VOLUME 111, ISSUE NO. 01 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2026
Rice welcomes class of 2030 for O-Week
Chao College welcomes matriculating students as they walk through the Sallyport on Aug. 16. The class of 2030 is the largest in Rice’s history.
CAMERON GUTIERREZ
THRESHER STAFF
The class of 2030 arrived on campus for a week of traditions, activities and firsts. Orientation Week, dubbed O-Week, was held Aug. 16-22. The class of 2030 is the largest in Rice’s history. First-year students arrived on campus that Sunday, moving into their residential colleges and meeting their O-Week advisers — current Rice students who volunteered to guide new students through their first days of college. “Going into Rice not knowing anyone, I thought that I would pass through the week
being just another kid on the list,” said Victoria Constanza, a Hanszen College freshman. “However, I had my O-Week parents point me out in a crowd and introduce themselves and had advisers from other groups that knew my name in the elevator,” Constanza said. “In the first few hours it felt like I already had people that cared about my experience and wellbeing.” Move-in day concluded with matriculation, during which first-year students walked through the Sallyport, marking their formal introduction to the Rice community. For O-Week advisers, all of whom participated in training the preceding week,
the week meant balancing orientation responsibilities with helping first-years navigate their first days at Rice. “Naturally, O-Week is pretty chaotic, and especially for Chao when it’s the first ever O-Week, so it was definitely a unique challenge having to adjust to new event ideas and last-minute changes,” said Qais Altarabishi, a Chao College sophomore. “I think that’s all part of the O-Week experience, and I think it resulted in a really beautiful O-Week.” Chao welcomed its first-ever class of 134 freshmen. Lovett College welcomed its newest
KONSTANTINE SAVVON / THRESHER students to its new building, dubbed “the Brick,” marking a final departure from the long-standing “Toaster,” which was transformed into overflow housing. For Wiess College freshman Evan Moldenhauer, the week gave new students an early sense of what life at Rice will look like for the next four years. “This week has connected me with such great people at Rice, especially my O-Week parents who have been amazing and fun people to talk to,” Moldenhauer said. “My experience has reminded me of a summer camp; I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like it.”
Meet the students leading The 5 C’s of campus life undergraduate life AMELIA DAVIS
FEATURES EDITOR
LINA KANG
ASST. NEWS EDITOR During Orientation Week, freshmen meet a whole roster of important people they will have to remember. It could be college presidents, resident associates, club leaders or Peer Academic Advisors. Although Rice is a small school, their list goes on for names they need to know. The Thresher sat down with some of the undergraduate leaders who shape student life. Rice Student Association: President Chelsea Asibbey, a Baker College senior, said the Rice Student Association is here to serve the needs of students. Although the RSA does some research, Asibbey said the primary goal is creating meaningful change on campus. Various changes made in the previous years include expanding late night dining and giving $5 printing credits. “We would be successful if at the end of our term, the students felt connected, engaged in knowing the resources on campus that were available to them and also introduced new campus initiatives that meet the needs of students on
campus,” Asibbey said. “I hope students feel like the Student Association is serving them.” If students want to get involved, they can join various commissions or taskforces. New students can also run for their college’s New Student Representative position. In addition, Senate meetings are open to all students every Monday at 9 p.m. “We need all the voices,” Asibbey said. “There’s always room for more people to get involved and I hope they take advantage of that opportunity.”
Rice Emergency Medical Services: Rice Emergency Medical Services provides emergency medical care on campus and is captained by Dylan Balise, a Sid Richardson College senior. Some of REMS’s most common calls involve scooter accidents and general cuts, including injuries that happen in laboratories, according to Balise. The team also responds to allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, which Balise said can be especially relevant for freshmen who are living away from home for the first time and may encounter new foods and allergens.
SEE STUDENT LEADERS PAGE 4
Are you figuring out how to balance your course load with ten new extracurriculars? Desperate to hang on to your social life by your fingernails? Hoping to get tips on how to sneak drinks at Pub at Rice as an abnormally youthful-looking 18-year-old? These are not those pointers. However, I, as a seasoned, venerable and consummate upperclassman, am here to proclaim some hard-won advice that is rarely handed out and more frequently gained through painful experience.
Claim your territory Studying at Fondren Library is for fake lock-ins. Yes, even on the top floor. Those with the true grindset stake out an obscure spot where no yap-loving friend could possibly find them. Choose a building that’s outside your major, and then ferret out a nook. For instance, the kitchenette in the Anderson Biological Laboratories building. An empty office in Kraft Hall. An unbooked conference room in Virani Hall. The fifth floor of Sewall Hall, which is actually just the third floor. Confused? Good. Your buddies trying to find you will also be bamboozled.
Caffeine Have you spent all of your Tetra on Coffeehouse lattes in the first week, and are thus looking elsewhere for a coffee shop? You could fight for your life trying to snag a parking spot at Agora, and come out with a ticket and get your buddy’s car towed. Or, if you insist on caffeinating and studying off campus, go all in: avoid the student hotspots entirely. Take this advice: Follow the Italian grandpa. If your local nonno is there, you know that not only is the coffee good, but there is an excellent sweet treat to be had once you start feeling faint from cramming. Mercato and Company and Fellini Caffè, both in Rice Village, boast an excellent selection of nonnos as well as sweet treats. Culture Get a taste of the subtleties of Houston culture. Kolaches are a staple here — or at least the Texas version of them, which is like if a pig in a blanket took steroids. Weirdly, crepes are also popular. Luckily, both of these things can be found within walking distance of Rice (and in the crepes’ case, twice). Cowboy boots are big too, but wait until sophomore year to invest in those — unless you want to go all out for Martel College’s Don’t Mess With Texas.
SEE 5 C’S PAGE 9