VOLUME 109, ISSUE NO. 25 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2025
Five international visas revoked at Rice RIYA MISRA
SENIOR EDITOR Federal authorities have revoked visas for five international affiliates at Rice — three current students and two recent graduates, President Reginald DesRoches announced in an April 11 message to campus. The revocations are “not related to social activism or protests,” a university spokesperson told the Thresher. “Rice continues to believe it can both follow the law and honor the longheld values that guide how we treat each other,” DesRoches wrote in his campuswide message. Rice joins dozens of other universities witnessing federal crackdowns on their campuses. As of April 14, the Trump administration has revoked visas from over 1,100 international students across 150 higher education institutions. On March 6, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a program titled “Catch and Revoke” to identify “foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups,” Axios originally reported. The “Catch and Revoke” program, which uses artificial intelligence to survey social media accounts, revoked over 300 student visas within its first three weeks.
SEE VISAS PAGE 6
HONG LIN TSAI / THRESHER
Students discuss budget allocations at SA HONGTAO HU
ASST. NEWS EDITOR Senate meetings are usually a quiet affair — but this Monday, there was a lively debate over the Blanket Tax Committee’s 2025-26 funding allocations. Rice Women’s Resource Center and ktru waved signs and protested funding cuts to Blanket Tax Organizations, which are funded by the Blanket Tax. Blanket Tax funding comes directly from the tuition of students — $85 per student — to support organizations including Beer Bike, Rally Club, RWRC and Student Media. Student
Association Senate members and students debated the Blanket Tax Committee’s 2025-26 funding allocations for Blanket Tax Organizations at a Senate meeting April 14. The budget will be voted on during next Monday’s Senate meeting. RWRC was at the center of the debate in the Kyle Morrow room, as they were approved only $6,000 of the $14,000 they requested. Reasoning given by the Blanket Tax Committee includes claims made that RWRC did not fully spend its budget for fiscal year 2024-25, along with scrutiny regarding the necessity of RWRC’s requested 100% funding increase
from $7,000 to $14,000. Overall, total funding allocated for all BTOs was $347,305, down from $385,063 last year. BTOs requested $415,152 in total, and received $67,847 less than requested. In the allocations report, the reasoning for the decreased funding was the removal of the Rice Student Volunteer Program from blanket tax status. Additionally, a judicial referral of Civic Duty Rice to University Court means the organization will not receive any of the $4,000 funding it requested.
SEE SA PAGE 6
JULIANA LIGHTSEY / THRESHER Students protest the Blanket Tax Committee’s funding allocations for the Rice Women’s Resource Center. The proposed allocations for blanket tax organizations approved only $6,000 of the $14,000 requested by the RWRC.
Modified Beer Bike races rescheduled to April 18 VIOLA HSIA
ASST. NEWS EDITOR Beer Bike races have been rescheduled for April 18 at 5-8 p.m. The makeup event was announced in an email to Beer Bike captains, coordinators and stakeholders, from the campuswide coordinators and the Bike Captains Planning Committee. The event will be held at the track, with only three races: the second heat of the women’s race and both heats of the men’s race. The first heat of the women’s race and the alumni races were the only races to occur on the original date of April 5, when lightning ended the event early. “We understand the disappointment caused by the weather-related cancellations and have been diligently working to provide an opportunity for teams to compete and celebrate their hard work,” the email read. A few key changes will be made to the event, most notably that spectators will not be allowed to attend. The rule is to be enforced by the presence of security volunteers and RUPD at the event. Colleges that comply will be rewarded with a 30% reduction in their Beer Bike fine, according to a follow-up email sent to Beer Bike coordinators and captains. “Unauthorized gatherings near the track may result in event cancellation by campus officials due to safety concerns,” an email read. The races will be filmed and live-streamed by a Rice Athletics camera crew, according to the email sent by the RPC Beer Bike Coordinators and the Bike Captains Planning Committee. It said that while they are still working out the logistics, the livestream link will only be available to one person per college to stream in each college commons. “Ultimately, this event isn’t meant to replicate Beer Bike,” Wiley Liou, one of the campuswide Beer Bike coordinators, wrote in an email to the Thresher. “It’s not another fullday celebration with early-morning and latenight activities; it’s a chance for our racers to finally do what they’ve spent months training for and to represent their colleges.
SEE BEER BIKE PAGE 6 ABBY PEREZ / THRESHER