Special Projects

Over 4,400 students register for spring courses

4,407 undergraduate students participated in the course request process for the Spring 2024 semester, according to the Office of the Registrar. This number is an increase from the Spring 2022 and 2023 semesters, when 4,269 and 4,103 students registered, respectively. 

RISE expands programs to sophomores and juniors

Rice’s Responsibility, Inclusion and Student Empowerment program, which was founded in 2021, will now serve sophomores and juniors. The program was previously exclusively for incoming freshmen who also attended a RISE pre-orientation seminar program in the summer. 

‘Read the room, Willy’: Students, alumni retrace the Down With Willy movement

6 to 7 p.m. It was one hour a day, nearly every day, rain or shine, that Shifa Rahman ’22 spent camped outside the Founder’s Memorial statue, often with signs and fellow protestors in tow. “Read the room, Willy,” one sign read.

Going bowling: Rice extends season with hard-fought win over FAU

Rice Football head coach Mike Bloomgren found himself covered in Gatorade, sweat and champagne within a matter of minutes following Saturday’s 24-21 win over the Florida Atlantic University Owls. The victory secured a second consecutive year of bowl eligibility for Rice, whose players, coaches and fans celebrated accordingly.

Rice community responds to DesRoches’ messaging on Israel and Gaza

Multiple Rice faculty members released a “statement of solidarity” with Palestinians Oct. 27 later signed by members of the Rice community. The statement was written in response to President Reggie DesRoches’ “message of supportt” to the community Oct. 11, sent two days after an initial email about the “conflict in Israel and Gaza.”

Letter to the Editor: Pro-autonomy after Roe: what the life debate ignores

When “Pro-Life After Roe” was published in the Thresher, we were in the midst of finalizing a semester-long report on the state of reproductive rights in Texas. We had spent the day compiling firsthand accounts of the panic, pain and trauma produced by abortion bans. It felt necessary to address the guest opinion and confront the harms of abortion restrictions. 

We should educate ourselves on Rice’s history

Rice’s 111-year history is marked by lots of positive impact — and plenty of harmful actions. William Marsh Rice, the university’s founder and namesake, was a slave owner, and from the school’s establishment as a free institution for only white students to Ku Klux Klan meetings occurring on Rice property, the connections to segregation and racial injustice cannot be denied.

11-15-2023 Editorial Cartoon: "Owl-American"

“We really should learn how to play defense.“

Review: PinkPantheress' 'Heaven Knows' is enjoyable, if unsurprising

When PinkPantheress released her debut mixtape “To Hell With It” in October 2021, few expected she would have a Billboard top five single in the next couple of years. After creating her first songs on GarageBand as a teenager and releasing them on SoundCloud, PinkPantheress found breakout success as a TikTok sensation. This first mixtape was a fantastic introduction to the voice of an exciting new artist, inventively combining samples, 2000s style contemporary R&B and liquid drum and bass instrumentation to create bittersweet snapshots of love and longing. Two years later, PinkPanteress is back with her first full-length album, “Heaven Knows,” that sounds more polished than ever while still including the mix of yearning and rhythmic beats she’s become known for. 

11-15-2023 Crossword Solution

11-15-2023 Crossword: "Press Start"

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COLUMN: Offensive woes interfering with Rice’s quest for bowl status

After falling to 4-6 following an ugly 34-14 loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio on Saturday, Rice Football finds itself in a tough situation. The Owls must win their remaining two games in order to qualify for a bowl game. But after a shaky few weeks, there are real doubts about the capabilities of Rice, specifically on offense.

Ransom-Goelz finds his fit on and off the field

“First few game challenges? Just finding where I fit, really.”

Rice WBB outrace Wildcats, lose to Horned Frogs over weekend

Rice Women’s Basketball is now 2-1 following two road games this past week against Abilene Christian University and Texas Christian University. The Owls defeated ACU 69-58 Thursday evening in a game where the Owls maintained the lead over the Wildcats for the entire 40 minutes of the game. However, the Owls’ early undefeated start to the season ended on Sunday when they were defeated 67-42 by TCU. The loss to the Horned Frogs also broke the Owls’ 13-game win streak against non-conference opponents, which dated back to the 2021-22 season. 

‘Rice of the North’ spoils MBB opening weekend

Last Friday, Rice Men’s Basketball hosted Harvard University in the second game of their season. Despite a late comeback, the Owls were unable to overcome an early 18-point deficit and lost to the “Rice of the North,” 76-89.

Review: ‘The Marvels’ reflects the MCU’s currently untapped potential

At this point, the Marvel discourse has become as ubiquitous as the film series itself. Since “Avengers: Endgame” was released, clickbait articles about superhero fatigue have flooded the internet. And while this commentary is often completely hackneyed, it comes from a very legitimate place. Upon announcement, “The Marvels” felt like an obligation to longtime fans, rather than an event to look forward to. 

Shop around the block: local goods stores in Houston

Houston is a city bursting with creatives, many of whom are local, getting their art, crafts and food onto the scene — only if you know where to look. If you don’t, though, the Thresher has got you covered. Here’s a list of local markets for those looking to shop small or find their next eccentric buy.

Public art on campus: ‘Ash and Spirits’

Situated just outside Hanszen College is a structure that at first seems to be yet another construction site on Rice campus. As you look closer, it eventually reveals itself to be a multimedia piece of art, weaving together sight and sound. “Ash and Spirits,” created by artist Devin Kenny, is the newest installation on campus and the most recent addition to the Moody Center for the Arts’ Platform series.

Peruse the paranormal at Rice’s Archives of the Impossible

In a world dictated by facts, seemingly everything can be explained by some scientific principle or research. Certain events, though, just can’t be explained, falling outside our conceptions of how the world works — which many call the paranormal. Records of unordinary events have been kept for centuries in the form of books, photographs, letters and government documents. Since 2014, the Woodson Research Center at Fondren Library has been gathering these accounts detailing the supernatural, placing them in a collection aptly named the Archives of the Impossible.