Un-Recap
Rice went on display to hundreds of off-campus visitors last Thursday through Saturday, April 12 through 14. Faculty, staff and volunteers around campus mobilized to host the inaugural UnConvention - a campus-wide open house to showcase the university to the public.
With more than 120 events to offer, UnConvention succeeded in fulfilling its primary goal of attracting visitors to campus, according to Vice President for Public Affairs Linda Thrane. She noted that Saturday had the greatest turnout of visitors.
"We built a lot of goodwill for Rice during UnConvention," Thrane said. "That should serve the university well during the rest of its centennial year and into the future."
Director of Marketing Bill Courtney said Rice had not done anything like UnConvention since the last engineering show more than 50 years ago. He said the entire Public Affairs team and around 500 volunteers helped organize and facilitate the events. Every school was engaged in some fashion by staging lectures, talks or demonstrations, Courtney said.
"[UnConvention] was a real community-building experience, and the Rice people enjoyed it as much as their guests," Courtney said. "RUPD got into the spirit by letting children sit in their patrol cars and even blow the sirens.
Thrane said students were involved in UnConvention in a variety of ways, from demonstrating their research to organizing Pancakes for Parkinson's.
However, McMurtry College senior Tawfik Jarjour said he did not think students were as involved as they could have been because of the timing of UnConvention. He noted that many students wanted to be more involved but had another event or commitment at the same time.
"O-Week adviser training was the same morning as UnConvention," Jarjour said. "The whole thing happened too late in the school year."
Student Association External Vice President Yoonjin Min said she thought UnConvention did effectively showcase Rice to the Houston community but was not planned for students.
"I do hope that moving forward with the Centennial, the students are well aware of and excited about the events going on," Min said.
Rice football team member Gabe Baker said he and a few teammates acted as ambassadors for the football program during UnConvention. According to Baker, they handed out autographed schedules for the upcoming season and threw the football around with young visitors.
Baker said he felt the event was a success, with free food and a variety of events for children.
"Continued advertising to the Houston community and an increase in the number of student organization booths would make this event even better in the future," Baker said.
Courtney said he would like to see the UnConvention become one of Rice's traditions and possibly happen every two years. Courtney added that the administration is thinking about consolidating many of the events into one area of Rice, such as the Central Quad, in the future.
Jarjour noted that having fewer events overall could also help improve the experience.
"That way, there can be a bigger emphasis on quality events," Jarjour said.
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice accepts 13% of record-setting ED applications
Rice accepted 13.2% of Early Decision applicants in its first round of admissions for the class of 2029, said Yvonne Romero da Silva, vice president for enrollment. With 2,970 total applicants, this year saw yet another record-high; a 3% increase from last year’s previous high of 2,886. An additional 100 students gained admission through the Questbridge National College Match program, an uptick from last year’s 77.
Students reject divestment proposals
The student body voted to pass S.REF 01, which asks the Rice Management Company to disclose all of its holdings investments, but rejected the remaining divestment proposals. While every ballot measure gained a majority of votes in favor, the remaining three did not achieve the two-thirds majority required to pass.
Student organizations form coalition to support SA referenda
Four Student Association referenda open for the general student body vote today at noon. The referenda call for disclosure of Rice Management Company holdings and divestment from entities that profit off the Israel-Hamas war. The referenda also ask that Rice release a statement condemning genocide and materially support anti-colonial scholarship. Voting will close Dec. 11 at noon and the results will be published the next day. For the referenda to pass, a two-thirds majority with a 20% student body turnout is needed.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.