Outside Agitator

Levy said she was asked to sign a contract stating she would attend all the events. But after the first day, she didn't return.

"Because she didn't attend the second day of the seminar, the Institute only paid for half of her fare," says Levin, who paid for the rest of the trip out of his own pocket.

The tangled ties between Rice and Levin concerned Hicks, who became aware of the situation after the Thresher article. After Hicks and SA Internal Affairs Vice President Jace Frey met with Levin on January 22, the club was put on probation, but a late-night SA vote on January 25 ultimately dissolved the group.

"Basically two contact people removed their names from the contact sheet, and one student does not a student group make," says Frey, a junior.

Levin says perhaps Rice needs to rethink the way student groups are formed: "Look, maybe it's too easy to form a student group. Maybe we took advantage of a process ... that was too lenient."

But Hicks says the school has no immediate plans to change how student groups are created, as most clubs are student-initiated and student-run. The only similar incident involved a square-dancing group in the late '80s which was attempting to gain free space under the guise of being a student group, Hicks says. What Levin and other non-Rice affiliates need to understand, says Hicks, is that while they can be members, student groups are just that -- student groups.

"Marc is not a Rice student, and I have no obligation to support him in any way," Hicks says. "Students are our ultimate priority."

The need for willing participants might be the only thing Rice University and Levin agree on. "We need to have students who are generally interested," says Levin, who adds he has already been contacted by students who want to organize a similar group under a new name. "The red flag has been raised, and with the new group it will be very clear it is the students who are initiating it.