Today ends my term as editor-in-chief of the Rice Thresher. I’ve been involved with the paper since freshman year — even before the semester began, actually, since I was one of those annoying freshmen who wanted to start over the summer.
Rice joined the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Artificial Intelligence Consortium, which aims to support safe practices and uses of AI.
The Division of Operations, Finance and Support, formerly known as Finance and Administration, released a five-year strategic plan to enhance “operational excellence,” customer experiences and inclusivity.
The Center for Nanoscale Imaging Sciences, housed within the Wiess School of Natural Sciences, launched at the beginning of March, aiming to improve the capture, analysis and interpretation of images at the nanometer scale.
Beer Bike riders are now required to spend at least five hours practicing on the track to get certified to race in Beer Bike, after revisions to the biker and pit crew requirements.
Rice women’s basketball is headed to March Madness for the first time since 2019 after winning the American Athletic Conference tournament in their first year in the conference.
Jae Kim has been elected to serve as the next Student Association president, receiving 64% of first-place votes against Trevor Tobey, who received 34.2%. 1,928 students voted in the election, amounting to a voter turnout of 42.09%, nearly triple last year’s turnout of 15.02%.
The Student Association ballot inaccurately represented proposed constitutional changes that “consolidated power in the hands of fewer people,” an unnamed student alleged in a complaint filed with the University Court Feb. 22.
Rice settled a class action lawsuit in February for $33.75 million. The complaint alleged that Rice and 16 other elite universities illegally conspired to limit financial aid. Rice settled before trial — as do the vast majority of civil cases — and the university denies any wrongdoing.
Reckling Park and the Owls hosted some of the country’s best players this past week, starting with a 16-4 loss against the defending national champions, Louisiana State University, on March 5, followed by a three-game series against Stanford University, ultimately getting swept.
Rice’s Black History Month Committee hosted a series of over 20 events, spanning academic and social spheres and facilitating conversations around the history of African Americans throughout the month.
Former Rice president David Leebron has been named the incoming president and CEO of Texas 2036, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses data and research to address issues in Texas policy.
In view of the deafening silence coming from Rice’s upper leadership, I want to bring my opinion about an incident to the broader Rice community, and put it in the context of the Rice Code of Conduct.
Rice men’s basketball dropped a pair of games last week, losing 43-65 to Temple University Feb. 28, then 87-66 to Wichita State University March 2. The pair of losses terminated their two-game winning streak, dropping the Owls to 11-18 (5-11 in AAC).
Women’s basketball fell to the University of North Texas 63-54 on Saturday, bringing their losing streak to four, their longest of the season, and dropping them to a six-way tie for fourth place in the American Athletic Conference standings only a few days away from the conference tournament.
The men’s and women’s tennis squads each played one match this past weekend and both came away with wins. The women competed against No. 69 University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Las Vegas on March 1, while the men took on the United States Air Force Academy at home on March 2.
