Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 — Houston, TX

Rice invests in Scholars at Risk, Welcome Corps following student divestment vote

University shuts down possibility of investment transparency

By James Cancelarich     1/14/25 10:58pm

Rice is joining the Scholars at Risk network as well as the Welcome Corps, planning to host threatened scholars and refugees seeking resettlement into the U.S.

Scholars at Risk is an organization that protects scholars who are experiencing threats of violence, imprisonment or active conflict by providing temporary research and teaching positions at network institutions, according to its website. As of this year, Scholars at Risk reports that a majority of their applications came from scholars in Afghanistan, the “occupied Palestinian territories,” Ukraine, Sudan and Iran. Most positions offered through the program last for one year. 

Rice will be able to recruit at-risk faculty for visiting professorships through the Scholars at Risk database, according to Amy Dittmar, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.



“We have dedicated funding available to support scholars recruited through this program,” Dittmar wrote in a statement to the Thresher. “The number of faculty ultimately invited will depend on the specific needs of departments across campus; therefore, we have not set a limit on the number of scholars who may be recruited through the initiative.

“As we are witnessing, academic freedom is increasingly under threat across the world, with scholars facing persecution, censorship and displacement due to political, social and institutional pressures,” Dittmar wrote. “By joining the Scholars at Risk network, Rice has pledged to support those scholars whose work and safety are in jeopardy. We are committed to offering these scholars temporary academic and research positions, providing space and support in an environment that protects intellectual freedom.”

Rice is also joining the Welcome Corps program, a Department of State sponsorship program for refugees resettling in the United States. Through the program, campus stakeholders support refugees and provide academic pathways for them for a one-year period.

“As part of the Welcome Corps program, campus partners (including Rice) form sponsor groups to help welcome and integrate refugee students into campus life,” Dittmar wrote. “Rice has been approved to welcome scholars to matriculate in Fall 2025. This will be Rice’s first cohort.”

The decision follows the failure of a Student Association referendum in December that asked for a commitment to anti-colonial scholarship, which failed to amass the two-thirds approval needed to pass as per the SA constitution.

Jae Kim, president of the SA, said that the decision came following meetings with administration involving himself and other representatives of the SA, alongside other students “passionate about the issue.”

“I am very excited about Rice joining the network because I think it is a tangible and highly meaningful step the university is taking to align itself with our mission, and I appreciate the time and resources Rice is dedicating to this because I know it is not an easy process,” Kim, a Brown College senior, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Arman Saxena, an officer of Students for Justice in Palestine who introduced the referenda, said that Rice SJP activists were involved with the decision to join the Scholars at Risk network, but described the administration’s response to their demands, as well as a commitment to support Palestinian scholars, as “inadequate and disingenuous.”

Editor’s Note: Arman Saxena is one of the Thresher’s Arts and Entertainment editors.

The decision follows last semester’s successful student vote to pass a referendum that asked the Rice Management Company to disclose its financial investments. Shortly after the vote, Chris Stipes, executive director of news and media relations, wrote in an email to the Thresher that the university commended the student government for its role in free speech and campus debate but shut down the possibility of investment transparency.

“To ensure the integrity and effectiveness of our investment strategies, operations and partnerships, we do not publicly disclose certain information about the endowment,” the statement reads. “Many of the endowment’s investment partnerships are governed by non-disclosure agreements which legally prohibit Rice Management [Company]’s disclosure of holdings within these partnerships. Importantly, Rice complies with all investment-related disclosure requirements under applicable federal and state law.”

According to Kevin Crotty, an associate professor of finance, investment transparency involves understanding of what assets comprise a portfolio, ranging from general asset classes — a group of investments with similar characteristics — to granular details within each asset class. Non-disclosure agreements are generally put in place to protect informational advantages, according to Crotty.

“Non-disclosure agreements can arise for investments when a manager is worried about their informational advantage being eroded by the disclosure of their positions,” Crotty wrote in an email to the Thresher. “As an example, consider a manager who is interested in building a large position in a stock they believe to be undervalued. If the manager discloses the position (either publicly or to investors) before they have had a chance to purchase their desired amount, then the price might move upward as other investors infer that the stock was undervalued. To protect against this type of information leakage, a manager may ask their investors to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

The other two referenda on the ballot, if passed, would have urged Rice to divest from pro-Israel companies and issue a statement condemning genocide in Gaza.

While three of the four referenda failed, future conversations between administrators and SA representatives would acknowledge that over 50% of voters supported each of them, Kim wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.

The special election saw a 39.7% voter turnout, with 71.5% approval of the first referendum, and the second, third and fourth referenda receiving a 57.9%, 61.4%, and again 61.4% approval, which is a majority of respondents for the special election, though not a majority of the student body.

“I think that the high voter turnout and activism surrounding the referenda indicate that students are passionate about this issue, and finds it relevant to our university,” Kim wrote.

Saxena said that he was pleased with the support that each referendum received from the student body.

“This vote highlights strong democratic support among students for disentangling the university from systems that perpetuate violence and oppression,” Saxena, a Lovett College junior, wrote in a message to the Thresher. “We call on the Rice University administration to act on Referendum 1 by disclosing its investments and holdings.”

“Transparency is essential for accountability and meaningful change,” Saxena wrote. “This vote shows that these pushes represent the majority of Rice students, and we will continue to work together to fight for the basic human rights of Palestinians and all colonized people worldwide.”

Giovanni Marinilli, co-president of Students Supporting Israel, said that he advocated against the referenda because of the language used.

“Our specific stance was never that there isn’t a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, it’s that the language and the tone,” Marinilli, a Sid Richardson College junior, said. “It’s the ‘U.S.-Israel colonial war machine,’ and not defining that, just having this generic tone that lumps a lot of people into accusations of genocide. It’s very strong accusation, and I think that there are a lot of people who feel very afraid of where this talk leads.”



More from The Rice Thresher

NEWS 1/14/25 10:59pm
h&d-rolls-out-new-spring-dining-schedule

Housing and Dining unveiled a restructured dining schedule for the spring semester, introducing extended meal times and continuous weekday dining. Lunch and dinner times are staggered at different serveries — for example, Baker offers lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., while Seibel offers lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Under the new plan, at least one servery will be open at any given time between 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays.

NEWS 1/14/25 10:59pm
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. 


Comments

Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.