Members of the Jewish student community at Rice gathered recently at the Chabad Jewish Student Center for sushi and socializing to kick off the fall semester. Hosted by Rabbi Shmuli Slonim and Nechama Slonim, the group welcomed more than 100 students for the popular annual gathering.
August is designated as National Emergency Management Awareness Month. To recognize the impact Rice’s four-member emergency management team makes on campus, Rice News spoke with the group to discuss its role in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies and disasters.
Seven Rice graduates were named recipients of the Fulbright scholarship through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program this year, receiving funds to study, research and teach English abroad.
Just like incoming freshmen are getting to know the Rice campus during O-Week, newly hired faculty spent two days in an orientation of their own before classes start.
On the second morning of O-Week, Rice’s Class of 2029 assembled in Tudor Fieldhouse to hear advice from professors who shared their academic experiences as well as secrets for success — both at Rice and beyond. The faculty delivered short, TED Talk-style lectures encouraging new students to explore the possibilities the university offers.
As a continuation of Rice’s Office of Student Success Initiatives’ O-Week, the Student Center will host Weeks of Welcome Aug. 23-Sept. 6 at various locations on campus. The program will combine academic, educational, developmental and social programming for both undergraduate and graduate students to provide a solid foundation for new and returning students as they transition or return to Rice.
Rice’s Office of Student Success Initiatives hosted a prematriculation program for incoming Rice freshman and their families Aug. 14-16 as a leadup to O-Week. Named Owl Access, the initiative is led and supported by current students to welcome freshmen who move in early to Rice, providing a comfortable adjustment period and easing them into college life.
Rice demonstrated its commitment to campus and community safety with the recent relocation of a crosswalk signal. Rice worked with the surrounding neighbors and the city of Houston to transfer a high-intensity activated crosswalk signal previously located on Sunset Boulevard in front of Congregation Emanu El to Rice Boulevard at Gate 23 near First Christian Church — an area that experiences substantially more foot traffic.
Rice’s campus was buzzing this summer as students in the Rice Emerging Scholars Program wrapped up six weeks of challenging courses, hands-on projects and community-building. The end-of-program events and presentations marked the culmination of a summer designed to prepare incoming first-year students — particularly those from under-resourced high schools — for the pace, depth and rigor of STEM majors at Rice.
Rice alumnus Wesley Sinor ’97, who graduated with a master’s degree from the Jones School of Business, has been flagged as Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's chairman-elect.
Rice’s academic year is about to launch, but dozens of incoming Owls started early by engaging with the city and its social justice issues, addressing them through the Ross Rankin Moody Civic Immersion program, one of the flagships of the university’s Center for Civic Leadership.
Rice will kick off its annual orientation, lovingly dubbed O-Week, Aug. 17 in a series of programs that familiarize incoming students with their new schools, residential colleges and classmates as it welcomes the Class of 2029.