The worst weather of the winter storm seems to be behind us, but the National Weather Service still forecasts low temperatures near or below freezing overnight Thursday and Friday before a warming trend begins on Saturday.

Classes are cancelled for the rest of the week and personnel are working to restore campus to normal operations. The campus never fully lost electrical power. CenterPoint Energy has restored power to the Rice Village Apartments, and the complex is back to normal occupancy. Shuttle buses are operating with routes to the RVA and RGA and shopping areas. Housing and Dining is preparing and providing meals for the residents in the colleges on the weekend schedule.

On Friday, we will commence normal COVID-19 testing operations. We continue to prioritize testing for campus residents and essential personnel until Monday. If you have a test scheduled and you will not be on campus tomorrow, we ask you to log in as soon as possible and cancel that test appointment. To cancel a test, please go back into the scheduler via the “schedule a test” button on https://coronavirus.rice.edu/testing-resources then follow the instructions in this Rice Box document: https://rice.app.box.com/s/oy8vowt1j4ba3dgi9lr6734mu9hco4lo.

If you have received the vaccine, please continue testing for COVID-19, and look for communication with information on your second dose in the coming weeks.
The crisis management team continues to monitor the winter weather’s impact on the campus. The campus is expected to be operating normally on Monday.

Rice Crisis Management Team