Division of Student Success

Engage STL Days are a way for WashU students to get off campus and get to know various neighborhoods throughout St. Louis. Each Engage STL Day is an immersive experience in which students get to hear from community partners and visit local businesses, landmarks, and organizations.

The Pershing Fellowship in Non-Profit Leadership (Pershing Fellowship) is a paid summer internship program offered in St. Louis by the Washington University in St. Louis Center for Career Engagement, in partnership with the Pershing Charitable Trust. The program provides experience, programming, and financial support to rising undergraduate Junior & Senior students interested in nonprofit leadership. Pershing Fellows are matched with summer internship roles at nonprofit organizations focused on a range of activities, including social services, education, health care, and arts and culture in the St. Louis region.

The St. Louis Impact Fund supports student-led, mutually beneficial partnerships with St. Louis-area nonprofit and civic organizations. Through grants for new projects and expanded collaborations, the fund helps students and community partners co-design initiatives that address regional priorities and community-identified needs. Community partners help shape project goals and activities, ensuring their knowledge and priorities guide the work while strengthening long-term relationships between WashU and the St. Louis region.

The Gephardt Institute partners with academic departments to offer undergraduate Civic Action Lab courses: applied civic engagement classes that integrate academic, civic, and experiential learning. Civic Action Lab courses teach the practical civic knowledge, skills, responsibilities, and habits of citizen engagement in democracy. Each Civic Action Lab includes experiential learning, community leader guest speakers, opportunities to practice different civic skills, and more!

As a part of WashU’s first-year student orientation, called Bear Beginnings, WashU offers “In The Lou” experiences to provide students with opportunities to explore St. Louis and immerse themselves in the rich culture and experiences that that the region has to offer.

Through this initiative, local and national employers connect with WashU’s intelligent, diverse, grounded, well-rounded talent. WashU’s Employer Relations team coordinates career fairs, networking events, information sessions and road shows, and collaborates with employers to explore new and innovative recruitment and engagement strategies.

The St. Louis Fellows Program offers a 6-month civic leadership training to undergraduates who dedicate their summer to St. Louis. Students engage in an experiential curriculum to explore St. Louis’ history, culture, politics, challenges, and opportunities, and contribute to mission-critical work in the region through full-time nonprofit or civic internships.

The Civic Fellows Program is a 14-month civic leadership training with academic coursework and experiential learning, open for first-year and sophomore students to apply and earn eight course credits. It includes immersive opportunities in St. Louis and Washington DC to engage with local neighborhoods, the policy-making process, and civic change efforts in the region and across the country. 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.