Open access (OA) scholarship—generally, scholarship made freely available online with minimal copyright and licensing restrictions—is a major focus of many academic libraries. Academic libraries are perfectly situated to lead the discussion about open access and are natural partners in campus-wide open access initiatives. In April 2012, Rice University’s Faculty Senate passed an Open Access Policy, directing faculty to place copies of their peer-reviewed journal articles in the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive. This paper discusses the successes and barriers to policy implementation, thus far. Despite some setbacks, the library’s involvement with the policy has positioned it to engage in campus-wide conversations about open access and upcoming federal public access initiatives, and has invited further conversations about other scholarly communications issues.