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Monday, December 30, 2024 — Houston, TX

Riya Misra

NEWS 10/29/24 11:39pm

Students mobilize for Harris’ reproductive rights rally

By Riya Misra

Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a rally for reproductive rights Oct. 25. Musical artist Beyoncé headlined the rally, returning to her hometown to endorse Harris in the U.S. presidential race. Over 30,000 attendees — Harris’ largest rally turnout so far, her campaign said — packed the Shell Energy Stadium, emblazoned with signs saying “Trust Women” and “Vote for Reproductive Freedom.” Ten days before the election, Harris’ stop in Houston is a rare one: It’s the first time in 30 years that a candidate has campaigned in Texas, a state that last voted Democrat in 1976. 

NEWS 9/25/24 12:25am

Lovett to permanently move into new building by fall 2026, adjacent to twelfth college

By Riya Misra

Lovett College will permanently move into one of the two new residential college buildings, President Reggie DesRoches said in a Sept. 18 email to campus. The buildings, initially intended to house new twelfth and thirteenth colleges, are projected to finish by fall 2026. Lovett will stand adjacent to the unnamed twelfth college, and there are currently no plans for the thirteenth.

NEWS 9/25/24 12:24am

Rice ranks No. 18 in U.S. News

By James Cancelarich and Riya Misra

Rice ranks No. 18 in the the U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 national university rankings tied with Vanderbilt University and the University of Notre Dame. Rice has also placed No. 8, 9 and 29 in the Niche, Forbes and Wall Street Journal rankings, respectively.

NEWS 9/10/24 11:55pm

Remembering Andrea Rodriguez Avila

By Riya Misra

On a spring night, Andrea Rodriguez Avila was wrapping up her Peer Academic Advisor training. Her close friend, Karen Martinez, wanted boba tea; it was nearing the end of the semester, and everything was "messy and unorganized," she said. The two went to The Tea Nook on campus — Andrea had never been. "We talked the whole way there," Martinez said, and all through their wait in the line.

OPINION 9/3/24 11:18pm

Letter from the editor’s desk: Telling the stories closest to home

By Riya Misra

Last week, I knew what I was going to write here. I spent the night before the semester began reading and re-reading what old editors-in-chief had to say in their welcome letters, picking up on common themes: building trust with readers, supporting student media, running a paper in unprecedented times. Then last week, one hour before our first staff meeting of the year, we received notice of an immediate shelter-in-place: RUPD was investigating a tragic homicide at Jones. Campus shut down, and everything stilled.

NEWS 8/30/24 2:50am

Rice gathers for vigil honoring Andrea Rodriguez Avila

By Riya Misra

Rice students and staff paid their respects to Andrea Rodriguez Avila in a candlelight service, held Aug. 28 in the Rice Memorial Chapel. Over a hundred attendees, including Andrea’s family, filled the chapel’s pews while dozens more stood to the side. The ceremony, hosted by community faith members, opened with remarks from Provost Amy Dittmar.

NEWS 8/26/24 7:07pm

RUPD, HPD investigating alleged murder-suicide at Jones College

By Riya Misra and Juliana Lightsey

Rice University Police Department is investigating a potential homicide on campus at Jones College, according to a Rice Alert sent at 5:39 p.m. to the Rice community. Students and faculty received a shelter-in-place notice, which lifted at 6:49 p.m. All classes and activities have been canceled for the remainder of the day, according to a 6:04 p.m. Rice Alert.

NEWS 8/21/24 10:34pm

MLFA files Title VI complaint against Rice, alleges ‘discriminatory treatment’ in university’s tabling of S.RES 02

By Riya Misra

The Muslim Legal Fund of America filed a complaint against Rice with the U.S. Department of Education, alleging the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through “discriminatory treatment of its Muslim and Jewish students advocating for Palestine,” according to an MLFA press release. The complaint was filed Aug. 12, on behalf of two unnamed Rice students, in response to the university’s indefinite tabling of S.RES 02, a resolution urging the Student Association to boycott and divest its spending from Israel-aligned companies.  The Department of Education has already opened a separate Title VI investigation into Rice, launched July 30, according to the OCR’s database of pending cases. The specific nature of the complaint is unknown. A spokesperson for the Department of Education denied a request for comment.

NEWS 6/5/24 7:37pm

NOD permanently canceled, Rice strips away-decades old campus tradition

By Riya Misra

After 50 years of decadence, Wiess College’s infamous underwear party is no more.  Born in the early 1970s after a group of Wiess students poured all their alcohol into a bathtub — creating a brew “so potent it removed the varnish” — Night of Decadence has spent years in the national eye. Allegedly recognized as one of Playboy’s top college parties in the nation, NOD has also been subject to mounting scrutiny over alcohol use and an “explicitly dangerous and sexual atmosphere.” Rice has now permanently canceled the public, Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman and Wiess magister Flavio Cunha announced in a message to campus June 5.

NEWS 5/19/24 8:57pm

Jones School breaks ground on new expansion, final project to wrap up spring 2026

By Riya Misra

The Jones Graduate School of Business will expand its building, constructing an additional 95,000 square feet around McNair Hall. Rice Business announced blueprint plans for the new $54.5 million building at its groundbreaking May 9. The new building will include multiple large classrooms, lecture halls, dining facilities, event spaces and communal areas, designed to “blend seamlessly with the campus and its surroundings.”

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