While his peers rushed to finish their college applications, James Shee pirouetted into a gap year, trading textbooks for tights to chase his dance dreams.
Due to her experience as the Student Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission head, we, the Thresher Editorial Board, endorse Sohani Sandhu for Internal Vice President.
I ran against Trevor last year. Here’s why I am asking you to vote for him.
Due to his previous Student Association experience, knowledge about SA logistics and passion for transparency, we, the Thresher Editorial Board, endorse Trevor Tobey for SA president.
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.
This week’s opinion page is a bit more crowded than usual. Beyond our standard editorial and guest opinions, we’ve reserved one of this week’s extra four pages for our annual SA endorsements. Just as national newspapers endorse candidates for federal races and the Houston Chronicle endorses local candidates, we endorse candidates for Student Association elections.
A letter from the Department of Education, issued Feb. 14, warned schools to eliminate race-based programs within 14 days. According to the letter, the ED intends to “take appropriate measures to assess compliance” with these guidelines.
A media studies major is in development as an expansion of the existing cinema and media studies minor, with the proposal to be submitted to the University Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum in March. If approved, classes for the major would become available in spring 2026.
Fondren Library announced they reached two new agreements with the Association for Computing Machinery and the Royal Society for Chemistry in an email Feb. 11. According to the email, these agreements will expand the accessibility of Rice publications and alleviate the financial burden within Rice research.
The Lav Team, an LGBTQ+ leadership and outreach student organization, will be launching its pilot program co-created by Rice PRIDE and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The third Moody X-Fest will host English alt-rock band bôa as the headline act. The festival on April 25 will be bôa’s first stop in the U.S. in 2025, before they continue their Whiplash tour in Dallas.
The Rice Nexus in the Ion building was opened to the public Feb. 14. The Nexus will assist selected faculty, student and alumni startups with office space and industry mentorship, free of charge.
Rice joined 70 other universities supporting a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health, which may reduce research funding by billions of dollars. A Feb. 7 NIH memo announced a drastic cut to indirect costs, which covers overhead for research institutions; including funding for lab spaces, water and power bills and paying subcontractors, according to testimony from Provost Amy Ditmtar.
Rice could lose up to $4 million in research funding due to cuts to National Institutes of Health grants, according to analysis by the New York Times. On Feb. 7, the NIH proposed a drastic slash of funding for indirect costs, which include administrative and lab upkeep. The proposal was blocked by a federal court Feb. 11.
$9 million of Rice’s funding from the National Science Foundation has been identified by the U.S. Senate as “woke DEI grants” that promote “neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda.”
Donald Trump’s second presidency is off to an unprecedented start, with over 60 executive orders signed as of Feb. 12. Students shared their opinions, thoughts and worries about the new policies in action.
Rice’s inaugural round of Early Decision II saw a single-digit acceptance rate, admitting only 6% of its 2,513 applicants on Feb. 7, said Yvonne Romero, vice president for enrollment. A total of 36,749 people applied to Rice this admissions cycle, including applicants across the ED I, ED II, regular decision and QuestBridge National College Match programs.
