OPINION
4/1/25 10:39pm
Turning heads, changing minds in difficult times
It goes without saying that we live in challenging times.
It goes without saying that we live in challenging times.
If you have been going to class lately, you may have noticed the new “Repair Station” sculptural installation near Herzstein and Lovett Hall.
Trump’s attacks on university admissions and scholarship have laid bare the structural contradictions at the heart of the neoliberal university, viscerally embodied in the recent abduction of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil by ICE agents.
For weeks, I’ve been staring at this blank document, unsure what to write. How do you say goodbye to the most formative job of your (young) life? For two years, I’ve spent my Mondays and Tuesdays — sometimes Wednesdays, often Thursdays, more Sundays than I’d like to admit — shuttered away in my obnoxiously warm, tiny newsroom.
Rice Athletics turned heads this week by firing head baseball coach José Cruz Jr. just a few days before conference play — and after a 10-game losing streak. He was swiftly replaced by David Pierce, a veteran of our 2003 national title run under coach Wayne Graham.
After an election marked by last-minute changes and ballot errors, Trevor Tobey has been elected Student Association president and will soon settle into his post alongside the rest of the new executive board.
The Office of the Provost announced that Rice’s DEI office will be renamed to the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence on Feb. 28. As a graduate student, I am not privy to the reasons for this rebranding. I hope that, in light of recent federal and state directives and ongoing censorship, it is obvious why I am wary, even if the office claims to continue to promote values of diversity, equity and inclusion while removing these words from its website.
Before moving to the U.S., I had been cautioned about racism, but I reassured myself: It’s a new generation; people are more conscious. For the most part, I wasn’t wrong. But what no one warned me about was the racism that lingers in the air, unspoken yet deeply felt. It exists in the assumptions people hold, in the way they speak with confidence about other cultures while knowing so little.
“Culture of care” is our central motto at Rice. Orientation Week, Beer Bike, publics and even random days are accompanied by the phrase — a reminder that we’re always supposed to protect each other. We do not stand for harm. Yet even after being previously exposed for failing victims of sexual violence, Rice continues to bury cases in the name of its image, and more importantly, its endowment.
Amidst federal funding cuts impacting research and firings of federal workers, higher education feels chaotic right now. At first glance, it seems alarming that Rice’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was renamed to the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence, announced in a campus-wide email. However, we feel this name change is mostly symbolic and necessary to ensure Rice can continue supporting those values — in action, if not in name.
Due to her experience as the Student Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission head, we, the Thresher Editorial Board, endorse Sohani Sandhu for Internal Vice President.
I ran against Trevor last year. Here’s why I am asking you to vote for him.
Due to his previous Student Association experience, knowledge about SA logistics and passion for transparency, we, the Thresher Editorial Board, endorse Trevor Tobey for SA president.
The Thresher holds a clear stranglehold on Rice-wide media and, as such, its Editorial Board should not endorse candidates in the Student Association elections.
This week’s opinion page is a bit more crowded than usual. Beyond our standard editorial and guest opinions, we’ve reserved one of this week’s extra four pages for our annual SA endorsements. Just as national newspapers endorse candidates for federal races and the Houston Chronicle endorses local candidates, we endorse candidates for Student Association elections.
Once again, Student Association elections season is upon us (are you as thrilled as we are?) and 40% of the seats are empty.
Once again, Student Association elections season is upon us (are you as thrilled as we are?) and 40% of the seats are empty.
President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders increasing border security measures and altering the daily lives of undocumented immigrants. The orders include expanding the use of immigration detention, bypassing immigration judges to fast-track deportations and auditing current federal programs that support allegedly removable immigrants.
Four months ago, the Student Association formed a special committee to review its constitution. Two days ago, members of the committee presented their findings, suggesting four major changes to functionally, they say, streamline the SA’s efficiency — granting them “ultimate authority” over Blanket Tax Organizations like student media and Rice Program Council, and eliminating BTO perspectives from the committee that disburses some $300,000 every year.