Dear Rice Community,
I want to update you on a period of insightful conversations with members of our Rice Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian and Muslim communities who are heartbroken and scared as they mourn the loss of innocent lives during this devastating time of conflict in the Middle East. The terrorist attacks by Hamas and decimation in Gaza have created unfathomable grief for our students, many of whom have gathered safely on campus to express their pain since Oct. 7.
Ensuring your safety, while allowing a supportive space for gatherings during this difficult time, is a top priority. Members of our leadership team have helped facilitate locations and attended vigils, honoring innocent Israeli and Palestinian lives lost.The Rice University Police Department has established joint operations with local law enforcement agencies to proactively monitor activity on and off campus to protect all vulnerable groups. An enhanced security posture conducive to a welcoming campus environment is part of our commitment to you.
Similarly, as we face this challenging period together, please keep in mind all available campus resources. New services have been added at the request of your fellow Owls. They provide a variety of specific, culturally sensitive opportunities for professional and community care. A comprehensive list of resources and services that are now being offered, can be found below.
The daily reports from the Middle East are horrifying and surreal, but in this remarkable community, we are not powerless. We are an international, multicultural family of scholars, scientists, engineers, artists, humanists, students, alumni and families bound together by a genuine and pervasive culture of care, civility and respect. These values permeate our campus and define who we are.
Every single person at Rice — regardless of their background, ethnicity, religious beliefs, political stance or any other characteristic — deserves to feel safe and respected. While freedom of expression is an important Rice value, acts of hate and hate speech have no place at Rice, are strongly denounced and will not be tolerated. This includes racism or discrimination of any kind, particularly antisemitism, anti-Palestinian rhetoric or Islamophobia.
Our Rice values inform our behavior and invite responsible discourse. The coming weeks will provide opportunities to lean into those values and strengthen our commitment and support of each other.
In the spirit of community, we will do the difficult work and keep the doors of responsible conversation open. We will engage with the empathy and kindness for which we are known. And we will continue to navigate this unsettling time — together.
Sincerely,
President Reginald DesRoches
CAMPUS SUPPORT RESOURCES
Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies: 713-348-400
Dean of Undergraduates Office: 713-348-4996
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: 713-348-4026
Employee Assistance Program: 713-500-3327, toll free 800-346-3549 (24 hours a day, seven days a week) or access Rice’s EAP online portal (Username: owls; Password: owls)
Multicultural Center: 713-348-6714
Office of Access, Equity and Equal Opportunity: 713-348-6405
Office of International Students and Scholars: 713-348-6095
Rice Everbridge App: Includes personal security features that students, faculty and staff can use on campus if they download the app, including:
- Emergency Call: When using the emergency call function on the app, the user can call RUPD dispatch directly without having to look up or remember the phone number.
- Safe Corridor: The Safe Corridor feature is designed as a virtual assistant when walking around campus. A user will select a pin code to input into the app during a set period of time. If the user fails to key in the code during the set period of time, the app auto-notifies RUPD of the name, phone number and last known location of the user.
- SOS: The SOS feature, when activated, will record audio and video on your cellular device while simultaneously uploading the live stream/recording to RUPD. As a safety measure, after activation, the app will return to the home screen to hide that the SOS feature has been activated.
Rice University Police Department: 713-348-6000
The SAFE Office: 713-348-3311
Student Center Event Planning Support: 713-348-4097
Wellbeing and Counseling Center: 713-348-3311 (24/7)
OFF-CAMPUS RESOURCES
An-Nisa Hope Center: 832-329-9111
Chabad: 713-909-4725
Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center: 713-729-3200
Hilliel Houston: 713-526-4918
Islamic Society of Greater Houston: 713-524-6615
The Montrose Center: 713-529-0037 (LGBTQIA+)
Palestinian American Cultural Center
The Rice Counseling Center, the SAFE Office and Wellbeing will be welcoming training from both Hillel and An-Nisa about supporting students in culturally appropriate ways. An-Nisa has agreed to host a support group for our students at Rice. The organization will have a trained advocate to provide immediate safety planning, information about a survivor’s rights, and warm referrals to An-Nisa’s Mental Health Department and the SAFE Office at Rice. Rice will refer student survivors to An-Nisa for free trauma-informed services, requesting that students identify their relationship with Rice to An-Nisa if this is beneficial for coordinated care without compromising confidentiality.
The Wellbeing and Counseling Center has been adding resources, including a therapist specifically for students who have experienced trauma, a new intake and assessment and referral specialist and a learning differences case manager. Two evening wellbeing advisers are being added, as well as a wellbeing faculty liaison in the center.