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SPORTS 3/27/25 1:26pm

Out with the old, in with the new

By Kathleen Ortiz and Riya Misra

Rice Athletics fired baseball head coach José Cruz Jr. on March 13, less than a month into the season. The baseball team was 2-14 and on a 10 game losing streak at the time of his firing. Just days later, Rice welcomed baseball veteran David Pierce to fill Cruz’s seat.

SPORTS 3/17/25 6:40pm

Rice baseball veteran David Pierce hired as head coach

By Riya Misra

David Pierce, assistant baseball coach at Texas State University, will take over as Rice’s new head coach this week, just days after former coach José Cruz Jr. was fired. This is a homecoming for Pierce, who worked at Rice from 2003 to 2011 under the late Wayne Graham. In 2003, Pierce helped Graham lead the team to their first and only national title.

SPORTS 3/13/25 6:28pm

Rice fires baseball head coach José Cruz Jr.

By Kathleen Ortiz

Rice Athletics fired baseball head coach José Cruz Jr. on March 13, less than a month into the season. The baseball team is 2-14 and on a 10-game losing streak, losing three games to Yale over the weekend and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Monday. 

SPORTS 3/13/25 12:47am

WBB fall to USF in the AAC Championship Final

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

Despite making it to the AAC Championship final for the second year in a row, the Rice women’s basketball team was unable to capture their second-straight title, losing to the University of South Florida 69-62. This was also the second year in a row that the Owls started the tournament in the second round, being ranked tenth and ninth in the conference, respectively.

SPORTS 3/13/25 12:47am

WBB fall to USF in the AAC Championship Final

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

Despite making it to the AAC Championship final for the second year in a row, the Rice women’s basketball team was unable to capture their second-straight title, losing to the University of South Florida 69-62. This was also the second year in a row that the Owls started the tournament in the second round, being ranked tenth and ninth in the conference, respectively.

NEWS 3/11/25 11:18pm

SA announces election results

By Hongtao Hu

After a one-day delay in results, Trevor Tobey has been elected as the next Student Association president, receiving 74.7% of first-place votes against write-in candidate Callum Flemister, who received 17.4% of votes.

NEWS 3/11/25 11:17pm

SA convenes for changeover

By Hope Yang

The Student Association gathered for leadership changeover March 10 following the results of the 2025 election. The SA welcomed new elected officials, approved the Spring 2025 Initiative Fund for new clubs and announced open applications for SA appointed positions, which include parliamentarian and director of elections. 

NEWS 3/11/25 11:16pm

Expanded meal swipe, Tetra donations open mid-semester

By Hope Yang

Following record donations last month, students will be able to donate meal swipes and Tetra until March 14, according to an Instagram post by the Student Association in collaboration with Student Success Initiatives, the Student Association and Housing and Dining.

NEWS 3/4/25 11:25pm

Current RMC to remain, second building to open in 2027

By Riya Misra

A brand-new, second student center will open by Fall 2027, president Reggie DesRoches announced in a March 3 email to campus. The current Rice Memorial Center will not be demolished, and will continue to house Rice Coffeehouse, Pub and student media during construction over the next two years. It will undergo renovations after the second building is complete. 

NEWS 3/4/25 11:25pm

SA voting delayed by one day after ballot errors

By James Cancelarich

The Student Association election ballot was recalled just an hour after it went live Feb. 26 after voters found errors. At the end of the ballot, voters were presented with five different constitutional amendments, which proposed varying changes ranging from grammatical fixes to raising the Blanket Tax. The original ballot only allowed students one vote instead of five individual ones, presenting the amendments as a bundle.

NEWS 3/4/25 11:25pm

Rice rebrands DEI office amid federal scrutiny

By Viola Hsia

Rice has renamed its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence, announced in a Feb. 28 campus-wide email from Provost Amy Dittmar. This change arrives as universities across the country adapt — often altering or erasing diversity statements entirely — to federal anti-DEI legislation.

NEWS 3/4/25 11:24pm

Students petition for immigrant student sanctuary policies

By Abigail Chiu

Students are petitioning university officials to declare Rice a sanctuary campus, which offers protections to international and undocumented students and, notably, does not cooperate with immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant. The petition garnered over 400 signatures by March 4, said Conner Schultz, the co-chair of Rice’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America. Rice YDSA spearheaded the petition, which has now been co-signed by campus organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine, Planned Parenthood Generation and Rice Urbanists.

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