Special Projects

Celebrate Black History Month with these Black-owned restaurants near Rice

February is Black History Month, and what better way to recognize and celebrate the occasion than to support local, Black-owned businesses? From breakfast spots to vegan-friendly bakeries, here is just a sampling of some of the Black-owned restaurants near Rice or accessible by METRO for readers to consider visiting the next time they venture into Houston for a meal.

VADA, Rice Players combine forces for musical

Rice’s Visual and Dramatic Arts department and student-run theatre company the Rice Players will stage a musical production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Described by Christina Keefe, the VADA producer of the production, as an “uplifting, fun, wacky production,” the show features student actors and crew members and the work of both professional and student designers. Performances are Feb. 25, 26 and March 3-5 at 8:00 p.m. in Hamman Hall. Student admission is free, and general admission is $10.

‘We’re all we’ve got’: BSA and RASA celebrate shared identities

Africayé and Soul Night are some of the largest cultural events on campus, hosted by the Rice African Student Association and the Black Student Association, respectively. They each showcase unique aspects of Black and African culture, and together, they create vibrant spaces to celebrate Rice’s Black and African students. The upcoming events are particularly special for organizers because they mark a return to an in-person audience, and will be the last events held in the Grand Hall before the Rice Memorial Center is torn down. This year, BSA and RASA have collaborated more to execute their respective visions for live audiences.

Sonia Nazario named this year’s commencement speaker

Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist Sonia Nazario will deliver the 109th commencement speech for the class of 2022, according to Jeff Falk, Rice’s director of national media relations. 

Sophomores adjust after unusual freshman year

Isha Khapre, originally from Kenya and currently a student at Hanszen College, stepped foot on campus for the first time in the fall of 2021. She isn’t a freshman, though, but a sophomore. 

Professor Pulickel Ajayan discusses his impact on NanoEngineering

The Guinness World Record for the smallest brush belongs to a Rice professor, Pulickel Ajayan from the department of materials science and nanoengineering. Ajayan said both this and the other world record he has held — for creating the darkest material — incorporated his research on nanotubes. He applied for these records to make the research more visible.

The Rice track should be open to all Rice students

The other day I (Rutherford) broke Rice’s rules — at least that’s what the security guard in the golf cart told me. Growing up as an avid runner near another small, private university in Texas, I, like much of my community, ran frequently on the university track. Hoping to maintain my fitness in college, I jogged to the on-campus Rice track early one morning through the open gates, and after barely finishing two laps was stopped by security. “You can’t run here,” he said. “The track is for Rice athletes only, and the gate should’ve been locked.” Why it’s a problem for a Rice student to run a few minutes on the empty Rice track, I don’t know. But rules are rules, and I politely exited the track to make way for the non-existent athletic practice.

Vote. It’s not that hard.

After last year’s Student Association election saw less than a fourth of the student body turnout to vote, we penned an editorial calling on students to engage further with the SA and its elections. As we approach another election — voting opens next Wednesday — we feel it necessary to reiterate our call. For anyone who has tried to raise student awareness of an issue, aired a grievance against the administration or tried to spur change on campus, now is the time to cast your ballot for who you want to represent the student body and fight for the issues that matter to you.

We stand with The Battalion

Last week, the Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks gave The Battalion — A&M’s student newspaper — a 24-hour notice that they would have to stop printing despite being self-funded by advertisements, ahead of the paper being rolled into the university’s new journalism department. The administration made these calls without any consultation or even warning to the students or their faculty advisor, informing them that if they chose to remain a student organization, they would potentially lose their office and faculty advisor. 

Willy’s Pub rebrands as The Pub at Rice

Willy’s Pub is formally changing their name to The Pub at Rice, according to Sophie Call, Pub’s marketing manager. Pub has considered renaming since the racial justice protests of summer 2020, Call said.

Powderpuff season set to start after long delay

After the cancellation of the 2020 women’s flag football season due to COVID-19, students across Rice have been looking forward to the return of powderpuff this year. According to Vaidya Parthasarathy, a Powderpuff coach at Wiess College, the coaches and players are just excited to be back on the field.

Bunting, Franklin vie for Student Association Presidency

Madison Bunting, current Student Association internal vice president, and Gabrielle Franklin, current Brown College SA senator, are the two candidates running for Student Association president this year. 

Gupta, Unegbu square off in election for SA IVP

Trisha Gupta, current Student Association chief of staff, and Crystal Unegbu, current new student representative for Hanszen College and a member of SA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, are the two candidates running for SA internal vice opresident this year.

Ni runs uncontested for SA treasurer

Solomon Ni, a freshman from Jones College, is running uncontested for the Student Association treasurer position. SA 2022 elections open on Feb. 23, and close on March 3.

SA resolution introduced to address swim coach comments

The Student Association Equity Council introduced a resolution on Feb. 7 denouncing Rice swim coach Seth Huston’s comments after he made statements regarding an NCAA policy change. The NCAA’s new policy states that transgender policies in the sport are now to be determined by the sport’s national governing body, along with commenting on University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas’ right to compete. 

Rice, GenCo partner to provide free, eco-friendly detergent

The Rice Environmental Society at Rice is partnering with Generation Conscious this semester to provide students with free and sustainable laundry detergent. The GenCo company creates sustainable laundry detergent sheets which are plastic-free and use 97 percent less water and 95 percent less carbon than traditional detergent. 

2022 Student Association Election Candidates

The Thresher reached out to candidates from each race in the 2022 student association elections, including those for SA executive team, blanket tax organizations and honor council. Listed are headshots and statements from each. 

Gas leak forces several building evacuations

A gas leak forced multiple buildings to evacuate Thursday afternoon around 4 p.m., after a subcontractor on the New Engineering and Science Building project hit an exposed Centerpoint gas line, according to Associate Vice President for Facilities Engineering and Planning Kathy Jones.

Proposed Solutions for the Willy Statue

Women’s basketball takes down LA Tech for first conference win of the season

It took six games, but the Rice women’s basketball team was able to get into the win column in Conference USA standings on Thursday when they took down Louisiana Tech University by a score of 72-64. The game was the first conference win in the tenure of first-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds, who guided the Owls to a 5-3 record in non-conference play before the team hit a five-game skid. According to Edmonds, the win meant even more given all that it took for the team to get there.