wellbeing and Counseling Center tacked onto the end.

Likewise, Rice pats itself on the back for hopping aboard a lawsuit against federal funding cuts, contributing a "lengthy, detailed, and sworn" declaration that would easily fit on a single page of the Thresher.

Rice's track record in the face of injustice over the years is similarly devoid of meaningful subversion. A "Special Presidential Commission" convened after the university refused to allow anti-Vietnam War activist Abbie Hoffman to speak on campus. Records indicate the group never held a single meeting, let alone fostered any tangible changes.

Years later, as the divestment movement during South African apartheid gained momentum, Rice instead adopted the Sullivan Principles, a set of guidelines so feeble the South African government expressed support for the largely symbolic alternative to genuine economic pressure. Opportunities for the university to make a more substantial impact are, through institutional structures, often whittled down to inconsequential tinkering.

#3: All the while, aid and abet the systems attacking social and political freedom

The April 11 statement regarding international students described the barrage of detentions and visa revocations as "unsettling for all of us." At the same time, Rice has taken part in bolstering the immigration policing apparatus that carries out these heinous activities.

Rice was evidently not unsettled when partnering in government-sponsored imaging and compressive sensing research that has "direct application…for military, law enforcement, and border security uses." Rice is also a university partner of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, a research consortium affiliated with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Universities champion an idealistic self-portrayal that, to quote Rice administration, prioritizes "supporting our students, advancing discovery, [and] making an impact in our community and on the world."

That would be ideal: higher education institutions could and should be bulwarks that leverage their place in society to act independently from and counter the ideas and tools of fascism. If history is any indication, such an approach from universities like Rice would be the truly unprecedented part.

The men's first addition of the offseason came Thursday when redshirt junior center Stephen Giwa announced on Instagram that he was transferring from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to Rice. Giwa averaged 20.9 minutes, 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds through 27 games this past season.

Two days later, the men's team secured another major commitment from Prairie View A&M University junior guard Nick Anderson, who also announced his decision via Instagram. Anderson started all 12 games he played this past season, averaging 31.6 minutes, 18.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists. During his Dec. 22 game against Rice, he posted season-highs in free throws made (six) and rebounds (10).

Additionally, head coach Rob Lanier's program received a commitment Tuesday from Mount St. Mary's University sophomore guard Dallas Hobbs. He made 26 starts through 30 games last season, averaging 12.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He hit a buzzer-beater shot to increase the Mountaineers' lead during their NCAA tournament game March 19.

The women's team made its first additions since being defeated in the American Athletic Conference championship March 12. Head coach Lindsay Edmonds announced the signings - both transfers from the Atlantic Coast Conference - in a press release April 18.

Sophomore guard Louann Battiston joins the program from Duke University, where she averaged just 3.4 minutes throughout 12 games this past season. Battiston previously played on the Belgium U20 Women's National Team.

Rice also signed freshman center Myah Hazelton from Virginia Tech University. She appeared in eight games off the bench last season, scoring six points and grabbing three boards over 354 minutes. Prior to committing to Virginia Tech in 2022, Hazelton had offers from schools such as Boston College, Harvard University, the University of Mississippi, Syracuse University and the University of Virginia.

Football lands major QB commitment

Rice football added a significant playmaker Friday as quarterback Aiden Smalls committed to the Owls, according to an Instagram post.

Smalls completed 130 of 214 passes for 1,948 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions at Clayton High School in Clayton, N.C., last season. He also rushed 150 times for 1,006 yards and an additional 12 touchdowns on the ground.

Many recruiting databases list Smalls at the "athlete" position, highlighting his versatility on the field. He has played wide receiver before, too, but Rice views him as a quarterback.

Smalls had previously been linked to North Carolina State University, which offered him an athletic scholarship to play quarterback. He also received offers from other Atlantic Coast Conference programs such as Duke University, Boston College and Virginia Tech University.

A member of the 2026 recruiting class, Smalls runs a 4.39-second 40-yard dash, according to his X bio. He was the 2024 Greater Neuse River Conference Offensive Player of the Year and has been designated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

O'Rourke began with a speech covering Texas Governor Greg Abbott's private school voucher bill, Democratic Party failures and President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration and abortion access.

Speaking on a platform of inclusivity, O'Rourke said the issues he touched are relevant to all Americans, regardless of party affiliation.

"The goal today is not even to promote the Democrats, it is to bring us all together," O'Rourke said in his speech. "If you voted for Donald Trump…I'm glad you came."

RYD co-president Sammi Frey said she felt proud that so many Rice students showed up in support of O'Rourke and the fight for what O'Rourke called a "democracy under trial."

"[O'Rourke] is a very authentic speaker, and I think that he will be able to resonate with the students because he cares so much about what's going on in this country right now," said Frey, a Hanszen College sophomore.

Calla Doh, also a Hanszen College sophomore, took the stage along with several other students to ask questions after the former congressman finished his opening remarks.

"We have this incredible opportunity right now to rebuild, to create new alliances and collaborations across party lines," Doh said onstage. "As we [students] go to our homes or internship locations this summer, how can we be a part of this [rebuilding]?"

Doh, teary-eyed after stepping down from the stage, said seeing Rice students gather on campus to hear O'Rourke speak gave her hope in the face of national turmoil and Rice's apolitical climate.

"There is a lack of political involvement and mobilization on campus," Doh said in an interview with the Thresher. "I think Beto's presence here and the fact that so many students have given up their lunchtime, their classes to be here marks a significant shift."

O'Rourke responded to student concerns around the Trump administration's funding cuts and restrictions on social services like abortion access and transgender healthcare.

"Counterintuitively, count yourself lucky to be alive at this moment of truth," O'Rourke said. "No pressure folks, but we cannot fuck this one up."

Matti Haacke, a senior from Sid Richardson College, said in a comment to the former congressman that he hopes Rice students continue to show up for campus protests and rallies without O'Rourke's "celebrity appearance." Responding to Haacke's statement, O'Rourke said he "couldn't agree more."

"The people turning out here don't turn out to other protests," said Haacke, a Rice Students for Justice in Palestine organizer. "I hope that the calls to fight that we've heard from Beto, from other students, help people feel energized to come out to other things on campus."

One graduate student said they learned of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System terminations through the American Association of University Professors and the Rice Grad Campaign social media posts. SEVIS is an online portal managed by the Department of Homeland Security that tracks a student's immigration status.

A SEVIS termination means students lose all employment authorization and cannot re-enter the US, which also applies to the dependents of graduate students on associated F-2 or M-2 visas.

A SEVIS termination is not the same as a visa revocation. The Trump administration's officials said last week that solely SEVIS terminations, which are the vast majority of cases, do not impact a student's non-immigrant status or equate to a visa revocation on their own.

There is uncertainty around what the implications are for international students, and some students are electing to leave the country rather than be deported or face other legal repercussions.

"Like many other international students on F-1 and J-1 visas, I also experience the threat and reality of visa and SEVIS revocations; it is not merely a bureaucratic inconvenience - it is a direct threat to my identity as a graduate student and my future," Student A, who was granted anonymity for their safety, wrote in a message to the Thresher. "The constant self-monitoring of my visa status and SEVIS updates adds a layer of daily vigilance."

After consulting with their advisors and fellow students, this student is choosing not to travel this summer.

A second international graduate student, who has also been granted anonymity for their safety, said they found out about the terminations through the arrest of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.

"That was the first thing to alert us, international graduate students in school, and we started talking about it," Student B wrote in an email to the Thresher. "I think we all underestimated what [immigration enforcement] can do, how they can act."

The first publicized arrests occurred at universities in the Northeast, but the student said they knew it would come to Texas eventually despite the sense of safety afforded by Rice's private status.

"A violation to one is a violation to all … Especially after the abduction of Rümeysa Öztürk, I started to look back and check my surroundings whenever I am walking down the street," Student B wrote. "I cannot help but feel somebody is coming for me. Some nights, I just unlock my phone and update my mails app couple of times to see if I received any news from [the Office of International Students & Scholars]."

Student A said their degree requires international fieldwork, but current uncertainties put this work in limbo. Although Rice has conveyed support through emails, the student said they felt the institutional protection for international students is limited.

The Rice Grad Campaign said in a statement to the Thresher that Rice administrators have created a culture of fear around seeking and providing aid to those facing revocations or terminations. This includes the university not providing financial support to international graduate students facing legal challenges around their status.

"At Rice, the graduate students facing revocations and/or SEVIS terminations immediately lost their graduate student stipend - and thus their only possibility to earn income in the United States and were referred to lawyers without any support for legal fees," the statement read. "Rice administrators went out of their way to make [harboring law threats] known to community members attempting to organize fundraisers for affected students."

The Rice Grad Campaign listed four demands including full financial support for legal fees of students facing SEVIS termination or revocation, letting Ph.D. students continue to receive the full amount of their stipend and for students who have lost their stipend in these last few weeks be compensated retroactively. In addition, the Rice Grad Campaign called for Rice to adopt the provision of the Sanctuary Campus Petition and to commit to a real culture of care and transparency.

"All of this is unconscionable, and it all reveals that Rice administrators feel no responsibility to some of our most vulnerable community members who are also some of the most vital members of our intellectual space," the statement read. "International students bring incredible knowledge and experience to our campus. The university should bear a special responsibility to the many international students that it agrees to sponsor - but this has never been the case."

F1 visa-holders cannot legally work in the U.S. except for their sponsoring educational institutions, and Ph.D. students who face SEVIS termination also immediately lose their stipends.

The Office of News and Media Relations did not comment on stipends.

President Reginald DesRoches wrote in an email to the Rice community that he believes Rice can both follow the law and honor its values.

"Within the bounds of the law, we are also doing all we can to support students who have been personally impacted," the email read. "Finally, if visa problems complicate a student's academic progress, Rice stands ready to identify other feasible ways a student can continue their progress toward a degree."

A recent campuswide email said the Rice Paris Global Center and other partnerships with international universities were options for students who need to leave the U.S. but want to stay with Rice.

The Rice chapter of the American Association of University Professors said in a statement to the Thresher that they were concerned that the Rice administration has acted precipitously in response to SEVIS terminations and visa revocations.

"We have asked for a daily monitoring of SEVIS records, to keep Rice students enrolled, and not to terminate their university employment," Rice AAUP wrote in an email to the Thresher. "We have no confirmation that this is being done or even of the total number of cases at Rice. Providing adequate support to our international students who are feeling abandoned and vulnerable is only possible if Rice administration shares this information."

A recent report from the American Immigration Lawyers Association said there have been more than 4,700 SEVIS or visa revocations since January 20. In a review of over 300 cases, 50% of affected students were from India. Only two students from AILA's review had reported ever engaging in political protest.

DesRoches' email affirmed support for Rice's international community and acknowledged the challenges they are facing.

"Rice has not publicly and unequivocally committed to fighting for its students," Student A wrote. "Despite all this, I am proud to say that at Rice there has been significant community support."

The American Civil Liberties Union published an open letter to university general counsels arguing that continuing normal housing and services support for students does not violate harboring unlawful noncitizen laws, so universities should not cease these services for fear of prosecution.

The Rice Grad Campaign and AAUP Rice said they have been supporting international students via WhatsApp groups, "Know Your Rights" trainings and connecting students to legal clinics and advocacy networks. Student A said this highlights the power of community organizing in a time of crisis.

"To live under the current threats of visa revocation is to be academically ambitious while facing existential uncertainty," Student A wrote. "It means working twice as hard for opportunities that could be erased by an algorithm, a border officer's judgment, or a policy shift. It's to be in the classroom while carrying the burden of displacement."

Hanszen College won the alumni race, Wiess College won the first heat of the women's race, Hanszen won the second heat of the women's race and Will Rice College won the men's race. According to Beer Bike campuswide coordinator Wiley Liou, the results for the women's race were split because the heats took place across different days in different conditions.

"Because there will be no realistic way to compare the two heats for the women's races, it would not be appropriate to stack them together into one definitive list," wrote Liou, a Baker College junior, in an email to the Thresher. "For this reason, we [released] women's results as two separate results for each heat."

Liou said that both the men's and alumni races were calculated as usual because both alumni heats occurred on the original race day and both men's heats happened on the rescheduled race date.

In addition, Sid Richardson College did not race during the alumni race due to an ability to fill their roster, according to the Rice Program Council. The result for the first heat of the women's race came after an amendment which calculated the repeat biker penalty against the Graduate Student Association and moved them down the ranks.

This Beer Bike was the first time results spanned two different days after a lightning warning interrupted the race after the first women's heat April 5. The original races were canceled after the first women's heat due to the warning, and the second heat of the women's race and both heats of the men's races took place April 18.

Liou said the structure of the rescheduled races was an anomaly and will not become a permanent change.

"Regarding concerns about spectatorship and rosters, 'Bike Bike' was not supposed to be an indication of where Beer Bike is headed in the future; it simply reflected the accommodations needed to make these makeup races possible," wrote Liou. "We hope that [the makeup races] can set up a good foundation for future makeups if they are to be planned by future student-led committees."

For the rescheduled heats, the relay teams had six bikers and six chuggers rather than the traditional eight. Throwers - pit crew members who traditionally help the bikers push off from the starting line - were also not allowed on the track. Bikers began the race with a standing start and had to begin riding entirely on their own.

Another modification was the ban on spectators. The event was livestreamed in each college's commons.

"Ever since the spectatorless format was set in stone, our intention was always to have some sort of alternative way to enjoy the race," Liou wrote. "We were working up until Thursday night to get all the details confirmed, so we're really glad that Rice Athletics was able to provide a seamless livestream that many seemed to embrace."

Suraj Chandramouli, a bike captain from Hanszen and part of the Bike Captains Planning Committee, said that he thought the rescheduled event was a success.

"Every team who didn't get to race got the opportunity to race [at the rescheduled event]," said Chandramouli, a Hanszen senior. "We got the livestream up, which was a big win. We really wanted that to happen, because without spectators, it would have been a bit of a bummer to have no one actually be able to watch the races."

Watching the livestream instead of attending the races in person, Sid Richardson College freshman Anjali Menezes said she was disheartened by the change.

"I am sad that the races are a spectator-free event because I was very excited and eager to watch my first-ever Beer Bike races," said Menezes said. "I think the energy and support that spectators bring can really make a big difference for the bikers."

Duncan College junior Ryker Dolese said the watch parties were able to preserve some of the spirit of Beer Bike.

"Even though the watchparties don't feel the same as a normal Beer Bike, it's definitely nice to be able to celebrate with other people in your college, and there still is a strong spirit here," Dolese said.

The switch to a spectator-free Beer Bike occurred amid concerns regarding the administration's restrictions on campus culture. The current Student Association President, Trevor Tobey, ran on a platform that included "preserving the traditions that make Rice special," referring to administration-sponsored public parties.

Liou said he is grateful for groups - from the Student Center to the Bike Captains Planning Committee - who made both events happen.

"We are very grateful for everyone who has been appreciative of our efforts not just in the planning of the makeup, but also for our year-long dedication to the original event," Liou wrote. "The future of Beer Bike is strong and this tradition isn't going anywhere."

SA president Trevor Tobey said that increasing the Initiative Fund - a source of Blanket Tax money for any student organization launching new initiatives - will make up for current limited Student Activities/President's Programming funds and potential cuts by the federal government.

"I think it will create a competitive environment for finances at Rice," said Tobey, a Hanszen College junior. "The political atmosphere and everything makes this move so important because it gives us the financial flexibility to fund the things that students most care about."

Several senators and students spoke against the funding allocations, including Lovett College President Ayush Suresh, who said there were flaws in the budget approval process.

"If the Senate votes to reject the budget, there are all these kinds of threats of budget failure and people not being funded in the future," Suresh continued. "I believe that there needs to be some sort of amendment to the way that we do this funding so that Senate can have an amendment process to the proposed budget."

Will Rice College president Mary Margaret Speed said there was poor communication during and after the discussion that made the situation appear worse than it was.

"I especially did not appreciate the message we were asked to potentially send out that recruited cultural organizations to reach out to us and essentially blamed the [RWRC] if we were voting no," said Speed, a junior. "I think that that was unfair and I want to say that going forward I would appreciate it if communications were more considered."

Hanszen College senator Dorian Echasseriau, who voted no, said the budget did not meet BTO needs. Echasseriau said they believed there were other alternatives allowing changes to the budget.

"The students of Rice are entitled to a fair and comprehensive budget, not one that fails to meet essential needs or is altered in ways not prescribed by the constitution," Echasseriau, a freshman, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Following the approved BTO budget allocation, BTO organizations are able to apply for a one-time increase in their allocated budget for the coming fiscal year. The SA will vote on funding increases for RWRC and other BTOs April 23.

Suresh said the reliance on one-time budget increases instead of amending the budget points to changes that need to occur with the fund allocation process.

"The fact that we're going to have to resort to multiple different one-time increases to satisfy people is indicative of the fact that this is an incomplete and poorly designed process," Suresh said.

Suresh said he would feel satisfied with the budget passing if RWRC was able to get a one-time increase.

"Provided that a satisfactory one-time budget increase for the RWRC is achieved, passing the budget was the most straightforward approach," Suresh wrote in an email to the Thresher. "I knew that the vote was almost certain to succeed, and I chose to vote no in protest of what I felt like were significant procedural issues that underlaid this entire saga."

Suresh added that cutting RWRC budget so that events would potentially be funded through the Initiative Fund contradicts the BTO structure.

"Blanket Tax Organizations are voted on by a two-thirds majority in [the] SA Senate to be considered trustworthy organizations of the community," wrote Suresh. "Though the SA cites their movement of RWRC events to the new Initiative Fund as increasing equity, it simultaneously redirects funds from an organization that has actively worked to and succeeded in increasing its presence on campus."

SA treasurer Jackson Darr said that the Initiative Fund will be one of the largest in Rice history, and will be an open process on a rolling basis.

"It'll be a very quick turnaround in knowing when you're going to get funding for your event, unlike the previous Initiative Fund where it's all one group of allocations in the fall and then one in the spring," said Darr, a Lovett College freshman.