VOLUME 108, ISSUE NO. 20 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2024
Rice settles financial aid lawsuit for $33.75 million
Zeisha Bennett sees the world through her camera lens NOAH BERZ
THRESHER STAFF Zeisha Bennett was shocked when her Myers–Briggs personality test labeled her an extrovert. She had always considered herself an introvert, but something had to change for her to go from bedroom self-portraiture to fashion shoots in Prague. “I realized that I had to talk to people to get things that I wanted,” Bennett, a Baker College junior, said. “If I see random people [and] I’m like, ‘Hey, I really like your outfit, can I take your photo?’ I have to say that. I have to fake it till I make it. So that ‘fake-it-till-I-makeit’ became real.” From Rice Magazine to the Moody Center for the Arts to the Czech Republic, Bennett’s fashion photography has been shown all around campus and the world. But according to art professor Geoff Winningham, her recent work is leaps and bounds above the assignments of hers that he once graded.
I realized that I had to talk to people to get things that I wanted. Zeisha Bennett BAKER COLLEGE JUNIOR
WILLIAM LIU / THRESHER
PRAYAG GORDY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Rice reached a $33.75 million settlement in the financial aid “cartel” lawsuit, according to Friday court filings. Rice denied wrongdoing in the settlement. The class action lawsuit, filed in 2022, accuses Rice and 16 other elite universities of illegal price-fixing that decreased aid to students. Ten universities have now settled for a cumulative $284 million. The 17 universities collaborated on “principles” for calculating financial need, which was permitted under Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 for need-blind universities. However, the plaintiffs allege that some of the 17 defendant
universities were not truly need-blind, and others — like Rice — should have known that their peers did not qualify for inclusion into the eponymous 568 Presidents Group. In a statement to the Thresher, Rice denied unfairly limiting need-based financial aid. “Rice is committed to transforming the lives of students and supporting Owls of all socioeconomic backgrounds through its generous, loan-free financial aid programs and need-blind admissions,” Jeff Falk, the assistant vice president for strategic communications, wrote. “The university never conspired to decrease aid for its students. “The Rice Investment, our signature program to meet the needs and potential of all students, will continue to provide scholarship and grant
opportunities to deserving students,” Falk added. Rice students who enrolled after Fall 2003 can qualify for the settlement class if they are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who received need-based financial aid covering some — but not all — tuition, fees and room and board. The average claimant will receive $2,000, according to the Angeion Group, which will administer the settlement. The Angeion Group estimates that some 200,000 students and alumni across the 17 universities may be eligible for the settlement. Omar Syed, Rice’s general counsel, told the Thresher that Rice settled before trial — like some 95 percent of civil lawsuits, Syed added — to avoid
SEE FIN AID LAWSUIT PAGE 2
Construction begins on two new residential colleges KENZIE LANGHORNE
THRESHER STAFF
After the demolition of the old Sid Richardson College building finished last semester, construction of the two new colleges will begin soon. The colleges will each have the capacity of over 300 beds, President Reggie DesRoches announced May 19, 2023 — similar to McMurtry, Duncan and Sid Richardson Colleges, which each have a current capacity of exceeding 300. The other eight colleges have between 232 and 291 beds, the Thresher previously reported. Henning Larsen | Kirksey Architecture renderings obtained by the Thresher show that colleges 12 and 13 — which will have maximum heights of 11 and 10 floors, respectively — will “mediate between the larger [12-floor] scale of New Sid Richardson College, the Medical District and the lower
scale of campus, stepping down towards [the 4-floor] Wiess College and outdoor recreational spaces.” College 12 and the new servery, which both buildings will share, will be directly aligned with the John and Anne Grove. Both colleges will have two-tiered common spaces that open into an “elevated quad” belonging to college 12. The second-floor quad will hover among the treetops, featuring “multiple and diverse stairs, ramps, and lifts [that] offer ample connection up,” text on the renderings says. Both colleges echo the architecture of New Sid Richardson, featuring a smaller and larger tower, the latter roughly double the height of the former, offering residential housing. Typical residential floor commons in either tower will include acoustic walls, concrete ceilings with exposed lighting systems, built-in wall seating and direct access to dorm rooms, according to the
renderings. Both college commons will feature floor-to-ceiling glass windows that open into the colleges’ lawns and terraces. The decision to build Rice’s newest two residential colleges comes from an increase in undergraduate enrollment, which will grow from 4,494 students in Fall 2023 to a projected 4,800 by Fall 2024. Rice aims to house 80% of its undergraduate population on campus, DesRoches wrote, which is an increase from the current 70% on campus. The new colleges would bring Rice’s oncampus capacity to over 3,500 students. Vice President for Finance and Administration Kelly Fox said that the construction is being funded through a bond issuance, and Rice is actively fundraising for the buildings. The development of the new colleges are supposed to enable the university to further support students,
SEE NEW COLLEGES PAGE 2
Winningham was Bennett’s first photography teacher at Rice. As a freshman in Winningham’s introductory photography class, Bennett already knew she wanted to be a Visual and Dramatic Arts major with a concentration in film and photography, and Winningham says her enthusiasm was obvious to everyone in the class. “I remember going to the Museum of Fine Arts on a field trip with our class, and I remember she asked more questions and seemed more involved than anybody,” Winningham said. “She was all there.” Bennett had a penchant for clothing long before she held her first camera. Her obsession began in second grade, when she set her eyes on a fashion stencil book at her school’s annual book fair. Her passion for fashion reached new heights when she got to high school. Forced to wear a uniform to school every day, Bennett took every chance she got to dress up and get creative. These days, Bennett favors pantsuits, neckties and knit vests, and she said her personal style is inspired by ’90s sitcoms.
SEE BENNETT PAGE 7 KELTON KECK / THRESHER