News

NEWS 1/18/21 9:41pm

96 percent of student petitions approved for early on-campus arrival

By Savannah Kuchar and Talha Arif

Of the 550 petitions submitted by students to the Office of Undergraduates, 528 were approved for early arrival prior to Feb. 15, according to Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman. While most of these students will be moving back to campus by Jan. 25, Gorman said 33 will arrive later, between that date and Feb. 15.

NEWS 1/8/21 12:17pm

Students cannot return to campus and all classes are remote until Feb 15

By Savannah Kuchar

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.

NEWS 12/20/20 12:32pm

Record number of students apply for early decision at Rice

By Savannah Kuchar

On Dec. 10, Rice admitted 421 students through the Early Decision program, a 16 percent acceptance rate, according to Vice President of Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva. This year, Rice received its highest ever number of applications for this round of admission, narrowly beating the previous record set in 2018, with 2,635 applying to join the class of 2025.

NEWS 11/18/20 4:24pm

Faculty Senate approves extension of drop deadline to Jan. 13, Leebron discusses spring planning

By Talha Arif

The Faculty Senate voted on Nov. 18 to extend the drop deadline for fall classes to Jan. 13 for continuing students and Jan. 6 for December degree candidates, according to Speaker of the Faculty Senate Christopher Johns-Krull.

NEWS 11/18/20 12:15am

Rice launches pilot campus-wide composting initiative

By Morike Ayodeji

After years of compost deliberations, Rice has partnered with a local composting company, Moonshot, and started the early phases of campus wide composting. The project kicked off last week as Moonshot collected waste on Wednesday and Thursday morning from West and North Serveries, generating 1,418 pounds of compost, according to Moonshot co-founder Joe Villa. H&D plans to expand composting to all serveries once students return in January.

NEWS 11/18/20 12:02am

Shepherd School Dean Yekovich steps down from his role

By Savannah Kuchar

Robert Yekovich will step down from his role as dean of the Shepherd School of Music in June 2021, and return to being a faculty member.

NEWS 11/17/20 11:57pm

Rice alumna blasts off on historic SpaceX flight

By Nicole Lhuillier

Shannon Walker, Baker College ‘87, MS ’92, Ph.D. ‘93 is one of the four astronauts on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon spacecraft launched on Sunday evening and arrived on Monday night at the ISS, where the crew will spend the next six months, according to NASA. This is Walker’s second space flight to the ISS.

NEWS 11/17/20 11:51pm

Rice Lab begins trials for new saliva-based COVID test

By Alizay Azeem

Rice students are currently taking part in a research study to evaluate a new SARS-CoV-2 test developed by the bioengineering department at Rice. Led by bioengineering professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the research lab is recruiting test participants from the Rice student body and has already hosted testing sites within several residential colleges, including Wiess and Will Rice Colleges. According to Richards-Kortum, any student enrolled at Rice is eligible to participate in this study. While 1,500 students have participated in the study so far, Richards-Kortum said the number of participants necessary to conduct the study will depend on the rate of positive samples the lab receives.

NEWS 11/11/20 12:00am

Crisis Management reports highest weekly COVID-19 positivity rate all semester

By Rynd Morgan

Rice’s Crisis Management Team reported 15 positive tests and a positivity rate of 0.31 percent from Nov. 3 through Nov. 9, the highest weekly positivity rate this semester.

NEWS 11/10/20 11:56pm

Rice physics professor appointed to Vatican science academy

By Nicole Lhuillier

Rice professor José Onuchic has been appointed by Pope Francis as one of the 80 members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences based in the Vatican. The scholars of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences advise the Catholic Church on scientific matters such as climate change and technology, according to Raymond Cook, chaplain and director of the Rice Catholic Student Center and Campus Ministry.

NEWS 11/10/20 11:25pm

Sidizens prepare for move-in to new Sid in the spring

By Talha Arif

Sidizens are preparing for move-in to the new Sid Richardson College building for the spring semester by participating in room draw and parking jack and using PODS located at various residential colleges in the coming weeks.

NEWS 11/10/20 8:24pm

Faculty senate to vote on extending drop deadline to early January

By Talha Arif

The Faculty Senate will vote on Nov. 18 on whether to extend the drop deadline for the fall semester to early January after final grades are posted, according to Speaker of the Faculty Senate Christopher Johns-Krull.

NEWS 11/6/20 12:07pm

Maximum in person class size will increase to 40 students for spring semester

By Rishab Ramapriyan

The Academic Restart Committee announced Friday morning that the maximum in person class meeting size will increase from 25 to 40 for the spring 2021 semester, which begins on January 25.

NEWS 11/5/20 9:46pm

Margarita Rodriguez, staff member, passes away due to COVID-19 complications

By Talha Arif

Margarita Rodriguez, a member of the Rice Facilities Engineering and Planning custodial team for almost 40 years, passed away on Oct. 30 due to complications related to COVID-19. She is survived by her son Mario Rodriguez, who is also a member of the FE&P team.

NEWS 11/4/20 12:17am

“Equipment contamination” causes 17 cases false positive COVID-19 tests

By Savannah Kuchar

After 19 students tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, Rice Crisis Management discovered that 17 of these tests were inaccurate and false positives. The testing error, which is believed to be caused by equipment contamination, resulted in 80 people being quarantined and isolated.

NEWS 11/4/20 12:14am

Award-winning architecture firm selected to design new student center

By Rynd Morgan

Adjaye Associates, an architecture firm with offices in Accra, Ghana, London and New York, will design Rice’s new student center, which is expected to be complete by fall 2023. The winner was selected by a committee of Rice administrators and faculty, with input from the Student Association and Graduate Student Association.

NEWS 11/4/20 12:10am

Around 150 students participate in Baker 13 Halloween run amid pandemic

By Brian Lin

Around 150 students gathered on Saturday to participate in this year’s Halloween Baker 13 run, which had to follow several pandemic safety guidelines, according to Nick Lester, a co-captain of Baker 13.

NEWS 11/4/20 12:09am

Rice Program Council hosts homecoming week under COVID-19 guidelines

By Talha Arif

Rice Program Council is hosting Homecoming Week in person this week with three main events: a Rice Bubble event, which was held on Monday, Picnic Under the Stars on Wednesday and Esperanza on Saturday. Each event for Homecoming Week required a prior safety plan to be reviewed and approved by the Student Center and the Crisis Management Team, according to RPC President Samantha McClendon.

NEWS 11/4/20 12:04am

Administration announces petition for winter break housing

By Katimah Harper

Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman sent out an email on Wednesday, Oct. 8 with details regarding winter break housing as well as general updates on plans for Thanksgiving, winter recess and the spring semester.

NEWS 11/3/20 8:27pm

Alumna and renowned opera singer Erin Wall passes away at 44

By Ivanka Perez

Rice alumna and renowned opera singer Erin Wall passed away on Oct. 8 at 44, after a years-long struggle with breast cancer. She is survived by her husband and two children.

News

96 percent of student petitions approved for early on-campus arrival

Students cannot return to campus and all classes are remote until Feb 15

Record number of students apply for early decision at Rice

Faculty Senate approves extension of drop deadline to Jan. 13, Leebron discusses spring planning

Rice launches pilot campus-wide composting initiative

Shepherd School Dean Yekovich steps down from his role

Rice alumna blasts off on historic SpaceX flight

Rice Lab begins trials for new saliva-based COVID test

Crisis Management reports highest weekly COVID-19 positivity rate all semester

Rice physics professor appointed to Vatican science academy

Sidizens prepare for move-in to new Sid in the spring

Faculty senate to vote on extending drop deadline to early January

Maximum in person class size will increase to 40 students for spring semester

Margarita Rodriguez, staff member, passes away due to COVID-19 complications

“Equipment contamination” causes 17 cases false positive COVID-19 tests

Award-winning architecture firm selected to design new student center

Around 150 students participate in Baker 13 Halloween run amid pandemic

Rice Program Council hosts homecoming week under COVID-19 guidelines

Administration announces petition for winter break housing

Alumna and renowned opera singer Erin Wall passes away at 44

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