Racial Equity

The Design Futures Public Interest Design (PID) Student Leadership Forum from the Sam Fox School is an interdisciplinary convening that fosters capacity-building for future leaders hoping to use design as a tool for social equity and positive change in and with historically marginalized communities. Design Futures seeks to build the next generation of leadership in design; diversify the ecosystem of public interest design in terms of discipline, race, gender, and beyond; and curate a national network of thought leadership.

Focused on fostering meaningful connections with our local communities, the Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) at the Brown School aims to cultivate, support, and sustain partnerships that bring about transformative social change for local communities and the region. The Brown School has identified priority geographic areas in the most critical need, making a measurable impact through social and economic justice.

The mission of PECaD is to ensure that all cancer patients and communities benefit from the clinical and scientific advances at Siteman Cancer Center. The program strives to reduce the cancer burden and related disparities, while engaging communities to promote health equity across Siteman’s catchment and beyond.

The mission of the Black Genome Project is to understand how genetic research is impacting Black communities in St. Louis and how Black communities value their genomes and genetic data. Using research methods that include members of the community on the research team and through the study of individual people and community culture, project leaders hope to create a space for Black people to understand genetic diversity and to evaluate, learn, and take ownership over the future of genomic medicine. Together with Black communities, the Black Genome Project hopes that individuals become more empowered and have agency over their genetic health information.

Washington University Libraries created exhibits in conjunction with a series of related events focusing on the history of slavery and the stories of enslaved individuals in St. Louis. The Slavery in St. Louis exhibition and the Archives of Resistance Event Series highlight primary source documents from the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections at University Libraries. A related display of Black Numismatics will be on display in the exhibition Coins Across Time: Ancient to American Numismatics. The exhibit and events arise from the WashU & Saver Project’s efforts to examine and address WashU’s historical entanglements with slavery, which include foundational research with contextualization of relevant collections in the library archives.

Beginning Spring semester 2023, the Civil Rights & Restorative Justice (CRRJ) Action Research Lab at WashU will work with the award-winning CRRJ Clinic at Northeastern University Law School and other local and regional initiatives to research and redress histories and legacies of racial violence and repression in Missouri. The WU-CRRJ Action Research Lab at WashU is co-led by WashU faculty members and long time CRRJ research collaborators David Cunningham (Sociology) and Geoff Ward (AFAS).

The Young Scientist Program brings historically-excluded groups in science to scientific resources and scientists directly from the St. Louis area. The program does this through “hands-on scientific demonstrations in local classrooms, field trips to the Washington University campuses, dissemination of teaching kits containing pre-planned lessons, individual and personalized mentoring, and loaning or donating laboratory equipment to classrooms in need.”

Housed within the Integrated Health Network, the Enhanced Centering Pregnancy (ECP) is a collaborative community-led initiative that integrates behavioral health, reproductive justice, and racial equity into healthcare for Black women in the St. Louis region. This program is run by WashU physician Dr. Ebony Carter, and holds the NIH grant for support. WashU serves as the largest supporter of this program.

The Center for Community Health Partnership & Research (CCHPR) reduces disparities and improves health and wellness in the region as it fosters meaningful engagement between communities and researchers.

CityStudioSTL from the Sam Fox School at WashU supports a number of community engagement, student enrichment, and collaborations that bring students and faculty from different fields together with community partners. Fellowships support students in architecture, art, and design partnering with those in the St. Louis community to conceive, plan, design, and construct projects for local community groups and residents. Faculty can also receive support for community engaged scholarship and courses.