
The Thresher tours the new O’Connor building
The O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science was officially inaugurated in a Sept. 14 ribbon cutting ceremony.
The O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science was officially inaugurated in a Sept. 14 ribbon cutting ceremony.
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.
The new student center project has been delayed again, dean of undergraduates Bridget Gorman announced in an Aug. 21 email obtained by the Thresher. Rice has chosen to ‘reset’ the project, firing the architecture firm, Adjaye Associates.
Our primary goal at the Thresher has been — and will always be — to serve as a watchdog for the student body, to inform, to entertain and to criticize. As we begin our term as editors in chief, we remain dedicated to our central tenets, but we understand how much we have yet to learn.
David Adjaye, the founder and principal of the firm designing Rice’s new student center, has been accused of sexual misconduct by three former employees. The Financial Times reported on July 3 that the allegations “range from sexual assault to harassment.” Rice chose Adjaye Associates to design the new student center in November 2020. The Moody Foundation has donated $100 million to support the project.
Rice intends to build two new residential colleges with an accompanying servery, President Reggie DesRoches and Vice President for Finance and Administration Kelly Fox announced in an email sent May 19. The old Sid Richardson College building will be demolished as part of this project. One of the new colleges will take its place, and the other will be positioned closer to Wiess College.
Last week, the Thresher released a letter from the editor’s desk lamenting strict Beer Bike safety precautions that have started to chip away at the event’s tradition. The Thresher spoke to alumni and dug into the archives to explore the inception of Beer Bike and its storied history.
Rice baseball lost their first two games against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette last weekend, winning the third to avoid the sweep. Rice was defeated 5-4 on Friday and 11-2 on Saturday, then overcame an early deficit to beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 12-8 Sunday afternoon.
Housing & Dining announced on Jan. 31 that they had reached an agreement with “YOYO” to operate on campus. But the next day, H&D sent the Rice community a follow-up email with a flyer for the vendor they had actually secured: True Dog Houston, operated by Damion Loera, a former partner of YoYo’s Hot Dog who has since opened his own business selling similar hot dogs.
Power outages affected nearly all of the Rice campus on Saturday afternoon, with reports of outages starting around 3:30 p.m. According to Jeff Falk, interim vice president for public affairs, electricians are working to restore power and the Crisis Management team has been activated. At the time of publication, power has returned to parts of campus.