VOLUME 109, ISSUE NO. 26 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025
Men’s tennis wins AAC Championship with major upset ANDERSEN PICKARD
SPORTS EDITOR
O’Rourke rallies students in Academic Quad KONSTANTIN SAVVON / THRESHER Beto O’Rourke speaks to a crowd of students in front of the Sallyport. O’Rourke discussed bipartisan unity, funding cuts and the Texas legislature.
NOA BERZ
FEATURES EDITOR Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, Texas spoke in front of the Sallyport to a sea of sunglasses and “end gun violence” signs April 17. The rally, organized by Rice Young Democrats, took place in the academic quad from noon to 2 p.m. O’Rourke began with a speech covering Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s private school voucher bill, Democratic Party failures and President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and abortion access. Speaking on a platform of inclusivity, O’Rourke said the issues he touched on are relevant to all Americans, regardless of party affiliation. “The goal today is not even to promote the Democrats, it is to bring us all together,” O’Rourke said in his speech. “If you voted for Donald Trump … I’m glad you came.” RYD co-president Sammi Frey said she felt proud that so many Rice students showed up in support of O’Rourke and the fight for what O’Rourke called a “democracy under trial.” “[O’Rourke] is a very authentic speaker, and I think that he will be able to resonate with the students because he cares so much about what’s going on in this country right now,” said
Frey, a Hanszen College sophomore. Calla Doh, also a Hanszen sophomore, took the stage along with several other students to ask questions after the former congressman’s finished his opening remarks.
I hope the calls to fight that we’ve heard from Beto, from other students, help people feel energized to come out to other things on campus. Matti Haacke
RICE STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE ORGANIZER “We have this incredible opportunity right now to rebuild, to create new alliances and collaborations across party lines,” Doh said onstage. “As we [students] go to our homes or internship locations this summer, how can we be a part of this [rebuilding]?” Doh, teary-eyed after stepping down from the stage, said seeing Rice students gather on campus to hear O’Rourke speak gave her hope in the
face of national turmoil and Rice’s apolitical climate. “There is a lack of political involvement and mobilization on campus,” Doh said in an interview with the Thresher. “I think Beto’s presence here and the fact that so many students have given up their lunchtime [and] their classes to be here marks a significant shift.” O’Rourke responded to student concerns around funding cuts and restrictions on social services like abortion access and transgender healthcare. “Counterintuitively, count yourself lucky to be alive at this moment of truth,” O’Rourke said. “No pressure folks, but we cannot fuck this one up.” Matti Haacke, a Rice Students for Justice in Palestine organizer, said in a comment to the former congressman that he hopes Rice students continue to show up for campus protests and rallies without a “celebrity appearance.” “The people turning out here don’t turn out to other protests,” said Haacke, a senior from Sid Richardson College. “I hope that the calls to fight that we’ve heard from Beto, from other students, help people feel energized to come out to other things on campus.” Responding to Haacke’s statement, O’Rourke said he “couldn’t agree more.”
All bike, no beer: Bikers race remaining heats without spectators VIOLA HSIA & DEVAN SANKA
ASST. NEWS EDITOR & THRESHER STAFF
Heat 1:
WIESS Heat 1: MCMURTRY Heat 2: HANSZEN Heat 2: WILL RICE
Heat 1: LOVETT Heat 2: DUNCAN
2 1 3 Women’s results
HANSZEN
WILL RICE
MARTEL
2 1 3 Men’s results
Modified Beer Bike races, dubbed “Bike Bike,” were held at the track April 18 from 5-8 p.m. Results were released by email April 21. Hanszen College won the alumni race, Wiess College won the first heat of the women’s race, Hanszen won the second heat of the women’s race and Will Rice College won the men’s race. According to Beer Bike campuswide coordinator Wiley Liou, the results for the women’s race were split because the heats took place across different days in different conditions. “Because there will be no realistic way to compare the two heats for the women’s races, it would not be appropriate to stack them together into one definitive list,” wrote Liou, a Baker College junior, in an email to the Thresher. “For this reason, we [released] women’s results as two separate results for each heat.”
Liou said that both the men’s and alumni races were calculated as usual because both alumni heats occurred on the original race day and both men’s heats happened on the rescheduled race date. In addition, Sid Richardson College did not race during the alumni race due to an ability to fill their roster, according to the Rice Program Council. The result for the first heat of the women’s race came after an amendment which calculated the repeat biker penalty against the Graduate Student Association and moved them down the ranks. This Beer Bike was the first time results spanned two different days after a lightning warning interrupted the race after the first women’s heat April 5. The original races were canceled after the first women’s heat due to the warning, and the second heat of the women’s race and both heats of the men’s races took place April 18.
SEE BEER BIKE PAGE 4
Rice men’s tennis traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, and pulled off a series of upset victories en route to winning the American Athletic Conference Championship. “We knew we were close with a lot of these teams, and if we took these doubles points, that we were going to be in a really good position to possibly win these matches,” said Efe Üstündağ, the men’s tennis head coach. Ranked fifth in the conference, Rice opened the weekend’s competition with a 4-1 victory over No. 4 University of Tulsa. Junior Santiago Navarro and sophomore Petro Kuzmenok overcame a 4-1 deficit to tie their court before eventually winning and earning the doubles point for Rice. The Owls also answered an early Tulsa singles win with three consecutive victories, sealing the win and punching their ticket to the semifinals. Rice advanced to face No. 1 University of South Florida Saturday, and both teams saw momentum swing in their favor at various moments throughout the match. Freshman Tommy Czaplinski and senior Eduardo Morais secured the doubles point for Rice, and although USF briefly pulled ahead in singles play, the Owls rallied to win.
COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS / CARLOS GONZALEZ Men’s tennis celebrates winning the AAC championship. This was their first conference championship in eight years. “After the first two matches, we really started to believe that [winning the tournament] could be possible,” junior Kabeer Kapasi said. In the conference championship Sunday, Rice faced off against No. 2 University of Memphis, which hosted the tournament. The Owls earned a doubles point before the third game went final, and a brief Memphis run was stifled by Kuzmenok, who won his singles court to reclaim the lead for Rice. Soon after, Navarro won his third set, clinching the championship for the Owls. “Once I hit that shot, it was just so many different emotions,” Navarro said. “Throwing my racket was my first instinct, and then looking at the guys running at me and celebrating with them is the best feeling in the world.” Kapasi was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, going 5-1 overall. “That’s a very special honor,” Kapasi said. “All of it comes down to the support I had from the other guys pushing me every day, trying to help me to be better and supporting me throughout the season.” The tennis team’s first AAC title breaks an eight-year drought without a conference championship. As conference champions, the Owls get an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The Owls will learn their tournament seed during the selection show April 28, giving them more than two weeks to prepare before the tournament begins May 15. Üstündağ believes the timing of this year’s tournament can benefit Rice. “We get a little bit of a break in the sense that there’s one more week of school [remaining], so we can stay in our routine,” Üstündağ said. “Everybody’s already locked in and ready to go.” Last year, Rice earned an at-large bid into the tournament but lost 4-0 in the opening round to Texas A&M University.