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NEWS 10/19/21 10:05pm

SJP to handle cases of students abusing COVID-19 accommodations

By Prayag Gordy and Chloe Singer

Student Judicial Programs will handle disciplinary cases for students suspected of abusing Rice’s COVID-19 isolation policies, according to SJP Director Emily Garza. Garza and Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman told the Thresher that they are not aware of any reports of student misconduct with respect to COVID-19 accommodations.

NEWS 10/13/21 1:35am

Baker Institute director to step down after 28 years

By Ben Baker-Katz

Edward Djerejian, founding director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy, announced last week that he will step down at the end of June 2022. The first and only person to hold the position, Djerejian will have been at the helm of the Baker Institute for 28 years when he retires in April.

NEWS 10/13/21 1:34am

​​Rice joins inaugural cohort of Gulf Scholars Program for undergraduates to research environmental issues

By Emily London

Rice, along with six other universities across the Gulf Coast region, joined the initial phase of the National Academies Gulf Scholars Program. The program will expand undergraduate opportunities to research crucial environmental, health, energy and infrastructure issues in the Gulf Coast through a one-credit seminar course in the spring and fall semesters and a ten-week paid summer research experience, according to Jamie Padgett, the program’s faculty director. 

NEWS 10/13/21 1:32am

Opera Studies Music Director Miah Im remembered

By Nishanka Kuthuru

Miah Im, music director of opera studies at Rice University, passed away on Sept. 30 at the age of 47 due to pancreatic cancer. Ana María Martínez, a Grammy award winning soprano and Shepherd School of Music’s Artist-in-Residence, was Im’s good friend and colleague of 20 years. She said that Im always cared for her work and responsibilities and took them very seriously.

NEWS 10/13/21 1:30am

Critical Dialogues on Diversity workshop now required for Class of 2025

By Viola Hsia

All Rice new students are now required to take a new workshop, Critical Dialogues on Diversity. The CDOD course, UNIV 195, will be a five-week, discussion-based workshop that will explore critical approaches to culture, identity and dialogue, according to an email sent to new students by Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Alexander Byrd on Oct. 5.

NEWS 10/5/21 11:31pm

New payment system complicates life for student organizations

By Bonnie Zhao

Student-run businesses, club sports and organizations across campus are among those who have expressed dissatisfaction with ImagineOne, the new payment system used by Rice. Earlier this year, Rice implemented iO to replace its old pay system, Banner, according to Paul Padley, interim vice president for IT.

NEWS 9/28/21 10:15pm

Electrical fire in Mudd Lab leads to campus phone and network outages

By Bonnie Zhao

Rice campus experienced phone and network outages due to an electrical problem in the Mudd Computer Science Laboratory building, according to B. Paul Padley, interim vice president for IT and chief information officer. At 11:04 a.m. on Sept. 27, an electrical fire was reported and the Houston Fire Department arrived on site, according to the Office of Information Technology Status Page.

NEWS 9/28/21 10:13pm

Annual global climate strike occurs Sept. 24, with low Houston turnout

By Viola Hsia

Sept. 24 marked climate marches that occurred across the country, including one scheduled to occur in Houston. Rice Climate Alliance, a club dedicated to advocating for and educating students on the current climate crisis, did not attend due to the Houston march’s poor organization, according to Clara Ursic, the Rice Climate Alliance treasurer.

NEWS 9/28/21 10:11pm

Moody Foundation donates $100 million to build new student center

By Hajera Naveed

Rice received a $100 million donation from the Moody Foundation which will support construction of the new student center as well as endowments to support some of the program components of the center, according to President David Leebron. This donation, along with the Welch Foundation grant, are the largest private donations in Rice’s history, according to Leebron. 

NEWS 9/28/21 10:09pm

Rice hires external agency to assist with contact tracing

By Prayag Gordy

Rice has entered a contract with Evergreen Contract Resources to support contact tracing on campus, according to Jerusha Kasch, Rice’s director of institutional crisis management. Approximately five employees from the external Houston company will work 36 hours per week as contact tracers at Rice, Kasch said.

NEWS 9/21/21 11:03pm

Working group proposes changes to undergraduate education requirements

By Bonnie Zhao

Two recommendations, including introducing themes into distribution courses and removing prerequisites from distribution offerings, have been proposed to alter the undergraduate curriculum requirements by the General Education Faculty Working Group, according to Douglas Schuler, associate professor of business and public policy. Schuler presented these working group recommendations at the Sept. 20 Student Association Senate, after presenting them at the Sept. 1 Faculty Senate meeting.

NEWS 9/21/21 11:02pm

Majority of classes return to in-person instruction this week and next

By Savannah Kuchar

The majority of classes with 50 or more students will transition back to in-person learning between Sept. 20 and Sept. 27, following an email from the Office of the Provost announcing this return. Previously, courses with 50 or more students were kept online, even as other classes returned to in-person learning after the second week of the semester, according to an email from the Office of the Provost on Sept. 2.

NEWS 9/21/21 11:01pm

Rice working to launch diversity and inclusion course for first-year students

By Keegan Leibrock

​​Rice University student leaders and faculty are currently working to develop a required course on diversity and inclusion for freshmen, according to Alexander Byrd, the vice provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Byrd said that in the past, Rice was not sufficiently diverse to adequately reflect on and begin addressing social problems that the university faces. 

NEWS 9/21/21 11:00pm

Rice hosts webinar discussing abortion law

By Ivanka Perez

Rice hosted a webinar on Tuesday discussing Senate Bill 8, its impacts on Texan women’s abortion access today and how reproductive restrictions have historically impacted women. Held over Zoom, the webinar featured four Rice professors, former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and the CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Melaney Linton. 

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