Student Organizations

The following organizations are part of the RICEngaged coalition and welcome broad student participation.

Non-Partisan Organizations


Civic Duty Rice: http://civicduty.rice.edu
Civic Duty Rice strives to engage Rice students and Houston area youth in civic education and community outreach initiatives. We aim to teach young people the importance of civic engagement and to empower them to create change in their communities through increased service activity, political activism, and voter participation


BISF: http://bisf.bakerinstitute.org
The Baker Institute Student Forum (BISF) was founded in 2002 as the the preeminent public policy club at Rice University. The only club affiliated with the James A. Baker III Institute of Public Policy, BISF makes policy accessible to all undergraduates. BISF sponsors a wide array of policy-related programming: casual discussions and debates with fellow students, lectures and roundtable discussions with Baker Institute fellows and scholars, an annual undergraduate public policy competition, and the Rice Journal of Public Policy -- Rice's only undergraduate public policy journal.



Rice ACLU: https://www.facebook.com/RiceACLU/photos/?ref=page_internal
The Rice ACLU seeks to use student initiative and interest in social justice and community issues to spread awareness on campus around civil rights and civil liberty issues for which the ACLU at large advocates. We also serve as a resource on campus to inform the Rice community about ACLU issues on a national and local scale and host events to introduce students to public interest law and civil liberties issues in general.


Rice Student Association: https://sa.rice.edu/index.php
The mission of the Student Association shall be to give every student the opportunity to shape the undergraduate experience. Thus, the Student Association shall provide channels of communication and cooperation among all parts of the Rice community. To that end, the Senate should be a tight-knight community that supports one another, encourages thoughtful and intentional discussion, and inspires innovation, promotes new projects, and advocates for all students’ success.



Rice Graduate Student Association:
http://gsa.rice.edu/
The Graduate Student Association (GSA) comprises degree seeking graduate students at Rice University. The GSA’s mission is to enrich the graduate student experience by advocating for the physical and psychological wellbeing of graduate students, promoting graduate career and professional development resources, and empowering graduate student-run social and cultural programming for the Rice community.


Social Justice Genre Council: https://studentcenter.rice.edu/student-activities/group/clubs/club-genre-councils/social-justice
Email: Socialjusticeclubcouncil@mailman.rice.edu

Partisan Organizations


Rice University Young Democrats: http://dems.rice.edu
Our club’s mission is simple: serve as a branch of the Democratic Party’s infrastructure on our campus. We do this in a variety of ways. Specifically, the Rice Young Democrats frequently registers voters, raises awareness about upcoming elections, connects students with quality internships at non-profits and campaigns, promotes progressive activism on campus, and coordinates with local campaigns to “get out the vote.”


Rice Chapter Federalist Society: https://fedsoc.org/chapters/TX/rice-student-chapter
The Rice University Federalist Society is an undergraduate student chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. Rice FedSoc seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities. We are committed to bringing legal and policy experts of opposing views to debate on campus in front of the student body on the most important policy issues facing our nation.


Rice University College Republicans: https://www.facebook.com/RUCRTX/
As members of the Rice community, we believe that it is very important for multiple perspectives to have their voices heard, especially on a campus so diverse. As a result, the Rice University College Republicans club has been founded to give students and others within our community a chance to become active in campus-wide, local, state, and national politics. It is our belief that this organization should serve as a stepping stone into the political world while also fostering debate on issues to create solutions for our future.

Rice Left


Rice Left: https://www.facebook.com/riceleft/
An activist collective dedicated to leftist political values and action on campus. Our events and activities are aimed at building community, educating ourselves and others, and disrupting normative violence and a harmful status quo. Rice Left stands in support of oppressed and marginalized groups, organized labor, and ecology above profit, and ultimately desires the liberation of all from the bondages of capitalist exploitation, bigotry, and warfare.