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NEWS 9/13/23 12:03am

Medical humanities, advanced materials and sustainability institutes launch

By Adam Leff

Rice established three new research institutes this summer in medical humanities, advanced materials and sustainability. The university also increased funding for the Ken Kennedy Institute and Smalley-Curl Institute, investigating interdisciplinary uses of artificial intelligence and applied physics, respectively, and approved a Synthetic Biology Institute to complement these programs, according to Executive Vice President for Research Ramamoorthy Ramesh. 

NEWS 9/13/23 12:01am

Two professors awarded Vannevar Bush Fellowships

By Keegan Leibrock

Qimiao Si, a professor of physics and astronomy, and Jeffrey Tabor, a professor of bioengineering and biosciences, have been awarded Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowships by the U.S. Department of Defense. The award comes with a five-year fellowship and $3 million in research funding to continue work in their respective fields.

NEWS 9/5/23 11:49pm

Rice Pride extends honorary membership to Texas public university students

By Hadley Medlock

As Texas closes the doors of queer resource centers at public universities across the state, Rice Pride is opening theirs. On June 14, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices and initiatives at state-funded universities in Texas, as well as the hiring or assignment of an employee to conduct DEI office duties. 

NEWS 9/5/23 11:29pm

Flu shot mandated for fourth year, Oct. 27 deadline

By Maria Morkas

Students are required to have their seasonal flu vaccination prior to the start of spring class registration, Oct. 27. To facilitate this process, the university is holding vaccine clinics Sept. 14, 19, 27 and Oct. 5, according to a campus-wide email sent by Student Health Services Aug. 28.

NEWS 9/5/23 11:22pm

Mikki Hebl receives Women in Leadership award

By Maria Morkas

Michelle “Mikki” Hebl was awarded the Advancing Women in Leadership award by the diversity, equity and inclusion division of the Academy of Management, acknowledging her contributions to education to help the development of women in leadership. Hebl is the Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett Chair of Psychology and a professor of management at the Jones Graduate School of Business.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:39pm

Martel Texas Party marks first public of the year

By Nayeli Shad

The first public of the year, Martel College’s “Don’t Mess With Texas” party, took place Aug. 26. The capacity for the public was 1,200 people, with 350 allowed on the sundeck. The sundeck line closed at 10:15 p.m. — 15 minutes after the public started — due to capacity restrictions, Martel socials committee head Audrey Pizzolato said.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:33pm

Owl Access program launches for FGLI new students

By Spring Chenjp

The Office of Student Success Initiatives implemented the Owl Access pre-orientation program for first-generation and/or low-income new students for the first time this year. New students moved in on Thursday, Aug. 10 and participated in three days of workshops prior to Orientation Week.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:19pm

Rice responds to Supreme Court decision on affirmative action

By Brandon Chen

The Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at colleges and universities across the nation in a watershed decision on June 29. Following the decision, President Reggie DesRoches and Provost Amy Dittmar wrote in an email to the student body that they were “disappointed” by the ruling and that their commitment to diversity does not shift, echoing a statement from March.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:05pm

It’s not just you: August sets heat records

By Prayag Gordy

This August has been the hottest in Houston since at least 1969, according to a Thresher analysis of weather data captured at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Through Aug. 26, daily highs have averaged 102.9 degrees, surpassing the previous mark of 101.4 degrees set in 2011.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:52pm

1,127 freshmen join Rice

By Riya Misra

This year, 1,127 new students joined Rice as the Class of 2027. This marks the most selective admissions year in Rice history, which saw a record-low acceptance rate of 7.7%. 

NEWS 8/22/23 11:46pm

Redesigned ID cards add tap functionality

By Brandon Chen

Rice has started issuing redesigned ID cards equipped with tap functionality. The new matriculating class was the first to be issued the new IDs, equipped with both a magstripe and proximity functionality.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:43pm

Rice renovates bike track

By Spring Chenjp

Rice is currently renovating the bike track used for Beer Bike, which involves repaving the asphalt and repainting track markers, according to an Aug. 9 email from the Facilities and Capital Planning department. The project began on Aug. 8 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 6.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:42pm

CTIS talks more about sex

By Maria Morkas

Critical Thinking in Sexuality, a course designed for new students to discuss interpersonal relationships and violence prevention, now includes an additional sixth session about pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention. These changes follow a pilot session tested last year.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:41pm

Frank Geurts to lead world’s longest running nuclear collider experiment

By Molly Kyles

Rice University physicist Frank Geurts has been named co-spokesperson for the Solenoidal Tracker at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider collaboration, the world’s first heavy-ion collider located at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Alongside Brookhaven Lab physicist Lijuan Ruan, Geurts will lead STAR for the next three years to collect data on nuclear collisions and study the matter that was present at the origin of the universe. 

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