Centennial Campaign money rightfully goes to faculty

By Rice Editorial Staff     9/5/13 7:00pm

The Thresher would like to commend the administration for choosing to allocate a substantial portion of the $1 billion raised in the Centennial Campaign to endow 28 faculty chairs (see story, p. 1).

Throughout the past year, the Thresher and the student body have continually voiced the opinion that class sizes are becoming too large and that the administration is not appropriately addressing the changing size of the undergraduate student body. However, the decision to endow 28 faculty members seems like a definite indication that the administration is taking students' voices into account. 

When allocating the remaining funds of the Centennial Campaign, the Thresher suggests the administration to consider student needs first. The Thresher hopes the administration will consider what facilities students use most when financing construction and renovation in the future; the Rice campus should directly reflect and cater to student needs and activities. 

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Perhaps most importantly, we suggest the administration use this Centennial Campaign's funds to finance a balanced future. 

Historically, Rice has maintained a healthy balance between innovative research and student-centered learning, and we think that this balance is an integral part to the Rice experience. With this balance, students are both able to push themselves into the professional and academic world of research and to grow into young adults in the supportive and personal environment of the small classroom. To lose either of these traits would deprive future Rice students of the opportunity to learn different types of skills necessary for their future.

Despite our reputation, Rice has strived to educate students in the the humanities and social sciences as well as in sciences and engineering, and the Thresher urges the administration to find a balance between these two types of education as we move into the next century. Furthermore, when students of differing disciplines work together, their varying viewpoints often lead to the most innovative and interesting solutions to the problems in our world, and so we believe none of this disciplines should exist without the other, nor should more value be placed on one discipline than the others.  

While Rice has historically placed an emphasis on being a financially productive institution, the university has also made an effort to provide an education for those who are qualified, regardless of financial circumstance. The Thresher urges the administration not to lose this balance in the coming century, and to always remember the history of Rice as an institution that values graduation above all else, even money. This balance between financial prudence and aid for deserving students, along with the balance in educational disciplines, must be combined with a dedication to student life and learning for Rice's next century.

 

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher editorial staff. All other opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the

piece's author.

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