Guest Opinion

Despite what H&D's new plan may claim, meal swipes were already unlimited

Imagine an on-campus student moves into their dorm the Saturday before classes start and stays three full days after the latest possible final exam. Imagine this student eats three meals a day, every day, at a servery. Imagine this student never orders Uber Eats, never goes to a restaurant, never gets a meal from a college or club event and never sle eps through breakfast. Imagine this student never travels during weekends, mid-semester recess or Thanksgiving break. Over the course of the semester, this student would eat 354 meals.

Obituary for D’Brickashaw Eagleclaw Ibarra

D’Brickashaw Eagleclaw Ibarra, nicknamed DEI, has transitioned to the ancestral plane.

Fund the RWRC

The Student Association's plan to cut the Rice Women's Resource Center budget is wrong, and you should be mad about it.

Fairness means saying yes to students — not just to budgets

Every year, the Blanket Tax Committee faces tough questions: How should we prioritize funding and ensure every student dollar goes toward something meaningful?

What it’s like to be undocumented at Rice

I’m scared and don’t know how to stop being scared. For years, the fear of deportation loomed over every moment of my life. I developed a phobia of police officers — just seeing one made my stomach turn. The thought of someone discovering my undocumented status was enough to send me into a spiral of anxiety. Even now, despite having legal protections, those fears persist, reminding me that freedom is fragile.

Condemn DEI censorship, protect campus research

The Office of the Provost announced that Rice’s DEI office will be renamed to the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence on Feb. 28. As a graduate student, I am not privy to the reasons for this rebranding. I hope that, in light of recent federal and state directives and ongoing censorship, it is obvious why I am wary, even if the office claims to continue to promote values of diversity, equity and inclusion while removing these words from its website.

Rice protects rich abusers — but we shouldn’t

“Culture of care” is our central motto at Rice. Orientation Week, Beer Bike, publics and even random days are accompanied by the phrase — a reminder that we’re always supposed to protect each other. We do not stand for harm. Yet even after being previously exposed for failing victims of sexual violence, Rice continues to bury cases in the name of its image, and more importantly, its endowment.

I ran against Trevor last year. Here’s why I’m asking you to vote for him.

I ran against Trevor last year. Here’s why I am asking you to vote for him.

The Thresher must stop endorsing SA candidates

The Thresher holds a clear stranglehold on Rice-wide media and, as such, its Editorial Board should not endorse candidates in the Student Association elections. 

Students should prioritize American patriotism

A threat to American values has grown rapidly in recent years: the anti-war movement’s shift to an anti-military stance, calling for divesting from, and in effect dismantling, the defense industrial base. The hyperbolic language found here should alarm Rice students because the U.S. military needs those same companies to develop critical technologies in the functioning of U.S. defense. 

Abortion is still an option, despite harmful restrictions

Preventable deaths, rising maternal mortality rates, threats to contraception and state-sponsored deception. This is the reality in Texas, two years after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. 

Undergrads should vote ‘yes’ on political referenda

On Wednesday, Dec. 4, undergraduates will receive an email from the Student Association containing a ballot with four political questions. These questions must be met with student-body support. 

Students of conscience should boycott Local Foods

Local Foods has served, for many years, as a casual Houston restaurant option for Houston residents, including Rice students. Folks on campus will notice that this option has become more proximate, as a Local Foods location claims space on campus in the Brochstein Pavilion. 

Why the Democratic Party keeps failing us - and what we can do

In the wake of the 2024 general election, many of us are grappling with frustration, disappointment and even anger toward the Democratic Party — and that’s okay. This isn’t about campaign strategy or a single election loss; it’s about the party’s choice to take a once-promising, potentially transformative nominee and reduce her to a hollow vessel for corporate donors and backers. 

Stand up for true free speech

The recent climate on campus has seen rising tensions around free speech and inclusivity, particularly in discussions concerning Israel and Palestine.

Make Election Day a permanent non-instructional day

Back in 2022, as Jones College’s New Student Representatives, we presented one of our first Student Association Senate resolutions to President Reggie DesRoches and other university leaders, asking them to designate Election Day as a non-instructional day. This resolution aimed to eliminate barriers to voting and promote civic engagement, recognizing that the right to vote should not come at the cost of academic performance. 

Students should stop supporting Rice SJP

To foster a truly inclusive campus culture, we must consider a paradox of intolerance: a society must be intolerant of intolerance to uphold its foundational values. Rice SJP not only silences opposing voices, but promotes exclusionary rhetoric that undermines principles of inclusion and pluralism.

Rice bends to Zionist propaganda

In the last several weeks, Rice University held three events — both openly and behind closed doors — that, taken together, demonstrate its commitment to advancing a Zionist ideology on campus, which serves as the foundation for Israel’s increasingly psychotic expansion of its genocidal violence into Lebanon and Yemen. 

Rice is going through an awkward phase

Rice is going through puberty, marked by awkwardness, evolving parts and existential questions. This pivotal time offers both challenges and opportunities for growth. Our actions now, as a community, will have lasting impacts on Rice’s future.

In loco parentis: Don’t baby-proof collegiate life