In St. Louis, For St. Louis

In the wake of the devastating tornado that struck the St. Louis area on Friday, May 16, thousands of volunteers have mobilized to aid in the recovery efforts. Among them was a group from the WashU Brown School – students, alumni, and faculty – who joined the effort on Tuesday, May 20, providing support in one of the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.

The visitors’ room at the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center (MECC) is a place of hard surfaces. There are tile floors, cinderblock walls, glass dividers and heavy steel doors. But on May 14, the room echoed loudly with the sounds of celebration. Roughly 100 guests made the drive to Pacific, Mo., to honor new graduates of the School of Continuing & Professional Studies’ (CAPS) Prison Education Project (PEP). Eleven students earned associate in arts degrees. A twelfth earned a bachelor’s degree in integrated studies.

In the hours and days following the deadly tornado, the WashU community quickly mobilized to help its neighbors. WashU’s “In St. Louis, For St. Louis” Initiative team is engaged with community partners to keep up with rapidly shifting community needs. They are keeping their website updated with opportunities for the WashU community to help.  For groups of three or more who wish to volunteer together, the United Way Volunteer Center has specific opportunities listed to sign up as a group. 

Ten of the 36 graduating high school seniors in WashU’s College Prep Program will attend WashU this fall, receiving a total of $820,000 in financial aid from Washington University in St. Louis. Other students have received offers from the University of Pennsylvania, Louisiana State University, Saint Louis University and some 60 state and private universities, community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities. The College Prep Program (CPP) is an immersive four-year experience that prepares talented first-generation, limited-income high school students from the St. Louis region to succeed in college. 

Biomedical engineering students at Washington University in St. Louis don’t wait until graduation to get to work. Especially when it comes to assisting vulnerable people who need access to assistive technology. Instead, inspired by what they saw at a Georgia Tech University maker event, seniors Kaitlyn Sallee and Brianna Duhart, started their own chapter of Tikkun Olam Makers and hosted an event recently to build wheelchairs for young children whose families otherwise could not afford them.

Community engagement is woven into the fabric of WashU Medicine. Guided by a deep commitment to helping others, many faculty have built lasting community partnerships that drive innovative care, education and community-engaged research. In April, 55 faculty members at WashU Medicine were honored with 2025 Dean’s Impact Awards, which recognized individuals whose dedicated service and leadership have left a lasting mark across WashU Medicine’s mission areas. These honorees represent the compassion, innovation and dedication required to build meaningful community-focused change. 

When Mayah Clayton talks about public health, she doesn’t lead with data — she leads with people. A north St. Louis native, Clayton blends creativity, lived experience and a commitment to equity into her work, focusing on the real-world impact of structural disparities. Her approach is grounded in listening, mentoring and showing up for her community in tangible ways. Clayton earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2022 and soon will graduate with a master’s degree in public health, with a behavioral and mental health focus, from the Brown School. 

As temperatures continue to warm and the days become longer, St. Louisans are ready to get outside. And as part of its “In St. Louis, For St. Louis” commitment, WashU is supporting several organizations focused on outdoor recreation.

Amy Eyler, a professor at WashU’s Brown School, is leading a new initiative to advance research on the health benefits of spending time in nature and address the social and environmental barriers that limit access to green spaces in underserved communities. Eyler, along with co-principal investigator Derek Hoeferlin, professor and chair of landscape architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, have received a $50,000 IGNITE interdisciplinary grant through WashU’s Here and Next initiative. The grant helped launch the Nature and Health Alliance at WashU, a collaboration that brings together faculty, community organizations in St. Louis, and national partners to explore how exposure to nature can enhance physical and mental well-being.

Three community projects proposed by WashU students — aiming to support education for prisoners, bolster St. Louis nonprofits that support LGBTQ+ people, and foster creativity within the Black diaspora — were funded through the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Impact Fund this month. The Transform Grant is part of the St. Louis Impact Fund, an initiative which aims to analyze and support mutually beneficial relationships between WashU students and community organizations, ultimately advancing efforts critical to community needs.