Undergrads should vote ‘yes’ on political referenda

By Cole Holladay     12/3/24 10:43pm

Editor’s Note: This is a guest opinion that has been submitted by a member of the Rice community. The views expressed in this opinion are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the Thresher or its editorial board. All guest opinions are fact-checked to the best of our ability and edited for clarity and conciseness by Thresher editors.

On Wednesday, Dec. 4, undergraduates will receive an email from the Student Association containing a ballot with four political questions. These questions must be met with student-body support. 

These referenda assert that Rice must disclose its investments, divest from institutions that profit from war and genocide, publish a public statement condemning war and genocide in Gaza and institutionalize an anti-colonial commitment via support for students and educators affected by colonialism around the world. 

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Students have a unique opportunity to hold the administration accountable and advocate for transparency. These referenda catalyzed the formation of the Rice Coalition for Liberation, with 20 undergraduate organizations advocating in favor, including incredibly important cultural organizations like SAS, HACER, MSA, MENA, PRIDE, and FSA.  

Students must understand the power Rice holds within its finances. In the 2023 fiscal year, Rice reported its endowment was worth $7.4 billion after spending. In the fall of 2024, only 4,776 undergraduate students were enrolled. Using the 2024 yearly cost of attendance for new students, including tuition, fees, and on-campus living expenses, of $83,189 and the 2023 appraisal of the endowment, Rice could provide over 18 years of relatively free education, amounting to 85,372 undergraduate students having not paid the institution a dime. Albeit a rather crude calculation, this shows the immense amount of capital Rice holds and the potential for it to act ethically with that capital.

Regarding Rice’s investments, though I demand a seat at the table, it is important to recognize that we don’t even know what the table looks like. Rice does not disclose the nature of its investments, so we don’t know precisely where Rice’s money goes or what it supports. For this reason, Rice must disclose its investment practices to ensure that we can advocate for ethical and moral investments.

It is essential to understand that there is precedent for divestment. By 1988, 155 universities and colleges had at least partially divested from the apartheid government of South Africa. As of October 2023, over 250 US educational institutions have divested from fossil fuels. Over the past couple of years, a handful of American universities have divested from Russia in response to the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Rice has not participated in any of these movements, with the Board of Trustees deciding not to divest from South African apartheid in September 1985. 

Divestment was a critical part of dismantling South African apartheid, making it economically unfeasible. That is precisely what we have the opportunity to do now — make the killing of tens  of thousands of innocent civilians across the world less feasible.

Many students might worry about how divestment could impact Rice’s finances. In the case of fossil fuels, many institutions have taken the money returned to the university from divesting and reinvested it in clean energy. Universities that divest from fossil fuels tend to have higher endowment values post-divestment than universities that rejected divestment after 2021. Advocating for divestment not only provides opportunity for funds to be redirected to more ethical stocks, bonds and other securities, but also the potential to grow the endowment.

It is time for the Rice community — administrators and students alike — to recognize our collective responsibility and take decisive action. These referenda represent a crucial first step toward a more ethical and just future. I urge readers to vote in favor of all four, and help pave the way for meaningful change. 

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