Two summers ago, Angela Chen joined the first class of the Washington University Rural Scholars Academy, a free program that introduces talented high school students to all that WashU and St. Louis have to offer. Next fall, she is set to return — this time as a first-year student on a full-ride scholarship.
WashU will once again partner with Greater St. Louis Marathon, a St. Louis tradition that features a marathon, half-marathon, marathon relay, 10K, 5K and 1-mile family fun run. The 2025 race will take place April 26 in downtown St. Louis.
Illustrator Carson Ellis, sculptor Beatriz Cortez and architect Rahul Mehrotra are among the internationally renowned creative professionals who will discuss their work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis this spring. These events are free and open to the public.
St. Louis has been home to a branch of the NAACP for more than a century. While the organization has had a presence on many university campuses, it’s launching it’s first chapter at Washington University in St. Louis this year.
Washington University in St. Louis is preparing to launch its first new school in a century: the school of public health. Dr. Sandro Galea, the dean of the school of public health, says public health is many things from pandemics, infectious disease, to chronic disease and mental health. “What distinguishes public health is that we think about how we can structure the world to keep us healthy for as long as possible to prevent disease,” said Galea on ‘Total Information A.M.’
Brickline Greenway is kicking off 2025 with three huge wins! Great Rivers Greenway (GRG), the public agency connecting the region with greenways who turns 25 this year, has received a major boost to support the project’s vision to connect 14 neighborhoods with 12+ miles of greenways. Significant investments from both BJC Health System (BJC) and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) push the $245 million public-private partnership past the halfway-funded mark, as well as provide critical match for future federal funding applications. Greater St. Louis, Inc. (GSL) stepped up its commitment by forming a working group of CEOs to support capital campaign efforts, further ensuring success for the project in 2025.
At Washington University’s Olin School, Izzy Gorton and Chiara Munzi are disrupting the quick breakfast market – and have raised $234,000 to take their startup national. Gorton and Munzi leveraged the school’s Skandalaris Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to guide the launch of their venture, ChiChi. Even more, adds Gorton, they took advantage of their startup-friendly local ecosystem in St. Louis.
Eight floors up in the nondescript Security Building in downtown St. Louis, a small legal team has been engaged in public service work for over two decades at the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center. Last summer as part of the WashU St. Louis Fellows Program, Jordyn Ederer ‘26, a Goldman Fellow, worked out of the firm’s book-laden office on North Fourth Street and interned under the guidance of Bruce Morrison, the General Counsel of Great Rivers, and a WashU Law alumnus. Great Rivers is Missouri’s only public interest law firm focused on tackling the environmental and public health crises facing people in Missouri and Southern Illinois through legal avenues.
The St. Louis Fellows Program is a flagship initiative of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement which advances Washington University’s commitment to be in St. Louis and for St. Louis. This six-month competitive fellowship prepares WashU students for lifelong civic leadership through an experiential curriculum and local internships focused on advancing mission-critical work that moves the St. Louis region forward
Precious Barry, a WashU undergrad, has partnered with the St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP to help charter a student chapter at the university that will launch this January. The chapter is housed under WashU’s African and African American Studies Department. Its goals are to register to vote as many students as possible, create civically minded leaders and work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.