Rice University Must Condemn Rice PRIDE’s Decision to Cut Ties with Hillel

Last week, Rice PRIDE, the main LGBTQ+ student group at Rice University, announced it was severing ties with the Jewish student center, Houston Hillel, to “create a more welcoming space for Arab and Palestinian students.” 

Houston Hillel has provided funding for Rice PRIDE’s Queer Resource Center and has co-hosted 12 events with the group since 2016. Houston Hillel is the only egalitarian, pluralistic, and inclusive Jewish campus ministry at Rice University, and has been the only campus ministry offering programming for Rice’s queer students — both Jewish and non-Jewish.

Despite admitting that no student had said the local Hillel "has made them uncomfortable in any way" and without asking for input from Rice PRIDE’s members, the group’s executive board opted to sever ties with the local Hillel due to Hillel’s support for Israel’s existence. 

By severing ties with Houston Hillel, Rice PRIDE is alienating Jewish students and demanding that they check their Zionist identity at the door. This decision also creates a hostile environment on campus for all Jewish students. This is the very opposite of “inclusivity” and goes against Rice University’s core value of Community.

Rice’s administration must release a statement denouncing Rice PRIDE’s decision to sever ties with Houston Hillel. With college campuses becoming increasingly hostile places for Jewish students, any action to alienate or ostracize Jewish students must be condemned.