VOLUME 108, ISSUE NO. 7 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2023
Chopd & Stewd fest celebrates West African food MORIKE AYODEJI
THRESHER STAFF
The aroma of African spices, sounds of afrobeats and a vibrant energy filled the sky lawn at POST thanks to Rice MBA alumnus Ope Amosu ‘14, the visionary behind the Chopd & Stewd festival. The event was a day-long culinary and cultural celebration of the West African diaspora, taking place Sept. 30, the eve of Nigerian Independence Day. The festival’s selection included Amosu’s restaurant ChòpnBlọk, a West African fast-casual fusion spot in Houston. As the founder of the Chopd & Stewd festival, Amosu said he was able to bringt his culinary creations and desire to express his culture to life. “What a day, what a day, like Erykah Badu said. [Chopd & Stewd] has been a full day of energy and emotion and excitement,” Amosu said. “Honestly, it’s really fulfilling just to see a vision that I’ve had on my heart for over six years come to life and really see us be able to have a place to celebrate who we are as a diaspora. It just means so much.” Amosu said his idea of the cultural festival coincided with the creation of his restaurant. Chopd & Stewd began as a monthly 20-person dinner event highlighting West African dining. “I had the vision for creating ChòpnBlọk and I said, well, the way to launch it is through programming, and that’s how we did our Chopd & Stewd dining series,” Amosu said. “When we were ready to do another program, we said let’s do it at a different scale, and that’s how the festival component came about. It’s a full circle moment.” Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.
BRANDON CHEN / THRESHER
william cordova explores infinite possibilities at Brochstein SHREYA CHALLA
SENIOR WRITER
An array of small, colorful squares — each a starkly different shade from its adjacent counterparts — cover Brochstein Pavilion’s south-facing wall. william cordova created this public art installation, titled “2800 dowling-wasi-sangarara,” as the newest piece in Rice’s ongoing art series, “Off the Wall.” The exhibit is a partnership between the Moody Center for the Arts and the Glassell
School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It opened Friday, Aug. 29 and will remain on view for a year, through Aug. 23, 2024. According to Frauke Josenhans, a curator at the Moody, the idea of the series was to invite an artist who has done the prestigious Core Residency Program at the Glassell School of Art every year to conceive specific work for the Brochstein Pavilion. “Off the Wall” had its first installation in 2019.
FRANCESCA NEMATI / THRESHER ART BY WILLIAM CORDOVA
The idea was, let’s activate that space, the beautiful, really long, monumental wall inside, with artwork. Frauke Josenhans CURATOR AT THE MOODY
SEE OFF THE WALL PAGE 9
University Court rules Student Association constitutional amendment unconstitutional BRANDON CHEN
NEWS EDITOR
University Court made a unanimous ruling in a preliminary investigative hearing Saturday, Sept. 30, stating that the Student Association violated its constitution during its constitutional amendment ratification on April 23. Simon Yellen, a junior at Duncan College, submitted a complaint to UCourt Apr. 24, the day after special election results were released. In an email to UCourt, Yellen said that a 55% approval of the constitutional amendment does not meet the 2/3 supermajority needed for constitutional ratification outlined in the previous constitution, specifically citing Article 10. Since the complaint was filed near the end of the academic year, UCourt decided to hear the case in the fall semester, according to Yellen. Solomon Ni, the Student Association president, said that the UCourt chair allowed the SA to operate under the new constitution until a hearing could occur. In response to the complaint, Ni and Kam’Ren Wells, the Student Association parliamentarian, sent a memo to UCourt outlining their reasons to honor the
constitutional amendment. Ni and Wells claim that the amendment process in the old constitution was unclear and therefore the question should be deferred to the SA parliamentarian, not to UCourt. They also cite Yellen’s assessment of Article 10 as invalid because it was “placed to lay out instructions on how to implement the newly adopted Constitution at the time.”
Saying that the new amendment changed the voting limit to 50% … and should be applied retroactively … is just sort of ludicrous. Simon Yellen DUNCAN COLLEGE JUNIOR
The new constitution requires a majority vote, as opposed to a 2/3 supermajority, for amendments. Ni also said that in creating a new constitution, they have “refounded” the SA. Therefore, the amended voting threshold outlined in the new constitution should be used to ratify the new constitution, according to Ni. “I think that a governing document should be very reflective of the students that are attending and currently enrolled at the school,” Ni told the Thresher. “Basically, we are operating under a constitution that was adopted by a group of people that no longer are enrolled at Rice … and I don’t believe that a document should be for people that aren’t here anymore.” Ni and Wells also contend that onethird plus one student should not be able to overturn decisions supported by a majority of the student body. Yellen said he was disappointed in the SA’s response to the complaint.
“It really just seems like there was a lot of smoke and mirrors thrown up to avoid accepting responsibility, which is disappointing to see,” Yellen said. “There were various attempts to justify reasons why less than a supermajority of votes is acceptable. Saying that the new amendment changed the voting limit to 50% … and should be applied retroactively … is just sort of ludicrous.” UCourt decided that the constitutionality of this vote should be decided by the old constitution, and therefore ruled the ratification of the constitutional amendment as unconstitutional. UCourt said that as outlined in Section 8.2.2, a constitutional amendment requires the consent of the Senate, as well as a supermajority vote in which at least 20% of the student body participates. As a result, UCourt decided that the Student Association must comply with the old constitution from now onward. “I think the decision puts us between a rock and a hard place,” Ni said. “Especially considering that whenever we think about the 20% threshold for getting students out to vote. That’s a really, really difficult threshold for any college [or] university to actually reach.” The complainant and respondent have the right to appeal before Oct. 9 before the decision goes into effect. “We’re exploring our options in terms of what to do because I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the old constitution as it is right now,” Ni said. “[Appealing] is on the table, but there are other avenues. University Court has basically said that it’s up to our discretion whether or not we want to offer it up for another campus-wide vote. And I think that’s something that we’re exploring as of right now.” If either party appeals the decision, UCourt will hold a closed hearing after the end of the appeal period. Ivana Hsyung contributed reporting to this article.