Dear students, faculty, and staff,
Welcome to the Fall 2026 semester. Whether you are returning to campus or joining the Rice community for the first time, we are glad you are here and look forward to a safe and successful semester together.
The Department of Public Safety and Research Security is committed to the safety and well-being of our Rice community. Our mission is to protect Rice’s people, ideas, and global impact, and each of us has a role to play in keeping our campus safe.
To help keep our community secure and accessible, please keep the following guidelines and basic safety tips in mind:
- Know the Rules for Scooters, Bikes and Other Personal Transportation: With increased pedestrian traffic, it is critical to use caution when getting around. Please remember that operating motorized and non-motorized micro-transportation devices (such as e-scooters, e-bikes, and bicycles) is only permitted on roadways and parking lots. For the safety of everyone, please keep these motorized devices off the sidewalks and pedestrian walkways. Find out more here.
- Stay Aware of Your Surroundings: Whether you are walking across campus late at night or navigating busy intersections, put your phone away, keep your head up, and stay alert.
- Secure Your Belongings: Always lock your dorm, office, and vehicle, and never leave valuable items unattended in public spaces.
- Speak Up if Something Doesn’t Look Right: If you see suspicious activity or have a safety concern, report it. If there is an immediate threat or emergency on campus, call RUPD at 713-348-6000. If you are off campus, please call 911.
- Use Campus Safety Resources: Take advantage of the safety services and resources available to you, especially when traveling across campus at night. When you download the Rice Everbridge App, you gain access to:
- Emergency Call: When using the emergency call function on the app, you 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. You will select a pin code to input into the app during a set period of time. If you fail to key in the code during the set period of time, the app auto-notifies RUPD of your name, phone number and last known location.
- 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.
Our officers and staff are here to support you and are proud to be part of the Rice community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need assistance, and feel free to say hello when you see me or one of our officers around campus. We always welcome the opportunity to connect with you.
Wishing you a safe, successful, productive, and fun academic year!
Sincerely,
Tam Dao
Associate Vice President, Public Safety and Research Security
Interim Chief of Police