Racial Equity

The mission of SPOT (Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens) is to increase access to health care for youth who have been disproportionately impacted by HIV, poverty, trauma, and discrimination. Providing physical and mental health services, this program from the Department of Pediatrics at WashU Medicine partners with youth to create safe and welcoming spaces for them to grow and achieve.

Project ARK at WashU Medicine provides prevention and service to those infected, affected, and at-rise of HIV. Through community education and outreach, Project ARK creates specialized programming to cater to queer and/or POC individuals. The program includes counseling, workshops, and testing services all at low-cost to the participants.

The Washington University Prison Education Project (PEP) offers a college education to incarcerated students at the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center (MECC) in Pacific, Missouri, and the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (WERDCC) in Vandalia, Missouri.

The SEEDS program engages students from marginalized and underrepresented communities in opportunities and experiences for ecological and environmental sciences. Most of the chapter and leaders come from WashU. Students involved in the program build community and understanding with other marginalized groups.

Partnering with K-12 schools, WashU bridges research and practice to provide educators with the resources of the mySci curriculum. The mySci approach empowers schools to cultivate curiosity-driven education that is accessible to all students. Schools can volunteer to be a mySci partner as WashU provides the materials.

The WashULaw Civil Rights and Mediation Clinic focuses on housing, education, and consumer discrimination. Clinic students provide representation for low-income St. Louis clients on a multitude of different legal subjects ranging from housing to education to municipal court claims.

The mission of Math314 from the Institute for School Partnership is to improve mathematics teaching and learning in our region by designing programs that develop educators who foster equitable learning environments.

The Civic Scholars Program is a two-year civic leadership training with academic coursework and experiential learning for undergraduates. It includes immersive opportunities in St. Louis to engage with local neighborhoods, the policy-making process, and civic change efforts in the region. During the summer, students engage in a Civic Summer project through a nonprofit internship or self-designed civic impact project that often takes place in partnership with St. Louis civic and community organizations.

This collaborative effort between the Brown School’s Buder Center with leaders at the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri Humanities Council, Missouri History Museum and Lutheran Indian Ministries, is meant to advance Native partnerships and programming. Strengthening collaboration and communication will allow better dissemination of knowledge, stronger programs, and improved outreach.

Social Workers Advancing through Grounded Education (SAGE) program recruits, trains and financially supports Brown School Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health students who are interested in completing 360 hours of their practica in Indian Country. Brown School students who are interested in serving Indian Country complete a foundation practicum or field placement within St. Louis. The placement can be on a reservation, or with tribal, social, educational, or governmental agencies.