Tobey holds first senate, outlines priorities
The 2025-26 Student Association held their first Senate March 24 after leadership changeover the week prior. SA President Trevor Tobey made inaugural remarks on campus change and listening to students.
“The [executive] team, as well as I, came up with an overall mission, which is to empower your voice, enact meaningful change and elevate campus life through transparent leadership, bold advocacy and student-driven innovation,” said Tobey, a Hanszen College junior.
Tobey also set priorities for the first 40 days, including creating a “responsible” budget, expanding mental health resources, passing constitutional reforms, increasing campus dialogue on political and international issues, expanding discounts and securing student printing credits.
The SA also voted for appointed positions, confirming David Lee as chief of staff, Zach Weinbrum as parliamentarian, Nathan Turman as deputy chief of staff, Chelsea Asibbey as Director of Communications, and Blanket Tax Committee members Zach Wilson, Patrick Xin, Henry Cabrera, Othniel Amanyi and Willa Liou.
A special election was also announced to fill the empty secretary position. Campaigning will begin on April 2, and voting will start April 8.
Mahtab Dastur, SA External Vice President, encouraged college senators to bring energy to their roles.
“When you’re a college senator, I expect you to give 100 percent in everything you do,” said Dastur, a Duncan College freshman.
In the rest of her speech, Dastur emphasized inter-college coordination and fostering relationships across campus.
Tobey also said he would focus on creating engagement and increasing the SA efficacy.
“The bureaucratic hurdles and lack of engagement are no longer just obstacles,” Tobey said. “They’re our responsibility to fix, and if we don’t believe in this organization, we can’t expect the student body to.”
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice welcomes 7.8% of applicants to class of 2029
Rice accepted 2,852 applicants to the class of 2029 March 26, said Yvonne Romero, vice president for enrollment. This represents 7.8% of 36,777, the highest acceptance rate since 2022.
Neurologist Huda Zoghbi announced as commencement speaker
Huda Zoghbi was announced to be the speaker for Rice’s 122th commencement, March 26. Zoghbi is a professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.
Out with the old, in with the new
Rice Athletics fired baseball head coach José Cruz Jr. on March 13, less than a month into the season. The baseball team was 2-14 and on a 10 game losing streak at the time of his firing. Just days later, Rice welcomed baseball veteran David Pierce to fill Cruz’s seat.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.