In a speech by Sanjoy Paul, the executive director of the Rice Nexus, he said the 10,000-square-foot business space provides strong industry and government partnerships to drive innovation, as well as an artificial intelligence ecosystem to transform Houston's industries.

"If you have a startup, you have to scale, you have to really go commercialize," Paul said in an interview with the Thresher. "We connect you with all the venture capital. We connect you with potential customers, without which you are not going to succeed. We connect you with the government, where the grants are."

Paul also said involvement from Rice undergraduates could launch a cycle of innovation.

"If you're a Rice student, one of the ways that many people get engaged is as interns to many of the startups," Paul said. "There's already Rice startups, so [students] can get engaged as interns, and eventually they might get absorbed in the company, and in the process of being an intern there, they might come up with new ideas which could spawn new companies."

Nafisa Istami, the innovation manager at the Rice Office of Innovation, said that the Nexus aims to connect Rice's strong research program to the commercial sphere.

"The goal of the space is to provide a launchpad for Rice startups to come out of once they've left the hedges, if you will," Istami said. "So we have a lot of companies that are leaving Rice that are still young, maybe 12 to 18 months out from a licensing event or from a corporation. We are utilizing Nexus as an incubation acceleration space to co-work out of."

Istami said that the Nexus, in partnership with Rice Innovation, also funds venture commercialization through the One Small Step and One Giant Leap grants.

"A lot of our researchers are very interested in that space, but there is a funding gap in between, and so [the] One Small Step grant is aimed to address that gap, and focuses on companies that are spinning out from tenure-track faculty research labs," Istami said.

In a presentation by Paul, the Rice Nexus also has a special AI focus in the Rice AI Venture Accelerator, which aims to identify and support AI startups to solve industry problems.

For alumni Benjamin Chao '23 and Praneel Joshi '23, the Rice Nexus provides a potential space for their AI startup, called focai.

"Previously, as a student, I was also looking for startup opportunities, but [Rice] didn't really have anything involved at the time," Chao said. "When we were students, they added their entrepreneurship minor in my junior year, by then, it was kind of late. And so having Rice as a starter space was what we really wanted as an undergrad."

Joshi said funding was particularly important for the pair's next startup, TokenStream.

"Funding is the most critical thing for a startup, so when you're not funded and you're trying to do something innovative and new, you're just burning cash. You're hoping that things will work out," Joshi said. "Eventually you need to either start generating your own cash flow, which we're trying to do, but it wouldn't hurt to be able to get funding by the Nexus fund - which is now open to alumni."

The NIH's guidance would limit an institution's indirect cost rate to 15%. Rice's is currently 56%, according to a Feb. 11 campus message from Rice president Reginald DesRoches. Such a funding slash, he wrote, would impact the "essential expenses" that fund Rice's "successful research on potential treatments for cancer, diabetes, dementia and a host of other serious health care challenges." In an interview with TIME Magazine, neuroscience professor Richard Huganir called the potential NIH cuts "the apocalypse of American science."

The federal lawsuit, filed in the Massachusetts district court, alleges that the NIH funding reduction violates Congress's "express demand" and unlawfully undermines federal separation of powers. Plaintiffs allege the new policy would be a "disaster to science" with "immediate and devastating effects," and was issued in "flagrant disregard of the reliance interests [the NIH] aims to protect."

The lawsuit is led by the Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, with a dozen other research universities - including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University - signing on as co-plaintiffs. Rice did not join the lawsuit as a plaintiff, but has submitted Dittmar's statement as sworn testimony. A hearing will occur Feb. 21, after a federal judge in Boston temporarily halted the NIH's order.

"Rice is not a plaintiff in in its own right, but as an AAU member, it will have its interests represented by the AAU, and will be entitled to any remedies the AAU obtains in the lawsuit," Omar Syed, Rice's chief counsel, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

According to Dittmar's testimony, Rice received $43.1 million in total NIH funding, with $9.3 million allocated for indirect costs. This year, Rice is expected to receive$ 20.5 million in NIH funding, with $11.6 million - over 50% - allocated for indirect costs.

"Rice elected to support the lawsuit to ensure that its research community would continue to receive the support legally due to it by the federal government. Rice did so by providing a lengthy, detailed, and sworn declaration from Provost Amy Dittmar," Syed wrote in an email to the Thresher. "That declaration helps the court more fully understand the adverse consequences that medical and health research can suffer when negotiated contract payments are withheld from researchers without notice."

In her testimony, Dittmar described the proposed cut as having both immediate impacts, and longer term impacts that are "cumulative and cascading."

Threatened medical research initiatives include technologies for early cancer detection, cell therapy to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome and a genome-editing strategy to treat sickle cell disease, Dittmar said.

Beyond halting existing research, Dittmar said lack of funding could cause safety concerns.

"Reductions may cause safety issues from lack of staff and security, threats to research security and national security because of increased data access and theft by malicious actors, and the inability to restart research studies even if funding were restored," Dittmar said.

Beyond Rice, Dittmar also said that cutting current research could threaten the country.

"Slowdowns or halts in research by Rice and other American universities will allow competitor nations that are maintaining their investments in research to surpass the United States on this front, threatening both our Nation's national security and its economic dominance," Dittmar wrote in her testimony.

Currently, the Office of Research Development advises researchers to continue working on their projects unless notified by the Office of Sponsored Research, according to their website.

However, the office also advises researchers to "closely monitor obligated budget balances to avoid deficits while awaiting future obligations," and that "anticipated funding is subject to availability and should not be considered guaranteed."

This story contains descriptions of sexual trauma that may be triggering to some readers. Visit RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network), which has a 24/7 hotline and helpful resources. The National Sexual Assault Hotline can also be reached at 800-656-HOPE (4673).

Myrna Meeroff hadn't had a seizure in four years. But in 1995, on her first day of graduate classes at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, she had one. Recovering in the hospital, she missed the beginning of the semester.

She entered the French horn studio a week behind her peers - "compromised in every way," she said. Meeroff's horn instructor, William VerMeulen, invited her to lunch off-campus in what seemed to Meeroff like a gesture of goodwill. VerMeulen gave her a lay of the land and caught Meeroff up on missed material. He reassured her about her absences and even offered to find her opportunities with community orchestras, she told the Thresher..

Everything would be alright, she remembered him saying. Then, she said, he placed his hand on her thigh.

Why is this man touching me in any way? Meeroff remembered thinking. It gave her pause. Other teachers had touched her during lessons, placing their heads on top of hers to hear the horn's sound - weird, she said, though not sexual - but this was different. She forced herself to brush it off.

The touching continued in lessons, Meeroff said, even as other male studio members watched. Though her previous teachers sat across from her as she played, VerMeulen sat next to her. He often touched her stomach, without permission, to ensure she was breathing deeply enough for her belly to expand. He'd rest his hand on top of her thigh, she said, letting it stay for too long.

"When the hand is on your thigh?" she told the Thresher. "That has nothing to do with music whatsoever."

Meeroff had a sheltered childhood - "the music was my life," she said - and she sometimes wondered if VerMeulen's behavior was a figment of her imagination. She'd been told he was one of the best teachers in the field. That he had the ability to make stars out of his students. "This was going to be the defining moment that was going to get me the career that I wanted in music," she said.

She wore pants to lessons, moved her chair, practiced at home in her apartment - quiet rebuffs to his repeated advances.

"Once he realized that he wasn't going to get anything from me," Meeroff said, VerMeulen began "systematically destroying my confidence."

Meeroff said he ranked her last in auditions. He gave her parts she felt he knew she couldn't do, then would "berate me for not being able to do it to his satisfaction," she said. Beat down, she slowly stopped attending classes.

Because she was afraid of losing her spot in the studio, Meeroff said she didn't report the behavior, or dare say the words "sexual harassment" out loud. But she felt sure others knew. "They saw what was happening, and they couldn't help me without running the risk of, you know, having their career destroyed," she said.

Meeroff often confided in a close friend, who trained at VerMeulen's studio from 1995 to 2000. "I know she was always fighting him off," he confirmed to the Thresher. "I remember her telling me one day that Bill [VerMeulen] told her that if she tries to come back to Rice to finish her master's, he'll make her life a living hell. I remember her telling me that like it was yesterday."

A few months into the fall semester, Meeroff said VerMeulen insisted the pair visit the school's counseling center. Meeroff wasn't homesick - she had easily spent months away from home at summer camps - but she said both VerMeulen and the counselor insisted otherwise. "They kept trying to convince me to go home, and stay home."

"People like that, they plant a seed and water it, and water it, and water it until it bears fruit. And you don't realize how much it's hurting you until you're completely destroyed," she said.

Then, in their second-to-last lesson of the year, Meeroff said VerMeulen told her she'd been kicked out of the studio. "You've been replaced," are the words she remembered. "And then he said, 'We're gonna sit down and talk about what you can do for a living, because you're never going to be a horn player.'"

Meeroff didn't fight it. She left the Shepherd School of Music "a shell of (her) former self."

She went home at the end of the spring semester in 1996, back to Florida. She took a job at a music camp in upstate New York that summer to help clear her head. At the end of the season, the orchestra conductor told her she was the most accurate horn player he'd ever heard. "It was a complete and total shock to me, because I believed that my career was over," she said.

She completed her master's at Florida Atlantic University and continued performing. In 2011, she founded the South Florida Chamber Ensemble, a music nonprofit that often partners with sexual abuse advocacy organizations. She took the group to Belgium for the 2019 International Horn Symposium. Meeroff knew VerMeulen would be there, and she wanted to see him. She needed closure. Then, climbing the stairs from the dressing room on her way to a concert, the two collided.

"He didn't recognize me at all," she said. "And that's when it dawned on me. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, he's done this to so many other people that he doesn't remember.'"

'Everyone knew that Rice knew'

A wave of #MeToo-esque reckonings rolled through the classical music world last year, prompted in part by a New York Magazine report published in April. The article detailed sexual assault and misconduct allegations against two members of the New York Philharmonic who were fired in 2018, then reinstated through union arbitration.

The uproar was swift: The Philharmonic commissioned an outside investigation into the organizational culture. More women came forward with additional allegations against both players, who were placed on leave then fired in November. The players have denied the allegations and sued the Philharmonic and players union. A federal judge recently dismissed a $100 million lawsuit filed by one of the players against the magazine.

Online discussion erupted in the insular industry. And more allegations emerged. Two musicians were removed from the Calgary Philharmonic. Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music announced it had removed one of its professors.

Then, in May 2024, Rice announced then-63-year-old William VerMeulen's retirement, effective immediately.

"Professor VerMeulen has been teaching at the Shepherd School since 1990, building one of the country's most prominent horn studios - with numerous professional placements for his students, who are performing in many of the top ensembles around the world," wrote Dean Matthew Loden in an email to music students and alumni, which the Thresher and The Barbed Wire independently reviewed.

"Despite his teaching record, there have recently been serious allegations made against Professor VerMeulen, which we will continue to address."

The email continued: "Rice is aware of private images that have recently resurfaced on social media. Rice is reviewing the allegations and is prepared to investigate any reports of misconduct."

Many Shepherd students and faculty understood this to be a dismissal; many said it was long overdue for the self-proclaimed "horn guru." Dozens of former students, colleagues and acquaintances of VerMeulen who spoke to the Thresher seem to agree on another thing: The allegations were far from recent.

"We knew," said Corin Droullard, who earned his master's in 2019 under VerMeulen. "Everyone knew there were dick pics floating around.

"Everyone knew that Rice knew. The administration has known for 30 years."

In the eight months since VerMeulen's retirement, 15 of his former students came forward to the Thresher with allegations of sexual misconduct in his studio. Four women told the Thresher that VerMeulen sexually solicited them or physically forced himself on them when they were current or recent students - describing experiences of unwanted touching, groping and kissing. One was so traumatized by her experience in the late 2000s that, after speaking with reporters for months, she decided she was not emotionally prepared to detail her story publicly - but consented to being anonymously included in a total of survivors, since she does not want any other women to experience what happened to her.

Eleven of those former students - who studied under VerMeulen as early as 1995, and as late as 2019 - said they witnessed sexualized jokes, overtures, innuendos and a broader culture of misogyny apparent in VerMeulen's lessons. His studio, "the Crew," became a microcosm of the larger brass world, those former students said: male-dominated, crude and often cruel, especially toward female students.

Although Rice parted ways with VerMeulen after the private photos emerged on Facebook in 2024, several sources told the Thresher that they directly warned school administrators - starting with an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint and lawsuit in 1997, all the way up to 2022 - about allegations of the professor's allegedly inappropriate behavior toward students.

The Thresher spoke with six working female horn players in the industry today who said their former professors had warned them to proceed with caution around VerMeulen, who is married, and that he had a reputation for being a "creep" or "womanizer."

Another five horn players - who teach the instrument in addition to playing with orchestras, common among professional musicians - told the Thresher that they would not feel safe sending students to study in VerMeulen's studio.

In total, 26 people - former Shepherd pupils, horn students, previous colleagues of VerMeulen and professional hornists - said VerMeulen's reputation of sexual misbehavior was an open secret in the music world at large.

VerMeulen declined an interview request, and despite multiple attempts, his attorney declined to respond to a list of questions about the allegations reported throughout this article, saying that he did not want to lend legitimacy to the claims.

In response to a detailed list of questions about VerMeulen and Rice's handling of allegations against him the university said, "Rice takes all concerns of harassment and misconduct seriously. We cannot disclose specific details of investigations due to privacy protections."

"We can share the faculty member retired last summer and Rice is no longer affiliated with him in any capacity," the statement continued. "Last November, the Safety and Trust Taskforce was launched with faculty and staff at the Shepherd School of Music to focus on student safety, wellbeing and culture at the school. Dean Matthew Loden laid out a multi-phased approach to explore and implement measures to ensure safety, emotional support and inclusive practices that respect all individuals. Rice is committed to maintaining a respectful and safe environment. Sexual harassment or misconduct will not be tolerated."

Though he is no longer at the school, VerMeulen still teaches private lessons and workshops, according to his personal website, and he remains the principal horn player and an endowed chair at the Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony, a role he's held since 1990. Endowed chairs are common in major orchestras, where patrons, in exchange for a hefty donation, can have an orchestral chair named after them. The Houston Symphony, an historic and well-respected arts organization in the nation's fourth-largest city, asks for a $5 million donation to secure an endowed principal chair, meaning VerMeulen occupies one of the orchestra's most coveted and high-profile seats.

"This matter has been brought to our attention," the symphony said in a statement after VerMeulen's departure from Rice, and again in response to questions from the Thresher and The Barbed Wire. "While we do not comment on individual personnel matters, as a fundamental principle we evaluate any allegations of misconduct and will take any actions we determine are necessary and appropriate to ensure that we are providing a safe environment for our musicians, staff, and the public."

The symphony confirmed on Friday Jan. 31 that VerMeulen still holds his position as principal hornist.

The majority of sources for this story were named victims of VerMeulen's alleged advances, but many of those who say they experienced what they described as his predatory behavior within the last 15 years spoke only on the condition of anonymity, out of fear of professional retaliation.

"People still fear the influence that he has, even now. He's risen from the ashes before," said Dominic Rotella, who studied with VerMeulen from 2017 to 2019 and is currently principal horn of the Richmond Symphony. "He's still employed by the Houston Symphony, and so he's still responsible for who gets to [substitute] with that orchestra. And what's to say that a couple years from now the temperature gets dialed down a bit and some other university hires him?"

Several sources also expressed fear of a lawsuit by VerMeulen.

When the Thresher reached VerMeulen's attorney, Steve Silverman, for comment about the allegations, he wrote back, "Should you print such an article, there may be unintended consequences for you and your paper."

In follow-up emails and conversations, Silverman claimed that other news outlets in both Houston and Baltimore had been working on stories about VerMeulen or the private photos that led to his retirement. But Silverman claimed he had successfully convinced other news organizations to drop any articles before they reached publication, citing potential litigation.

The Thresher and The Barbed Wire were not able to independently verify those claims.

'Collateral damage'

The very first time Carey Potts met William VerMeulen, she knew something was wrong. It was the spring of 1995 and she, like many young horn players at the time, wanted to join the Shepherd School of Music. VerMeulen, then five years into his tenure at Rice, had already started to establish his horn studio as a home for burgeoning talent.

But at the first audition, her gut said something didn't feel right, she told the Thresher. He leered at her the whole time, gave her "creepy, ugly" looks. He told Potts that she reminded him of his first girlfriend, she said. She left that audition unsettled and declined a seat in VerMeulen's horn studio, then took a year off music and got married.

But Potts, who had spent her entire young life playing the horn, didn't know a world without music. So in 1996, she tried again and re-auditioned at Rice. She joined in the fall semester.

Within a year, she had filed a complaint against the school with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that shortly after the start of her classes at Shepherd, "Mr. VerMeulen began making remarks to me of a sexual nature and comments that indicated my staying in the program was contingent on staying in his good graces."

Potts subsequently sued Rice, claiming the school maintained "a policy of sexual harassment (hostile work environment and quid pro quo)," according to court records obtained by the Thresher. The civil lawsuit was filed Dec. 9, 1997 in federal court for the Southern District of Texas, and the school settled the case for an undisclosed amount. Potts agreed to speak with the Thresher about her experience at Rice and with VerMeulen but did not discuss the lawsuit or her EEOC complaint, the latter of which did not lead to further action. Reporters used records and interviews with additional sources to fill in the sequence of events.

From the moment she entered Rice, Potts said she felt indebted to VerMeulen for giving her another chance. As classes began, VerMeulen "proceeded to make sexually suggestive remarks and innuendos," Potts alleged in her civil lawsuit. His "pressure caused her marriage to fail," she continued in her civil lawsuit, "and she and her husband got divorced as a result."

He began to invite her to lunch and to dinner, she wrote in her EEOC notice of charge of discrimination, and "his sexual innuendo, comments and sexual propositions escalated while he continuously reminded me of the tenuous nature of my involvement in the program and his ability to oust me from the school."

"In order to be referred for playing jobs outside the school, recommendations for professional positions and commendations to the faculty and students at the Shepherd School, he insisted that I acquiesce to his sexual demands," Potts continued in her EEOC charge.

"I really felt a lot of shame," she told the Thresher. "I was such a young, eager to please, easy to shame person back then, and I think he knew it."

She relented to his advances and began a sexual relationship that lasted about two months.

By the end of the semester, Potts was saddled with health problems - "significant physical manifestations of her mental anguish," as alleged in her civil suit - and she had sought help from Paul English, a Houston-based composer and VerMeulen's best friend at the time.

While away on vacation, VerMeulen had asked English to check in on Potts, who "broke down" and told English everything: "She felt like her whole career at Rice depended on that relationship," English said in an interview with the Thresher.

"The definition of 'rape' back then for innocent white males like me was different," English said. "Did he hold her down? Did he strap her to a table? Did he hold a gun to her head?"

"Not to my knowledge, but there are other kinds of rape," he added. "One is 'You'll either do this or you won't have your scholarship.'"

Before classes began for the spring 1997 semester, the three agreed that Potts and VerMeulen would maintain a professional student-teacher relationship and that they'd keep what happened to themselves.

Yet, as the semester progressed, VerMeulen became "irate and hostile," retaliating against Potts, court records allege.

"Among other things, he excluded her from participation in class programs, constantly criticized her, failed to provide her with proper instruction, made false and untrue remarks about her to classmates and others," according to Potts' civil suit.

Later, as Potts and English spent more time together, they began dating. On Oct. 2, 1997, Potts and English met with Catherine Keneally, Rice's then-director of the school's Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity, "to complain about Mr. VerMeulen's sexual harassment and retaliation," according to the lawsuit.

At the time, Rice's sexual harassment policy - issued in 1981, then revised in 1989 and 1992 - defined sexual harassment as "unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favors, and other unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature," often when an individual's education or employment status is conditional on "submission to such conduct."

Potts and English said the meeting with Keneally was for informal advice. There, they said, Keneally pushed Potts to file a formal complaint. Potts pushed back.

"I'm like, 'No, I really don't want to do that,'" she said. Instead, Potts remembered asking if there was a way to get VerMeulen to back off quietly without it escalating. "But that didn't happen."

Potts had a meeting scheduled with then-Shepherd Dean Michael Hammond the next day to seek his advice, which she said Keneally advised her to cancel. After choosing to keep the appointment anyway, Potts and English remembered arriving at Hammond's office the next morning and the doors opening to reveal Keneally already inside, sitting opposite Hammond's desk.

"Paul, I already know everything," English remembered Hammond saying. English told Hammond that it was "impossible not to suspect that it was a damage control meeting," according to records.

According to the lawsuit, "Ms. Keneally breached the confidentiality of Plaintiff's complaints and informed the Dean of the Shepherd School, Michael Hammond, about her allegations. This information was then disseminated to Mr. VerMeulen who offered to resign, but was refused by Dean Hammond."

Both Keneally and Hammond are deceased, and thus, could not be reached to verify the lawsuit's claims. Rice's statement above did not include answers to questions from the Thresher about Potts' lawsuit, complaint or experience with school administrators.

Two days later, Kristina Crago - another student in the horn studio - was confused when her classmate, Carey Potts, gathered the group after a recital. Potts had been having "sexual relations" with their professor, she told the studio. She was going to sue Rice.

Crago was one grade below Potts. The two had barely spoken, but she had heard rumors about Potts' relationship with VerMeulen.

"My first thought was, 'This is horrible. I hate that this happened to her,'" Crago remembers.

Her next thought: "I'm five weeks into my master's. What am I going to do with my degree?" It seemed almost guaranteed, she said, that Potts' allegations would get him dismissed at Rice. When they didn't, she said, "You go from, 'Oh, good, we still have him [at Shepherd]. And then you're like, 'Wait a minute, will I be safe around him?'"

VerMeulen was instead suspended for an academic year, and his studio was temporarily led by hornists Bruce Henniss and Roger Kaza. Henniss declined a request for comment, but Kaza, who had previously played as an associate hornist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, confirmed that he arrived at Rice in the spring of 1998 as a substitute instructor for Potts. He and Henniss led VerMeulen's studio during the 1998-1999 school year, according to digitized Shepherd programs.

"Everybody knew everything," Kaza said about VerMeulen's suspension that year. "There were no secrets at all."

At the time, administrators tasked a grievance committee made up of Rice graduate students and professors from different departments to determine if VerMeulen was fit to continue teaching. In a final report obtained by the Thresher, the committee acknowledged that VerMeulen was in a position of direct authority over Potts and such "circumstances call into question the very concept of consent."

The report referenced the "Amorous Relationships Statement," ratified by Rice faculty a few years earlier to discourage sexual relationships between teachers and students, prompted by another sexual harassment case between a male professor and female student, according to a New York Times article. The statement said, in part: "When the faculty member has professional jurisdiction over the student, sexual relationships (including sexual touching and sexual propositioning) violate professional ethics and could result in disciplinary action as described in the Sexual Harassment Policy."

But the committee did not suggest disciplinary action for VerMeulen.

It categorized Potts' allegations as an "affair" that was "more than likely" consensual and found that she "arrived at a distorted perspective of the affair after the relationship ended." The report described Potts as an uncommitted student and horn player, angry, difficult to teach and with "unresolved problems in both her personal and professional life."

English, who was interviewed by the committee, wrote a 46-page rebuttal to the report - calling it "poorly presented, factually incorrect, misleading and dangerously irresponsible" and filled with "smear tactics" - which he said he printed, bound and delivered to nearly a dozen administrators. He never received a response.

"The school protects the teacher because they have an investment in the teacher," English told the Thresher. "The investment in the student is minimal.

"'We can trash a few students, collateral damage,'" he added. "That's basically their attitude."

Throughout the ad hoc committee's report are references to evidence of inappropriate patterns of behavior consistent with violations of Rice's sexual harassment policy at the time, including:

• a domineering, forceful style of teaching that included a "crew" concept that meant "socializing with him was a significant element" of the program, and disagreement with him could lead to the "group as a whole closing ranks" on the disagreeing individual
• use of "sexually-explicit similes and metaphors in classroom situations"
• "comments to female students that could be taken to imply sexual interest like 'Oh, you're a babe, you're just the sort of girl I'd have been interested in myself 15 years ago.'"
• an undisputed case in which VerMeulen engaged in "flirtatious banter with clear sexual innuendos"
• another "former female student who, like Ms. Potts, claims she was sexually

harrassed by Mr. VerMeulen."

Yet, the committee justified each element: A domineering teaching style was "clearly viewed by many as the only way to train and produce absolutely first-rate, world-class musicians." Sexually explicit language in class also "probably has genuine musical validity." Also, VerMeulen had learned his lesson, and he'd "clearly recognized the problems inherent in his flirtatious interactions with some young women and has made significant changes towards a more appropriate professional style."

As for the other allegation of sexual harassment? "The testimony of this student is problematic," the committee concluded. "She is known to have persistently mis-interpreted the non-sexual friendly behavior of a fellow male student, despite repeated protestations to the contrary by the young man in question." (The committee did not include evidence of that assertion.)

The committee's stance is all the more striking in light of one key detail: Though he initially denied it, VerMeulen admitted in a final interview that he'd had a "sexual relationship" with Potts and that his "behavior was a disgrace," according to the report.

"I did everything exactly according to their rules," Potts said. "I followed the steps exactly, and they failed me. And so I had to go then and find an attorney." The committee's response, she said, "felt like a witch hunt."

One piece of evidence gathered by Potts and titled "What I know" detailed conversations Potts had with other witnesses, including Myrna Meeroff and another female student who, according to a copy obtained by the Thresher, said that she had experienced similar sexual solicitations, innuendos and intimidation.

VerMeulen's alleged misconduct apparently hadn't gone unnoticed by other members of the studio, either: Two men who studied in the studio that same year would often "work out a schedule" to attend Crago's private lessons, she told The Barbed Wire. VerMeulen was still employing his open-door policy, which allowed any students to observe their peers' lessons. She didn't realize until they told her, months later, but the two students had taken turns observing her lessons - quietly watching over her in fear that VerMeulen might soon "target" Crago.

"He made my skin crawl," she told the Thresher.

Still, the committee concluded that the additional harassment complaints involved "the general teaching style of Mr. VerMeulen which cannot be viewed as a specific discrimination."

VerMeulen returned to Shepherd in the fall of 1999.

'They fear retribution'

"That laissez-faire attitude allowed very prominent male teachers to create their own reality. And the administration went along with it, which is the case with Bill VerMeulen," said Julie Landsman, former principal horn player at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and current faculty at University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. "They wanted to let Bill do his thing. He attracted students, and the administrators were all about attracting students and letting the teachers with power have as much power as they could take."

For years, the most prominent horn players in the country came through one of two studios: VerMeulen's or Landsman's. Landsman spent three decades at Juilliard, and she taught at Shepherd from 1982 to 1985. The two instructors rarely crossed paths, she said, but often disagreed with each other's pedagogy from afar. Landsman particularly disliked the "hero-worshiping, macho culture" that VerMeulen cultivated in his studio, often at the expense of his female students' well-being, she told the Thresher.

In August of 2022, Landsman scheduled a phone call with Matthew Loden, Shepherd's dean. Landsman and Loden had known each other for years, she said, meeting previously at a classical music festival and again at the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the time, Loden was new to the job at Rice - he was named in 2021 - and Landsman said she reached out to Loden on a related issue in VerMeulen's horn studio.

Among the topics discussed was the "toxic" culture, which it seemed that Loden already knew about, said Landsman.

"Oh, yes, I'm aware that Bill has a history. He is on a short leash," Landsman remembers Loden saying.

In a statement to The Barbed Wire, Loden confirmed that the two spoke on the phone about VerMeulen in 2022 but said he did not remember specific wording. "Because we take all allegations of misconduct seriously, I notified the Title IX office and they initiated a review process in accordance with our policies," Loden said Monday. "At that time, we did not have sufficient information to take immediate or specific action."

Before VerMeulen's retirement, the Thresher and The Barbed Wire found that Rice and its Title IX office were informed through the complaint and lawsuit in 1997, a Title IX case in the late 2010s, and through Loden - via Landsman - in 2022.

Attorney Cari Simon, who has represented sexual assault survivors in university and K-12 settings, told the Thresher that "Title IX's mandate (is) that a school stop sexual harassment and prevent its reoccurrence."

In an interview during which the Thresher provided Simon with the contours of the reporting for this story, the attorney said, "To the extent that there's been a pattern and you're seeing that pattern, why aren't you addressing the pattern?"

According to other emails obtained by the Thresher, Rice retained an outside law firm after VerMeulen's 2024 retirement to investigate the allegations against him. They contacted Potts with a list of questions about her time at Rice, emails show, and reached out to at least three other people with knowledge of VerMeulen's alleged misconduct.

Neither Potts, nor the three other people, have heard from the university in months.

Rice would not comment on the existence or status of any pending investigations.

The Captain

Some call the French horn a weapon of war. The 12-foot-long child of the sonorous brass family is one of the loudest instruments in an orchestra. It demands a certain brawn - and lung capacity - from its user. Because of that, the brass music scene, which includes trumpets, tubas and trombones, is often a hyper-masculine one: more akin to a "boys' club," said trombonist Abbie Conant.

In the studio, the instructor is tantamount to God. Many professional players start young, first picking up their instrument in early childhood. As they grow up, their art demands more hours, more energy. Young musicians learn to place their faith, sometimes blindly, in an all-knowing instructor who promises success.

These powerful figures often go unbridled by their institutions - several music veterans and students told the Thresher - granted free rein over their students, studios and symphonies.

Conductors and principal players often wield the most power in the highly competitive music world, where there isn't enough orchestra demand to match the supply of talent. Cutthroat audition processes - the "orchestral Olympics," a current hornist called them - tend to favor those who curry favor among music's most-celebrated elite: just like William VerMeulen.

VerMeulen grew up in a musical household, learning the ropes from his cellist mother, he told The Houston Chronicle in 2012.

As a teenager, he studied horn at Michigan's Interlochen Arts Academy, a world-renowned boarding school and training program for burgeoning artists. As a freshman at Northwestern University, VerMeulen won a spot in the Kansas City Symphony. It was his first-ever audition, he said in a 1984 interview with The Horn Call, the International Horn Society's biannual journal, music blog Horn Matters reported in June 2024.

Four years later, VerMeulen was on his third professional job, principal horn at the Honolulu Symphony. The principal slots, or the section leaders of each instrument, are some of the most coveted positions in an orchestra, earned through years of ceaseless training and stiff competition. By all accounts, VerMeulen seemed somewhat of a young prodigy: Peers his age were still training in their undergraduate studios.

The Shepherd School of Music, established in 1974, was still recruiting new talent to prove itself as a nationally-ranked music school by the late '80s and early '90s. Then came VerMeulen, barely 30 years old and already with plenty of accolades under his belt.

Hired in 1990, he spent the next 34 years at Rice drawing auditions from bright-eyed horn players across the country. His students won coveted orchestra roles, and his success rates were high - 90% according to The Horn Call. Over time, his reputation started to precede him: Dominic Rotella, principal horn of the Richmond Symphony, recalls knowing VerMeulen as a "hot shot teacher" before they met in the summer of 2005.

The door to VerMeulen's studio was covered in yellow index cards, each detailing employment offers that his students had received over the decades. By 2021, he had amassed 515 offers, according to a post VerMeulen made on Facebook that year.

Emblazoned across the door in capitalized cobalt letters: "The Few. The Proud. The Employed."

For many aspiring musicians, a career path is clear: Start young. Train hard, and for many years. Audition at a studio to receive even more training. Then, audition for coveted - and ultra-competitive - orchestra seats. For this path, it seemed like VerMeulen's studio was the place to be. He had a unique formula for winning orchestral auditions, according to a former student from the '90s: a training program that taught students how to play under extreme pressure, how to hide their weaknesses and display their strengths.

At Rice, "he was the (brass) program, in so many ways," said Corin Droullard, who earned his master's in 2019 under VerMeulen.

VerMeulen's studio housed his "Crew," the nickname he developed for his studio members. Immer crewdom, he would often write on his Facebook. Always the crew. Over time, this rhetoric gave way to a studio so tight-knit it bordered on cult-ish, six former students say. Steering the ship: the "Captain," a title VerMeulen embraced with enthusiasm. It was on posters for his recital; it was engraved into his whiskey bottles.

"It was a boys' club, sort of a Bill fanboy environment in the studio," Droullard said. "There's this sort of like demigod figure who walks in and commands the respect of the room … It's interesting talking to people afterwards, because I thought that everyone bought in. I thought they were all on board [with] this 'Bill effect.'

"He didn't feel like a professor," said Droullard. "There was this otherness."

Many grew loyal to VerMeulen, and for good reason. He delivered on his promises to advance their careers. In an Houston audition described in a 2015 article in The Horn Call, the partition separating the candidates from the hiring committee dropped to reveal that all five finalists were VerMeulen's students. VerMeulen "recused himself because he was so invested in each candidate's success."

VerMeulen's defenders dismissed critiques of his style as jealousy. "It should be noted that VerMeulen has his detractors despite (or because of!) his success," The Horn Call published that same year. "There are those who intimate that his teaching is borderline cultism, tantamount to brainwashing. I asked him about these allegations and he good-humoredly acknowledged that he was certainly aware of them. No, he laughed, he does not call students at 4 am and demand they play Shostakovich!"

Even now, VerMeulen remains a beloved figure to some in the industry. In a May 2024 story, classical music site Slipped Disc portrayed VerMeulen as a victim of revenge porn. And a recent graduate of Shepherd's horn studio said VerMeulen was an incredible instructor who paved the path for every student who has graduated in recent years. For her part, Meeroff estimates that over half the industry still remains supportive of him. Several former students expressed apprehension about speaking to the Thresher on the record, saying they were conflicted about their former professor because he had given them so much.

"I show my resume, and I don't have to take auditions to get into recording gigs and [substitute] lists," Droullard said. "Rice is an insanely powerful tool, and it 100 percent made me a better musician."

VerMeulen's page on the Houston Symphony website claims he is "one of today's superstars of the international brass scene" and is "one of the most influential horn teachers of all time," whose students have received 250 positions of employment at orchestras in New York, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, Chicago and Israel.

Still, one former student, who trained at Shepherd's horn studio in the '90s, remembered his professor as a volatile man, often marked by a temper, a deep conviction in his own talents, and a self-assurance so strong he was almost capable of "creating his own reality." In the studio, Rotella - the principal horn of the Richmond Symphony - describes a tenuous balance between VerMeulen's adept talents and "boorish" personality. Two current Shepherd professors, one former colleague, and one former student all describe him as an outright "bully."

Nine horn players who studied with VerMeulen said cruelty was a cornerstone of his instruction. "The music industry can be tough love," said one former student. "Bill was definitely the toughest."

"He sort of appears to have self-styled himself as the 'horn guru,'" said violinist Lara St. John. St. John is also a gender equity activist and describes herself as an "unofficial spokesperson of this music #MeToo movement." Though St. John never attended Shepherd or studied with VerMeulen, she said his reputation of alleged sexual misconduct was widely known across the horn world.

"People bought into that [horn guru attitude], it seems," St. John said. "And what's really disgusting is, so did Rice. So did the Shepherd School."

'He was the victim'

The first movement of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 2 features a horn solo, which is often taught in VerMeulen's studio. The solo starts off unassuming, just a whisper - pianissimo, very softly - as the pace briskens, unfolding into a soaring crescendo. Stringendo, the sheet music instructs: Tempo should quicken to a climax.

Rebekah Daley joined Shepherd in 2010. In his lessons with her, VerMeulen described these bars as the build-up to an orgasm, Daley told the Thresher. A passage with dulcet tones: vaginal lubrication, he said. Articulating a short, staccato note through the instrument's mouthpiece: "spitting a cunt hair" out of your teeth. "Any way that he could fit sex in, he would," Daley said.

The grievance committee detailed VerMeulen's penchant for using sexual metaphors in class in its 1998 report, even using the Brahms example specifically, noting that it "probably has genuine music validity and apparently is a well-known interpretation of the piece." Another example the committee learned about - comparing lip and mouth positions while playing the horn to a "blow job" - "obviously has no validity," the committee wrote.

Though the committee found at least one student had been embarrassed by VerMeulen's "sexually-explicit language," it also said that "it was clear to us that Mr. VerMeulen has been undergoing a learning process, recognizing that language and conversation styles appropriate for his professional orchestra friends are not appropriate for the classroom."

Yet, for decades afterwards, the Thresher found that at least eight students continued to witness inappropriate, explicitly sexual metaphors employed in his instruction.

The Thresher and The Barbed Wire reviewed more than 20 hours of one-on-one lessons recorded by a former student in the late 2000s through 2010.

In an early 2010 lesson, VerMeulen said "I was about to kiss you for how gorgeous you sounded right here" after the former student played a verse. Several months later, he was discussing his finances mid-lesson - "I mean, I make a ton of money" - before saying to her: "I take you [students] out all the time. I haven't taken you out in a while." In another, he asks the student about the meaning of a German title of a musical piece - which translates to "maiden in the bridal chamber" - and says: "Before or after the wedding? I'm just trying to get my motivation."

Later, in an interview with the Thresher, the student said re-listening to the audio made her "uncomfortable." In the moment, she remembered deflecting the conversation to talk about his family.

"I wanted to start recording my lessons because if anything made me uncomfortable, I wanted to be recording," she said, "in order to have that protection."

In another recorded lesson from 2010, the student is audibly stifling tears after an hour of sharp reviews. "You know I think you're wonderful, right?" VerMeulen asks, saying he will take her to lunch "to be nice."

Hannah*, who spoke to the Thresher on the condition of anonymity out of fear of professional retaliation, joined Rice's horn studio in the late 2000s for her master's degree. She remembers the "vaginal lubrication" metaphor used often, and vividly, in her lessons. VerMeulen's harsh criticism - "forceful and domineering," as the 1997 report said - was often intertwined with overt sexualization and dirty jokes.

She said many horn students, both Rice and Houston-based, would often sit in on her lessons, in line with VerMeulen's open door policy. After one such lesson ended, she remembered being pulled aside by a local freelancer who had observed her session.

"The man asked me, like, 'Are you okay? That was the filthiest lesson I've ever witnessed.'"

Hannah doesn't remember what VerMeulen had said to her that day.

"It was just normal. The only thing that stuck with me was that this freelancer asked me about it after, because it kind of broke the spell for me," she said.

In early 2017, VerMeulen - then 56 years old - was in a relationship with a graduate student and the original recipient of the private photos mentioned in Rice's announcement of his retirement. She wasn't a horn player and didn't study directly under VerMeulen. But her close friend, Lindsay*, confirmed to the Thresher that the relationship started when she was a graduate student at the Shepherd School. Lindsay spoke to the Thresher about her experience with VerMeulen on the condition of anonymity out of fear of professional retaliation.

"He absolutely abused his position of power," she said, "and I think that he knowingly engaged in an inappropriate relationship."

A few months after that relationship ended, in 2017, VerMeulen was visiting Lindsay's school to teach masterclasses. The two got coffee and, despite her attempts to keep conversation neutral, he quickly pivoted to discussing the relationship with Lindsay's friend.

"He did not seem remorseful at all [about the relationship]," she told the Thresher. "He seemed to feel, in a lot of ways, that he was the victim."

Lindsay said he spoke disparagingly about the #MeToo movement, which had just started to reach its zenith: "He felt the whole thing had been blown out of proportion because of the #MeToo movement. Not because it was an inappropriate relationship, but because of the culture that was happening."

Thirty minutes later, she returned to campus with one thought in her mind: This is the worst person I know.

VerMeulen's attorney claimed that a Title IX investigation by Rice over the photos yielded no findings of wrongdoing by VerMeulen. (Rice would not comment on specific Title IX investigations related to VerMeulen during his tenure.)

Rice did not have an official policy prohibiting student-teacher sexual relationships in 2017.

It wasn't until two years later, in September 2019, when Rice instituted a new policy that sexual or romantic relationships between graduate students and teachers with "direct or indirect professional or supervisory responsibility" are prohibited. For undergraduate students, relationships "are prohibited, regardless of current or future professional responsibility over such students."

He kissed her. It was unwanted.

When Rebekah Daley joined Shepherd in 2010, she had heard rumors about VerMeulen's history of sleeping with students and was familiar with VerMeulen's reputation for sexual misbehavior - calling it one of the industry's "poorly kept secrets."

"People would say, 'What the fuck are you doing, going to Rice and studying with him?'" But at the end of the day, VerMeulen was good at what he did. His career spanned decades and continents; his students won coveted spots in orchestras. So Daley walked into his studio, braced for what may come.

"It was known that [VerMeulen] broke as many as he made," Corin Droullard contends. "I had heard, 'If you're a girl, don't go to Rice.'"

Sarah*, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of professional retaliation, said the thought of auditioning at Shepherd never crossed her mind as a young musician. Around 2005, her high school teacher had steered her away from the horn studio - and she believed it was because of VerMeulen's reputation with female students.

"When this sort of behavior is considered acceptable by an institution, it hurts women. It hurts our chances at success in these really small ways that add up," she said. "I was successful without Bill's tutelage. But I always wonder, if I had been a student, what would it have afforded me?"

Daley, who stayed long enough to finish her degree, tried her best to grit her way through. VerMeulen's lessons, she said, were draped in sexual overtones; his gaze, when not on his music, was often fixated elsewhere.

"You could just tell when he was attracted to students," Daley said. "It was very obvious, like when he was seeing them as a sexual object."

When she was 22 years old, her drink of choice was a Belgian tripel. VerMeulen often bought them for her, she said, just before his semi-frequent "crew parties" at his house.

"He did these grooming behaviors (that) are so effective," Daley said. "This is a very, very busy man. And he made a special trip, to a special store, just to get me the beer that I like."

Most of the horn studio attended the parties, eight former students told the Thresher. Crew parties were often incomplete without the communal Captain's punch, a brew of VerMeulen's own making. It was typically a giant picnic cooler filled with a few types of rum and juice; "it really sneaks up on you," one former student remembered. Adults were scarce at these parties, Daley said.

"There was a lot of alcohol, a lot of underage drinking in his presence," said Jeffrey Rogers, who attended Shepherd for his undergraduate degree from 1994-1999. "We used to get completely wasted and he'd make us play through pieces."

"In hindsight, the thing that sticks in my mind the most is that the level of drunkenness was extreme," said Hannah, who studied with VerMeulen in the late 2000s. She departed the studio after winning a short-lived job in an orchestra several cities away, though would sometimes return to Houston - common for many of VerMeulen's former students - to take private lessons before important auditions.

During one such visit, Hannah found herself in Houston just in time for a notorious crew party. Toward the end of the night, she said VerMeulen drunkenly pulled her aside. He often got "extraordinarily drunk, as drunk as (the students) did," she remembers.

Hannah's memory is blurry from the alcohol, she said - she, too, had partaken in VerMeulen's remarkably strong punch - but she remembered two things: He kissed her. It was unwanted.

"I just was like, 'Ew, gross. What the fuck was that?'" she said. She didn't speak of that night for years afterward, she told the Thresher. Not until she started hearing about other allegations against him,

"It didn't bother me until I heard all of this other stuff coming out," she said, "and then I saw it as part of a larger pattern, rather than just this drunken moment."

Rachel*, who studied with VerMeulen in the late 2000s - and similarly requested anonymity, fearing professional retribution - said her time at Shepherd was similarly marked by overly sexual jokes and flirtatious remarks, leaving her uncomfortable and often frozen. "I love a woman with a good bottom," she remembered him commenting in group chamber coaching, chuckling at the double entendre; she had just played a deep, low note at the bottom of her range.

At least four or five times, she remembers VerMeulen complimenting her body, saying she looked great in a bikini. Sometimes it was during private lessons, other times at his house during the studio's crew parties, where he often encouraged students to use his hot tub, she said. She additionally remembers him being "discouraging" of her relationships at the time.

She didn't know it at the moment, she said, but looking back, she said she has since realized his jokes and comments were an invitation to have "some sort of a flirtatious, romantic, sexual relationship with him."

"He gradually throws in little comments that are too sexual to see how you'll tolerate it," she added. "They just keep getting more and more and more sexual and more inappropriate until you're just in a pot of boiling water, and you don't realize it."

Rebekah Daley's time at Shepherd was draining, she remembered. Too much of her energy - energy that she believes should have been spent honing her instrument - was instead directed toward protecting herself.

"I think it would be really interesting to go to school and assume that the teacher is there trying to teach you, and trying to do his best by you," Daley said. "But I always knew that that was not going to be the reality for me."

Daley has kept close contact with several of her peers from Shepherd, many of whom grappled with similar behavior in VerMeulen's studio. "I think that no one has a lot of trust in Rice."

"And what about you?" the Thresher asked.

"Absolutely not. None."

This story was fact checked by Leslie Rangel. Copy editing by Brian Gaar. Editing by Cara Kelly and Olivia Messer. Additional support by The Barbed Wire's art team and by Candace Henry and Billy Begala.

Less than a month after the Trump administration took power, universities and research institutions across the country have grappled with the government's sweeping efforts to lower federal spending - between NIH funding cuts, the U.S. Senate's flagging of "woke DEI" research grants, to the Department of Government Efficiency's attempts to salvage $55 billion federal dollars.

Rice, which offered testimony for a lawsuit contesting NIH cuts, received over $24 million in federal NIH funding from the NIH during the 2024 fiscal year, according to public data.

Another funding freeze could have serious consequences for research at Rice, said Baker Institute health policy senior fellow Elena Marks.

"The NIH are the largest single source of health-related research funding in the U.S.," Marks wrote in an email to the Thresher. "If [its] funding is diminished, our world-class researchers will lose ground."

However, there is still some confusion as to what is being legislatively implemented, Marks said. The White House proposed, then rescinded an earlier federal funding freeze after a federal judge blocked it.

"Some of the changes Trump and Musk have tried to make, they've undone themselves, [and] some are being halted by courts," Marks said. "I expect to see Congress take action when the president and an unelected advisor take action that is unconstitutional and contravenes Congressional authority, but so far, that hasn't happened."

Aparna Jotwani, an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, said that the funding freeze is closely linked with the still-active executive order pausing federal hiring.

"Hiring abruptly halted, and a lot of effort has had to go on to actually extend offers," Jotwani said. "We are hopeful for the future, but we have already seen positions affected."

Biosciences major Ian Chen, who hopes to pursue health research, expressed concern about his undergraduate and postgraduate plans.

"I'm worried that the summer internship program opportunity from the NIH, like many others, will disappear because there won't be funding to take on and train interns, even if they do find the exemption to hire us," Chen said.

The Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, released a database Feb. 11 that identified some $2 billion in "woke DEI" funding - over 3,400 grants - from research institutions and universities across the country. In a press release, the committee characterized these grants as "radical left woke nonsense" that has "poisoned research efforts, eroded confidence in the scientific community, and fueled division among Americans."

Rice accounts for 17 of those NSF grants, spanning research in chemical bioengineering, behavioral sciences, materials research and civil manufacturing. The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports non-medical research in science, engineering and technology.

The NSF disburses millions of dollars in grant money to Rice every year, funding initiatives like the Rice Emerging Scholars Program, a mentorship program for first-generation, low-income students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. RESP received a five-year, $2.5 million NSF grant in 2024, and is included in Cruz's database of "woke nonsense."

"I don't agree with the rhetoric at all," said Mikeal Graham, who was a RESP Fellow in 2022. "They use those words to scare people who don't know what they mean."

Graham, a McMurtry College sophomore, said RESP extended a support system, offered programming for higher-level STEM classes and provided a stipend that allowed him to purchase a laptop.

"I don't think I would be able to stay at Rice if I hadn't gone through RESP," Graham said. "RESP was one of the ways in which we were able to really level the playing field."

Gabrielle Mellor, a senior at Louisiana State University, participated in a psychology research fellowship at Rice last summer - a program that's also on Cruz's list of grants. Mellor, who plans to pursue a Ph.D., said Rice's program also offered help planning graduate school applications.

"It was a really pivotal time for my undergraduate research career," Mellor said. "I find it really disappointing that these kinds of opportunities are potentially going to be defunded for students … I think it's pretty uninformed."

One project, which received $168,000 from the NSF, researches spin dynamics in two-dimensional magnets. Cruz's list flagged the grant for "social justice."

Of Rice's 17 research grants on Cruz's list, 11 contained language about recruiting traditionally under-represented minorities. One flagged project researches patterns in stochastic, or random, systems - common in machine learning fields - and included support for "outreach activities that aim at increasing interest in science among under-represented groups."

"Since women, people of color and students from low-income and/or rural areas factually compose the majority of the United States population, we have to understand this [database] as an intervention staged on behalf of a minority population," Dominic Boyer, an anthropology professor at Rice, wrote in an email to the Thresher. Two of Boyer's grants were included in Cruz's database.

"Why this minority population feels that they are justified in diminishing the relevance of the majority interests of U.S. society is a question all of us should be asking," he continued.

Boyer's two projects both research the environment, focusing on energy politics and flood infrastructure in coastal urban areas.

"We've come to the point where grounding research in climate science is being demonized by some in the Republican party as [a] form of propaganda," Boyer said. "It seems to me this list is intended as an intimidation and perhaps blacklisting tactic, designed to scare researchers away from working on problems that Cruz and his colleagues find insignificant. If anything, what I think this list suggests is an effort to politicize research that did not seek to politicize itself."

Foreign policy and immigration

Sammi Frey, co-president of Rice Young Democrats, said she's disappointed by Trump's 'America First' approach to foreign policy, which has included withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords, halting global health funding and pushing for economic self-sufficiency.

A social policy analysis major, Frey said her career goals have also changed since Trump's inauguration.

"In cutting all foreign aid, he's essentially saying that the United States does not want to be a part of helping the world," said Frey, a Hanszen College sophomore. "I was interested in a career in the Foreign Service, and now having to represent Trump overseas … [that] is not realistic."

Rice University College Republicans president Kyle Szekeres also said he found the new Trump administration's stance on certain issues problematic, including global health funding cuts and the president's recent promise to take over Gaza, but said his new policies are generally encouraging.

"It's a lot like chemotherapy," said Szekeres, a Jones College junior. "You kill a lot of the bad stuff, but obviously some good stuff gets killed along with that."

Szekeres said he hopes Trump continues to follow through on the migration and economic policies, including lowering inflation rates, that he promised during his campaign.

"I hope he focuses on deporting illegal immigrants who, beyond the crime of coming into the country illegally, have committed other crimes," Szekeres said. "After the first couple weeks here, I hope he focuses more on economic issues."

Ph.D. student Braulio Ramirez said he agrees with Frey's negative evaluation of the 'America First' message. He said he dislikes Trump's new approach to immigration policy, and that his attempt to end birthright citizenship shows a disregard for human welfare.

"I think it's heartbreaking," said Ramirez, an international student from Mexico. "They have children who were born here, and now they're trying to strip away the rights of being citizens."

Environment and economy

In addition to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, Trump has passed executive orders that revoked electric vehicle production goals, pushed to increase fossil fuel reliance and canceled a 1977 executive order that bound the Council on Environmental Quality, a branch of the White House in charge of federal environmental policy, to compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, which sets environmental standards for federal activities.

Trump has cited economic growth as justification for his new environmental policies, but both Frey and Ramirez said these changes make them worried for the country's future and for global consequences.

"It's not worth it if you are destroying the planet on the other side," Ramirez said. "That enhancement to the economy might just last for three years, and the counter effects might be catastrophic."

"All of those actions are going to cause climate change to completely accelerate in its timeline, and that's going to blow up the world," Frey said. "If we run out of water, there's no way to survive."

RUCR member Max Rudin said he was happy with the regulatory decrease in environmental legislation.

"I do not appreciate the regulatory environment, and this massive amount of control and influence that the federal government has over our everyday lives," said Rudin, a Brown College junior.

Szekeres said he hopes Trump's environmental plan will strengthen the economy. A chemical and biomolecular engineering major at Rice, he said a federal emphasis on fossil fuel may also increase job prospects.

"Even if I don't work in oil and gas directly, other chemical engineers will work in there," Szekeres said. "So there'll be more job opportunities … in those other industries. That'll hopefully bring down energy prices, and then therefore help reduce the rate of inflation."

Despite promises to lower prices with his policies, environmental and otherwise, Trump has faced an increase in inflation rates since the start of his second term, according to the consumer price index, which tracks the price of selected household items over time.

Frey said the inflation flare showed her that Trump does not have America's best interest at heart. Sid Richardson College sophomore Reid Groomes said he agreed, and that Trump's proposed tariffs may jeopardize the U.S. on a global scale.

"I'm just waiting to see that moment where [Trump proponents] realize they're not going to get any of the things they were promised," Frey said.

"What I'm most worried for is that, to show his power, [Trump] really does follow through on a lot of the tariff stuff," said Groomes, a self-professed longtime Democrat. "That kind of weakens America's role as the global hegemon, and then also hurts us economically."

Federal governance

In addition to his policy changes, Trump has sought to drastically decrease government costs with his Department of Government Efficiency initiative, an advisory body officially unaffiliated with the federal government. Efficiency efforts have led to high-volume firings, an unprecedented emergency declaration and the involvement of Elon Musk and his non-governmental employees in federal dealings.

Szekeres said he sees Musk as a welcome addition to federal governance, despite differences in policy stance.

"There are a few policy things that he pushes that I don't necessarily agree with, like the H-1B [visas]," Szekeres said. "He's in the wrong on that issue."

"Overall, I think it's probably a net good," Szekeres continued. "It depends on the day."

Recently, Musk has occupied a controversial presence in the U.S. political sphere. Frey said she sides with Musk's detractors.

"Elon Musk was not an elected official," Frey said. "The power that Elon Musk is wielding right now is not deserved, and he is one of the people who is making the most detrimental changes to the world."

Rudin said he favors Trump's unconventional structural changes to the government. Specifically, he said he supports Trump's efforts to expand the scope of executive power as well as the administration's hostility towards federal regulations.

"I appreciate that Trump is using his mandate to exercise more control over the federal bureaucracy than has traditionally been done in America," Rudin said.

"It's been revealed just how broad-reaching federal funding is," Rudin continued. "That seems to me that the federal government has really gone beyond what it was intended to do."

Sophia Lannie said that Trump's governance displays a shocking disregard for the constitutional backbone of the American government.

"I'm just hoping this country doesn't fall apart," said Lannie, a Sid Richardson College sophomore. "America was built on the concept that there would be freedom and liberty for all, and the way he's acting right now, he is trying to take away people's freedoms."

DEI and social policy

Trump has made efforts to reaffirm the interest-driven approach to social policy established during his first term, including a statement affirming his anti-abortion stance and an executive order prohibiting transgender women from competing in female sports.

Szekeres said communities affected by Trump's policies will inevitably have concerns about his changes, but that the U.S. is ultimately moving towards a more just future. For instance, Szekeres said he supports restrictions on gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19.

"I don't think there should be any form of medical intervention on children," Szekeres said. "Anyone who's worried about that supports a bad system."

In addition to her role at RYD, Frey is the Hanszen College liaison at the Rice Women's Resource Center, which provides students with reproductive healthcare products like Plan B pills and contraceptives. Frey said Trump's stance on reproductive rights makes her work at RWRC feel more urgent.

"Those [resources] are crucial to maintaining not only people's actual health … but also to protect people's mental health," Frey said. "This is a really scary time, when those rights are getting taken away."

Trump also signed a series of executive orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public and private institutions in favor of eligibility-based opportunities.

Szekeres said DEI programs may offer unfair advantages and that he appreciates Trump's merit-based approach.

"The loss of equality sounds like oppression to those who were advantaged by the previous system," he said.

Lannie, on the other hand, said some of Trump's new social policies are in violation of basic human rights.

"I don't know why we are trying to take away programs that offer opportunities to everyone," Lannie said.

Rudin said he remains confident in the president's ability to do right by the American people, despite his recall of DEI and other social services.

"Every government should be striving to represent the interests of its own people," Rudin said. "I think that Trump is bringing that back."

A total of 36,749 people applied to Rice this admissions cycle, including applicants across the ED I, ED II, regular decision and QuestBridge National College Match programs. This year's applicant pool is 13% larger than last year's 32,000.

"We are delighted by the continued interest in Rice from applicants around the world," Romero wrote in an email to the Thresher.

The class of 2029 has already welcomed 491 students from the ED I and QuestBridge cycles, the former of which saw a 13.2% acceptance rate.

The class of 2028 accepted 7.5% of 32,459 applicants in its regular decision round last year, marking the third year of record-low acceptance rates. As applicant pools continue to grow, Rice's acceptance rates have steadily declined over the years, first dipping into the single-digits in 2019.

This year's admissions cycle caps off the end of a five-year plan, announced in 2021, to expand Rice's undergraduate population by 20% to 4,800. As of fall 2024, undergraduate enrollment was 4,776, and a twelfth new residential college will soon join campus.

"The most important thing that we will do in the next 10 years is to bring the most talented students, faculty and staff to us," President Reggie DesRoches said in his Oct. 1 presentation of the 10-year plan. "We have ambitions to grow the university more than we've ever grown before, and more than any of our peers."

Rice has consistently been unable to win close games. Whether they kept the score close for all 40 minutes or sparked hope by shrinking their deficit in the second half, the Owls have repeatedly found themselves on the losing side of competitive contests.

To their credit, when Rice does clinch an occasional conference victory, they do it with ease, taking down Tulsa University by six points, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte by 13 and East Carolina University by 13. Their conference victories come by an average margin of 10.7 points.

Rice's margin of victory is not far off from the University of Memphis. The Tigers, ranked 22nd in the country and first in the conference, have an average AAC margin of victory of 11.1 points. Plus, that number is skewed by a pair of 20-plus-point wins.

However, victories have been few and far between for the Owls under first-year head coach Rob Lanier, and the losses continue to pile up - often in close, nail-biting fashion.

Eight of Rice's 10 conference losses this season have been by six points or less - and five have been by just three points or less. On average, the Owls lose conference matchups by just 5.7 points.

In their three conference wins totaling 120 minutes of regulation, Rice has led the opponent for 91 minutes and 38 seconds, or 76.4% of the time. They've trailed for only 20 minutes and 17 seconds, or 16.9%.

In their 10 conference losses totaling 400 minutes, Rice has still managed to lead for 122 minutes and 57 seconds, or 30.7%. They've trailed for 256 minutes and 18 seconds, or 64.1%.

Furthermore, Rice is 2-4 in games when they led at halftime and 1-6 in games when they trailed at halftime.

For most of their conference schedule, the Owls have displayed a pattern of leading in losses at a much larger rate than trailing in wins, and vice versa.

Inflating these numbers most was Rice's Jan. 19 loss to Florida Atlantic University, 75-73. In this battle of the Owls, Rice led for 35 minutes and 44 seconds.

However, FAU tied the game with a late two-pointer, then pulled ahead by making a pair of free throws with two seconds left. Despite leading for just 34 seconds, FAU pulled off the win and gave Rice yet another close conference loss.

In total this season, the Owls have trailed 53.2% of the time, led for 41.3%, and tied for the remaining 5.5%. For a team that is just 3-10 and ranks second-to-last in its conference, these aren't astonishingly poor numbers. So why has Rice struggled to come out on top?

A common theme for Rice this season has been a failure to capitalize on opportunities at the foul line.

The Owls have attempted the second-most free throws in the AAC, but they've converted these shots at 69.5 % clip, which is the conference's third-lowest mark.

As time winds down in regulation and teams get on the bonus, Rice hasn't been able to capitalize on late-game scoring chances from the foul line.

After a Feb. 11 loss to the University of North Texas, head coach Rob Lanier said, "I can't make the free throws go in for them. We've got to make those."

Rice has endured similar struggles on two-point shots, converting these just 47 percent of the time, which ranks third-to-last in the AAC. Meanwhile, they're committing the third-most fouls per game while taking the second-fewest fouls per game.

Struggling to score from inside the arc, failing to capitalize during trips to the free-throw line and giving other teams plentiful opportunities to sink their foul shots has created a perfect storm that keeps the Owls competitive for most of the game, only to lose in the final minutes.

Nevertheless, Lanier has repeatedly emphasized confidence in the Owls to remain an aggressive, unified team that could improve its record with better late-game performances down the stretch.

"If we continue to play the way we're playing, it's just about learning how to finish the games and come out on top," Lanier said after the UNT loss. "There is a trajectory there that is pleasing."

Junior guard Jacob Dar agreed with his coach's assessment.

"We've just got to learn how to finish games," Dar said. "Like, we're in the game, we play hard the whole time. We've just got to come together at the end and execute."

Correcting these issues won't be easy, though. Rice's next opponent is the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, who lead the conference in two-pointers made, rank third in percentage of free throws made and have held opponents to a modest 51.5% two-point field goal rate.

After that, Rice will get a chance to turn things around against Tulsa University. The Golden Hurricane has handed out the conference's third-most personal fouls, fifth-most two-pointers made and the highest free-throw rate.

The Owls close out the month of February against No. 22 Memphis before finishing the regular season against a pair of sub-0.500 teams, Wichita State University and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Pool was born in Virginia, but as the son of a naval aviator, said he relocated often. His childhood included stops in the Philippines, Hawaii and Midway Island, a coral atoll with 2.4 square miles of land in the Pacific Ocean. He found himself paying more attention to sports than the average fan because of how far he lived from the contiguous United States, he said.

Playing baseball and swimming gave Pool his sports fix on military bases, and by high school, he added basketball, football and wrestling to his repertoire. Pool lived on the mainland by then, and he became interested in journalism.

"I was part of a wave of kids enrolling in journalism schools," Pool said. "Everyone wanted to be an investigative reporter, wanted to be this, wanted to be that. I just wanted to be a sports writer."

Pool attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he played football and dabbled in journalism as a history major. However, upon losing interest in covering non-sports topics, such as government, he joined Nebraska's sports information department as an intern.

"Being that I had been such a raging fan, I felt like I was stealing money," Pool said. "I was excited that I got to file mugshot slides of football players - 120 sets of individual shots and we had to do them in team sets to mail out. I was just happy collating those."

Pool's time in the sports information department coincided with a historic run for Nebraska that included a Heisman Trophy, two Rotary Lombardi Awards and 10 Consensus All-American selections in football. Upon graduation, he took a job with the Houston Astros, noting that his only connection to the position was its proximity to family in Louisiana.

"[The Astros] were supposed to lose 100 games, move to Washington," Pool said. "At the end of the year, we were one game away from the World Series."

Pool met his wife Laura in Houston

and, after five years with the Astros, was hired as the first public relations director of the Miami Marlins upon their founding in 1991. He came back to Houston near the turn of the century, serving a brief second stint with the Astros before starting his own PR business. The endeavor created more time for his family, but it wasn't a long-term solution for Pool, who said he dreamed of returning to college sports.

"Working [for] myself is fun, but I'm not exactly making a ton of money, and I've got an idiot for a boss," Pool said, adding that he never felt like he was the entrepreneurial type.

In 2006, Rice had an opening for a sports information director. With his family settled down in Houston, Pool said he jumped at the opportunity, saying that positions in college sports with adequate pay in your hometown don't come around often, especially for someone 15 years removed from working in an NCAA program.

Pool was offered the position and started just nine days before the Bayou Bucket against the University of Houston.

"That was like jumping on a treadmill set at 20 miles an hour with no handrails," Pool said.

He said the Owls' 2006 football season - just like the 1986 Astros' season - is further proof that teams have unexpected success whenever he takes a new job. Rice went 7-6 after finishing 1-10 the year earlier, making its first bowl game in 45 years.

Despite being thrown several curveballs in his first year on South Main, Pool knew he had found the right job after an interaction with linebacker Brian Raines, a standout defender who led Conference USA in tackles and forced fumbles in 2006. Amidst a quick start to the season, Pool said he had trouble recognizing certain players in the locker room. Raines came to his rescue.

"He just smiled at me and said, 'Who do you need?'" Pool said. "Right away I went, 'Well, okay, that's a good sign.'"

Now in his sixties, Pool has come a long way since his initial struggle to match names with faces. He is now the Owls' go-to resource for Rice Athletics information, keeping tabs on storylines, statistics, records and much more for all athletic programs on campus. He oversees a small staff handling communications for all Rice sports, and Pool himself is the primary contact for baseball and football.

Pool highlights the proactiveness of his current staff, which is something he said he didn't see at Nebraska or in Major League Baseball. One of his primary tasks is connecting the press with players or coaches, and he takes proactive measures by offering the media an angle to frame their stories. More often than not, potential storylines fall apart and Pool's work becomes all for naught. However, when the stars align, he's responsible for coordinating a quality story that Rice fans enjoy.

No two days as sports information director look the same, so Pool said he's learned to adapt in his role while continuing to support Rice Athletics staff, coaches and players.

"Every day starts off with a little checklist, and then the checklist usually gets demolished within the first 20 minutes by all the things that come in, the brushfires, and you're just kind of winging it the best you can," Pool said.

Pool reflects on the 2006 season when he worked tirelessly to get big names in sports media to talk about Jarett Dillard. Pool wanted to build hype for the Rice wide receiver amidst his campaign for the Biletnikoff Award.

He generated similar buzz for Rice football in 2015 when running back Luke Turner delivered an emotional statement singing head coach David Bailiff's praises. A teary Turner thanked Bailiff for his only Division I offer, which allowed him to play collegiate football while receiving a quality education. Pool uploaded the video to YouTube before sending it to ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi on a whim.

"I said, 'I don't know if you can do anything with this, but this is unbelievable,'" Pool said. "[Rinaldi] texted me about two days later and said, 'We want to come out and talk to [Turner]. It's a great story with 500,000 hits.' So they did that story and we're on GameDay a week after the season ended. Lee Corso and [everyone else] is tearing up, and you're like, 'Wow.'"

Pool, who won't even guess how many hours he works in a week, also attends practice, coordinates media availability and updates his notes repeatedly. And he does it while overseeing a hardworking staff to ensure that all sports are treated equally and given fair coverage, even those that aren't currently in-season.

With many responsibilities and loads of information, Pool is a popular person in athletics circles. He eventually returns every call he gets, but when the phone is constantly ringing with questions - like last fall, when football fired Mike Bloomgren and hired Scott Abell within one month - he says he gives preference to the media members he trusts to "not put [a story] out ahead of time." This allows him and his staff to coordinate the best time for making pertinent announcements.

Trust is important to Pool, and not only when working with the media. Whenever a new coach is hired, Pool said he prioritizes developing a rapport and trust with them. He quickly formed that relationship with baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr., perhaps thanks to Pool's connection with Jose Cruz Sr. from their shared stints with the Astros. He's had similar experiences with football head coaches Bailiff, Bloomgren and Abell.

"With Coach Bailiff and Coach Bloomgren, there were moments where it was bumpy patches along the way, but you're just trying to get used to each other and work through them," Pool said, adding that Abell has been great so far, too.

There was once a time when Pool led the communications efforts for men's and women's tennis, swimming, baseball and football simultaneously. He remembers one Friday evening when he was live-tweeting tennis conference championships while scoring a baseball game.

"My wife says I'm a stress addict and says I'm really unhappy when I don't have 15 things banging in my head at the same time because then I start bugging her," Pool said.

When asked about the next chapter of his life, Pool avoids the word "retirement." He fears that leaving his work behind could lead to a sedentary lifestyle that he wants to avoid. But he also knows his time at Rice isn't unlimited, citing his age, the ever-evolving nature of the position and a growing shift toward enamoring a younger audience with newer forms of media. He also has two grandchildren now, ages 6 and 8, whom he enjoys watching play youth sports.

Pool, who measures success in the amount of publicity that Rice receives and says he would never promote himself over the team, questioned the Thresher's request to interview him for this story. He expressed doubt about whether a Chuck Pool feature was worth writing. However, as he knows, the press doesn't always choose to report on the story he suggests.

Key Track: "Nokia"

Drake and PartyNextDoor's "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" is an embarrassment - 73 minutes of recycled ideas, lazy songwriting, and some of the worst attempts at experimentation Drake has ever put on wax. It's a bloated mess of an album, proving that just because two artists have chemistry doesn't mean they should make an entire project together. But the biggest issue isn't just the lackluster music - it's the fact that this album is Drake's first release after his career-altering loss to Kendrick Lamar. Instead of delivering something impactful, he gives us limp attempts at reassurance and 21 half-hearted party songs.

Let's start with "GIMME A HUG," a song that should've never seen the light of day. This is Drake's response to the Kendrick beef - or at least, his attempt at salvaging some pride after being publicly dismantled. It's not a diss track but a desperate attempt to convince himself (and us) that everything is fine. The song opens with Drake hyping himself as if self-affirmation can undo "Not Like Us."

"Yeah, Drake elimination, fake intimidation / Take a minute, take a deep breath, have a little bit of patience / Drizzy, you amazin', you the inspiration / You set the bar for the next generation"

Drake, this is not the flex you think it is. You only set the bar for being a culture vulture.

For the rest of the track, Drake oscillates between acting unbothered and throwing petty shots, all while trying to convince us that his true purpose in life is to throw parties, not win rap battles.

"Fuck a rap beef, I'm tryna get the party lit"

Cool, then why make this song? If you're over it, why dedicate an entire track to explaining why you don't care? The production itself is lifeless, and the beat switches feel forced rather than seamless. The only interesting part of the track is the Aaron Hall sample at the end, which Drake wastes by using to shout out his favorite strippers. If this is the victory lap after the Kendrick feud, it's one of the saddest attempts at damage control I've ever heard.

And then there's "MEET YOUR PADRE," a song so bad I had to physically stop the music. This is Drake's latest attempt at hopping on a Latin sound, and unlike "MIA," where he actually sounded comfortable, this one is straight-up unlistenable. The production - sampling a song from Greek artist Konstantinos Argiros, for whatever reason - tries to fuse reggaeton and corridos, but Drake's Spanish delivery is so stilted it makes "I Like It" by Bad Bunny and Cardi B sound like a masterpiece of bilingual fluency.

The moment Drake attempts to croon his way through the hook, it becomes clear that he has absolutely no business singing in Spanish on this track. PartyNextDoor is barely present, and Chino Pacas, who could have saved it, is given so little space that his presence barely registers. It's not just bad - it's offensive in how little effort Drake put into making it sound natural. I considered giving this album a slightly higher score, but "MEET YOUR PADRE" alone made me want to drop it even lower.

The rest of the album doesn't fare much better. Most of it sounds like watered-down versions of their previous collaborations, with PartyNextDoor taking a clear backseat to Drake, making the whole project feel less like a true joint album and more like "For All The Dogs (After Hours Edition)." The production is decent, but that's about it - there are no authentic standout moments, no risks taken, just an hour and thirteen minutes of uninspired R&B-lite.

The only track that somewhat works is "NOKIA," which, while not amazing, at least has some energy. It might be the hit of the album. It's one of the few moments on the album where the duo actually sounds engaged with the music rather than sleepwalking through it. Similarly, "GREEDY" might be Drake's best R&B song, but after 20 tracks, it simply becomes a dull track at the end of the album. Maybe with MANY edits, there is a solid album somewhere here, but the current version proves that Drake hasn't stopped being a man-child.

"$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" is not just a disappointment - it's a waste of time. It was Valentine's Day slop. For an artist of Drake's stature, following up a career-worst loss with a project, this hollow is almost comedic. Drake continues to disappoint. The album isn't sexy, it isn't fun, and worst of all, it doesn't even feel like an attempt at making good music. It feels like damage control, and if this is Drake's idea of moving forward, maybe it's time for him to take a real break.

"Legends and Lattes" by Travis Baldree

"Legends and Lattes" is an entry in the "cozy fantasy" genre, which focuses more on slice-of-life and building community than slaying dragons and battling monsters. In "Legends and Lattes", an orc warrior hangs up her broadsword to start a cafe, making friends and falling in love along the way. The relationship is a key aspect, but not the main focus, of the novel, making it a good choice if you're not looking for a pure romance novel.

"A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue" by Mackenzi Lee

This part-historical, fantasy and romance novel follows English gentleman Henry "Monty" Montague as he travels 18th-century Europe with the companionship of his sister Felicity and his best friend (and maybe something more) Percy. In addition to the romantic aspects, "A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue" also features a continent-wide manhunt with our protagonist as the target for extra adrenaline, with a significant amount of social commentary to boot.

"The Lonely Hearts Book Club" by Lucy Gilmore

A "book about books", "The Lonely Hearts Book Club" revolves around a handful of residents of a small town as they build a community around reading all kinds of literature. This is another book that isn't purely romantic, as it also discusses the familial and platonic bonds between the book club members. The characters are quirky and lovable, each with their own internal conflicts, making this a good novel if you want to be able to step into the shoes of multiple characters while you read.

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

While "Pride and Prejudice" was published two centuries earlier than the other entries on this list, it remains one of the most notable romance novels in history for a reason. Perhaps the original "enemies to lovers" story, it details the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy as they grow to understand each other and move past their first impressions to find love. If you prefer reading subtitles to sentences, "Pride and Prejudice" has also been adapted to screen in both film and television mini-series.

"The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" by Sangu Mandanna

Another "cozy fantasy" novel, "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" hews closer to "Harry Potter" than "Dungeons & Dragons" with its story about an underground magical community. Undercover witch Mika Moon is invited to a mysterious residence called the "Nowhere House" to train three young witches, but she faces opposition in the form of the overprotective (and, of course, very handsome) librarian Jamie. In addition to its main romantic relationship, there are also "found family" aspects to the plot, with the relationship between Mika and the three witchlings being fleshed out in addition to her relationship between Mika and Jamie.

"This Is How You Lose the Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

"This Is How You Lose the Time War", published in 2019 by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (and boosted in 2023 by a "Trigun Stampede" fan account with a name not fit to print), follows the romance between two agents from rival factions traveling time and space to secure victory for their own side. The romance between Red and Blue blossoms in the form of letters, first taunting, then tender, as the pair reconsider their loyalties and what is really important.

HACER President Camila DeAlba said, ¡Ritmo! went beyond a showcase to demonstrate resilience and pride.

"With everything happening in the world today, it's important for Latine students to have a space where they feel seen and celebrated," said DeAlba, a Jones College senior. "Art, music and dance are powerful ways to express who we are, and that's what we wanted to highlight this year."

The event featured a mix of performances and storytelling, blending traditional and contemporary Latine art forms. Attendees watched dance routines, a mariachi performance, spoken word pieces and, for the first time, a documentary series highlighting the experiences of Hispanic and Latine staff at Rice.

For many performers, ¡Ritmo! was a chance to connect with their roots and share a cultural connection with the Rice community.

"I grew up listening to this music, but I never really performed it anymore," Maria Contreras, a Hanszen College junior, said. "Getting up on stage and bringing a part of Venezuelan culture to Rice was really special."

Nancy Martinez, a member of the Mariachi Luna Llena group, said the energy in the room was electric.

"Mariachi is about passion, about spirit," Martinez, a Jones College sophomore, said. "We play songs that people love, and when they start singing along or shouting for more, it feels incredible."

Attendees danced along to performances, creating an atmosphere of joy and connection, according to Martinez.

"I love that ¡Ritmo! isn't just about watching performances - it's about experiencing the culture firsthand," Firas Elkaissi, a Will Rice College senior, said. "The moment people got up to dance, it felt like a real fiesta."

The theme Arte y Alma was incorporated into many aspects of the event, from the visual art displays to the fashion showcase featuring traditional Latine attire. DeAlba said these additions were meant to elevate ¡Ritmo! beyond a performance and into a full cultural experience.

"This year, we wanted to go bigger and create something that really honored all the different aspects of our culture," DeAlba said. "Whether through dance, music or visual art, we wanted people to see how creativity and identity are deeply linked."

A day before the showcase, the event organizers realized their stage was too small for the performances. Members of the Hispanic community called friends, family and local contacts to secure a new stage in time for the event.

"We had to find a whole new stage the night before," Melissa Mar, a Duncan College senior and the cultural events chair, said. "It was a scramble, but it just shows how strong our community is. We asked around, called people who might know someone, and by the next morning, we had a new stage that actually fit our performers."

The showcase also introduced a new documentary segment, spotlighting Hispanic and Latine staff at Rice, including faculty members and Housing and Dining workers.

Mar said it was important to give visibility to those whose contributions to the university often go unrecognized.

"We wanted to tell their stories because they're a part of our community too," Mar said. "Seeing the audience cheer for them, recognizing them on screen - it was a really emotional moment."

As ¡Ritmo! came to a close, performers and attendees reflected on the event as a space for joy, unity and cultural pride.

"I think this was one of the best ¡Ritmo! showcases we've ever had," Mar said. "People felt engaged, the performances were incredible and, at the end of the day, that's what this is all about - bringing people together through our culture."

For Daniel Plascencia and Lizeth Mendoza who performed together for the first time, the experience was something they'll never forget.

"I feel like this is going to go down in the history books as one of the best performances ever," Plascencia, a Will Rice College senior, said. "Because we were in it, obviously."

Mendoza agreed, saying the experience gave her a new perspective.

"It's one thing to be in the audience, but being part of the show makes you appreciate the energy in the room in a totally different way," Mendoza, a Martel senior, said.

Looking forward, HACER hopes to continue expanding ¡Ritmo! by fostering more cross-cultural collaborations and growing its impact on campus, according to DeAlba.

"This event gets bigger every year," DeAlba said. "We're already thinking about how we can make it even more inclusive and immersive next time."

With each passing year, I have begun to question my undying allegiance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I have seen every single film in theaters since 2011's "Thor"; I was there at opening night for "Infinity War," and inevitably, I will be seated front and center for, at the very least, "Fantastic Four" later this year.

However, the chokehold Disney's flagship franchise has had on me over the years has loosened - it no longer dominates every single conversation I have, I am no longer speculating about the next villains and I have managed only to watch one of the 9,000 Disney+ shows that have been released over the last four years.

At the same time, escaping from the depths of YouTube theories and Reddit speculation has been bittersweet. There is a reason why I jumped in the pit in the first place.

MCU movies, even when they aren't very good, tend to emphasize quality. The highs are wonderful action-adventure movies filled with legitimate comic-book charm, and the lows tend to be boring but solid in their craft. This consistency made the MCU work when so many other extended universes failed.

This is why "Captain America: Brave New World" is baffling. In the MCU's time of need, in a franchise floundering about in the shadow of the emphatic conclusion that was "Endgame," "Brave New World" has failed to deliver this bare minimum implied by the Marvel Studios label.

It feels like a manifestation of my own waning interest in the series. It gave me a glimpse into the minds of the critics who have been skeptical of the franchise since it began.

I knew I was in for a rough time almost immediately. The introductory action sequence that all Marvel movies have tells you almost everything you need to know about the film. Clunky, cliched dialogue is exchanged haphazardly, and exposition is thrown at you almost immediately.

This kind of opening is nothing new to comic book movie fans, but the way the actors are delivering these lines quickly keys the audience into the fact that this movie will not be very good.

The script's immediate shoddiness is also complemented by absolutely awful CGI. Captain America's initial fight looks like a cutscene from a video game that has awkwardly been superimposed into a real location. It's visually distracting in a way that eliminates any goodwill that the choreography may build.

As the film continues, neither of these core issues gets any better. The script is laughably on the nose and the performances are awkward. An indiscriminate application of bad CGI may be to blame for this latter issue.

Oftentimes, characters talk to each other against backgrounds that are entirely computer-animated, giving the impression that nobody was ever in the same room as each other, and the whole film was made on a single soundstage.

All of this could be forgiven if the story was interesting, which, to a certain extent, it is.

The film is about the new Captain America (formerly The Falcon, Anthony Mackie) solving a conspiracy surrounding the new president, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). This political intrigue is the film's strong suit, a choice cribbed from arguably the best MCU movie, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

Using that film's core skeleton to structure the plot is a smart decision, and in a vacuum, each beat of the story was intriguing and kept me watching.

But the issue is nothing is given the space to develop meaningfully. Things just happen without any sense of pace or reason. Characters are not given the space to develop, cool moments never take the time to develop suspense, and by the end of the film I was left wondering why it had to exist in the first place.

This all is particularly frustrating because there is potential somewhere in the film. Intriguing internal conflicts for the two leads, Mackie and Ford, are vaguely gestured at, and the film attempts to have an inspired aesthetic that goes beyond the usual Marvel browns and greys.

But all the film grain can't save bad computer effects, and being inspired by political thrillers doesn't make a broken script interesting.

I pity "Brave New World" because it's clear something went wrong. Mackie and Ford are doing their best in a bad situation, and the film's failure in fidelity speaks to a clearly troubled production.

There's a good movie somewhere buried within this one, but it's hard not to rip into something that fails to deliver on its franchise's signature promise. I hope "Brave New World" is taken as a lesson, a moment of clarity that enables a course correction away back toward the solid foundation that the franchise was built on.

Talking about "Companion" is nearly impossible without spoiling the movie. I know this to be true because the film's own marketing spoils its first-act twist. If you enjoy horror-tinged thrillers, I recommend you stop reading and go see "Companion" - it's nothing mind blowing, but it is a solid, if shallow, movie.

I give this warning because the twist is the best place to start when discussing "Companion," director Drew Hancock's debut feature. The film's edge, its commentary, and what makes it worth watching all stem from its unexpected turn.

"Companion" begins with Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), a couple on vacation in a remote cabin in the woods alongside two other couples. This setup is maybe the most generic possible for a thriller, but this plainness is the point. It is soon revealed that Iris is an AI robot that Josh owns and controls, a robot designed to be his companion.

After Iris herself realizes this, she begins to take her revenge on Josh for his malicious exploitation of her life. Its allegory is immediately apparent, making a statement about the ways in which men manipulate and seek to control women while simultaneously raising interesting questions about artificial intelligence.

These questions are nothing new to film, and the ways in which they are explored are not particularly nuanced, but their presence enhances the very stock-standard thriller that lies beneath the commentary. None of the twists and turns are new or intriguing, but the audience has to reevaluate them in the science fiction context of the film.

This genericness is also combated by the pitch-perfect performances of Thatcher and Quaid, who continue to prove themselves to be rising stars. Thatcher, coming off the heels of a great performance in last year's "Heretic", does a great job of capturing genuine agony with a robotic sensibility. Her voice and movements feel calculated in an artificial way, but never feel forced. Quaid is also great at being an absolute scuzzball, taking on a slimy persona that similarly toes the line between comically evil and absolutely pathetic.

But at a certain point the magic of the lead duo and the intrigue of the premise does wear off. The film never quite reinvents itself after it's first major twist, and the ending is the one that you are probably imagining just from reading the premise. This is not a damning problem, as the comedic moments keep the film moving quickly, but it does sour my overall impression of the film's creativity.

This soured impression is also derived from the film's presentation, which is often very stock-standard. There are a few moments that are interesting visually, but for the most part, the film's look feels the same as everything else in theaters right now. This is not a problem, but rather a further example of what holds the film back. Everything surrounding the premise lacks the same sharpness.

If you did not heed my warning and have read to this point, I don't know if I'd recommend "Companion" wholeheartedly. It's got enough going on thematically and comedically to be a fun watch, but if you know what to expect, it's not as interesting as it should be. Regardless, it's good to see an original film in the theater from an exciting new filmmaker - even if the end result is a bit predictable.

Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, "I'm Still Here", arrives with plenty of buzz, positioning director Walter Salles' film squarely in the spotlight. It's not exactly surprising: This is the same Salles who helmed "Central Station" and "The Motorcycle Diaries", both lauded for blending socio-political commentary with humane, character-driven storytelling. In "I'm Still Here", he returns to these strengths, exploring one of the darkest chapters of Brazilian history - its 1964-1985 military dictatorship - through the intimate lens of a single family.

Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1970, at the regime's oppressive peak, "I'm Still Here" first evokes sun-dappled scenes of children playing on the beach while menacing green trucks loom in the background. The film initially centers on Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman back from exile, determined to give his wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), and their five children a life that still feels normal and secure. These opening moments are idyllic yet haunted by the creeping sense that a knock on the door could shatter everything. That knock comes sooner than anyone expects, as uniformed agents arrive to take Rubens in for questioning. He never returns. This abrupt turn might have launched a familiar political thriller, but Salles opts for something far more personal: The focus shifts to Eunice as she navigates the agony of not knowing her husband's fate and raising her children amidst it all.

Fernanda Torres, Oscar-nominated for her work in the film, delivers a performance that is easily among the year's most emotionally charged. Staring down a system dead set on denying the truth - let alone basic human dignity - her Eunice quietly morphs from a devoted mother into a defiant civil rights advocate. It's a subtle transformation that unfolds in small moments. In one especially powerful scene set in a brightly lit ice cream parlor, Eunice notices other families chatting and laughing, while her own existence feels on the verge of collapse. Torres conveys it all with one despairing, resolute look. This is Salles at his best: immersing us in the intimate, everyday consequences of living under an authoritarian regime, rather than delivering a barrage of exposition.

Memory becomes the film's driving force. Salles weaves in archival-like footage - grainy home videos, faded photographs - that stand in pointed contrast to the state's relentless campaign to erase, distort or "move on." A recurring motif sees Eunice leafing through family pictures, clinging to proof that her husband existed and that their happiness was once real. It's a subtle but potent reminder of how authoritarian regimes succeed by attacking not just bodies, but collective memory itself.

As the film progresses, it leans into a powerful question: How do you raise children under the specter of forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings? Salles answers this by focusing on the micro-level tragedies - a mother's heartbreak, a family's unraveling - and it resonates. Still, "I'm Still Here" isn't wholly without flaws. The final 20 minutes sag under the weight of an overextended epilogue, reiterating ideas the film has already driven home. You feel Salles's passion for memory-keeping and activism, but the repetitiveness risks veering into the territory of a well-intentioned lecture.

On a technical level, the film excels with quiet restraint. Sweeping shots of Rio's beaches contrast with claustrophobic interiors, underscoring the feeling that the family is steadily losing safe ground. Meanwhile, side characters exist here in supporting roles that highlight the film's motif of communal solidarity. Eunice's friends and neighbors, some more easily than others, rally around her - an echo of the film's larger message that authoritarian systems cannot be toppled by lone individuals. While some might wish for a deeper dive into the grassroots activism rising in response to the dictatorship, Salles keeps the camera fixed on familial bonds, trusting those relationships to tell the broader story of endurance.

Ultimately, "I'm Still Here" stands as a haunting testament to the power of remembering. Brazil is a country that, to this day, grapples with the legacy of the dictatorship - official prosecutions never fully arrived, and attempts at accountability remain patchy. Salles takes that painful reality and transforms it into an elegy for all families who have carried the weight of forced disappearances. He's not interested in a neat resolution; by film's end, you're left with a lingering ache that mirrors the lived experience of those who never saw their loved ones come home.

"Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens du Couleur Libres" by Matana Roberts

Avant-garde composer and saxophonist Matana Roberts launched their Coin Coin series with a deeply personal and political work. Referencing the term "free people of color" in French, Roberts delves into family history, ancestral memory and the intertwined cultures of New Orleans. This experimental jazz record seamlessly weaves spoken word, dissonant improvisation and historical texts.

It's a distinct listening experience that captures the spirit of resilience and innovation within Black communities - perfect for those who want a musical journey that goes beyond simple melodies and into the very foundation of Black American heritage.

"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead and "Nickel Boys" (2024)

Inspired by the real-life Dozier School for Boys in Florida, Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows two Black teens who are sent to a juvenile reform school in the Jim Crow South. Intimate and heart-wrenching, it paints a picture of institutional racism and the scars it leaves behind.

Whitehead's masterful storytelling ensures this short but powerful read lingers long after you finish the last page. It's a testament to the hidden histories of Black Americans that demand both recognition and redress. Ramell Ross' 2024 film adaptation "Nickel Boys" is a masterpiece in and of itself, employing intimate first-person POV camerawork to tell a human story of defiance, brotherhood, and perseverance.

"Felix Ever After" by Kacen Callender

If you're craving a contemporary YA novel that examines the intersection of race, sexuality and gender identity, Kacen Callender has you covered. Felix Ever After follows the journey of a Black trans teen grappling with questions of identity, friendship and first love.

Despite the transphobia Felix faces, the novel is infused with optimism, reminding readers that everyone deserves a happily ever after - especially those whose stories have been sidelined. It's a poignant addition to the growing canon of diverse young adult literature, reflecting the multifaceted nature of Black life and love.

"Sambizanga" (1972)

A groundbreaking figure in African cinema, Sarah Maldoror brought the Angolan War of Independence to the screen in "Sambizanga." The film follows a young Angolan woman's quest to find her imprisoned husband, set against the backdrop of an anti-colonial uprising.

With its focus on everyday people confronting the brutality of Portuguese rule, "Sambizanga" offers a powerful depiction of resistance and the price of liberation. Maldoror's film not only champions a feminist perspective, but also stands as an enduring testament to the global fight for Black self-determination.

"The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin

James Baldwin remains one of the most essential voices on race in America, and "The Fire Next Time" is often held up as his seminal work. Published in 1963, the book (often considered a single extended essay) shares Baldwin's reflections on racial injustice, religion and the power structures shaping Black life.

Its title references a spiritual that warns of a cleansing fire - a fitting symbol for Baldwin's urgent call for justice. Nearly sixty years on, his words remain strikingly relevant, offering a blueprint for a deeper understanding of racism's psychological toll and how to counter it with empathy and love.

"Unknown Soldier" by Fela Kuti

Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti was a pioneer of Afrobeat and an uncompromising critic of political corruption. Unknown Soldier, released in 1979, was Kuti's response to the Nigerian military's brutal attack on his commune. It's simultaneously a tribute to his mother, who was killed in the attack.

The record fuses propulsive rhythms with fierce denunciations of oppression, illustrating how music can be both a rallying cry and a historical document. If you're looking to explore the ways Black artists around the globe have used their art to resist colonialism and systemic violence, look no further than this Afrobeat classic.

"Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)" (2021)

Directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Summer of Soul highlights rediscovered footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, where legends like Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder and Sly & The Family Stone graced the stage.

Often called the "Black Woodstock," this festival was overshadowed by the era's political climate, and subsequently forgotten. The documentary corrects that historical oversight, showcasing a vibrant celebration of Black art, community and resilience. It's an absolute must-watch for anyone interested in the cultural pulse of the late '60s.