Author: Jessica Daues

Actress, writer and comedienne Ellie Kemper speaks to a crowded Graham Chapel at the Women’s Society Adele Starbird Lecture April 26. Kemper, a St. Louis native, is best known for her role as Erin Hannon in NBC’s comedy The Office. During her talk, Kemper discussed her rise in Hollywood, along with her affinity for Imo’s pizza and what it was like to be a pupil of Mad Men actor Jon Hamm at John Burroughs School.

Senior Ji Eun Seo returns an item to Washington University Libraries through the new book drop box on the South 40. Seo and other WUSTL libraries users now can return university library books, music and other materials through the new book drop. The box is located on Shepley Drive across from the South 40 House.

Volunteers plant a rain garden on the south side of Eads Hall on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis April 24. As part of Earth Day week activities, university staff, faculty and students were invited to help plant a rain garden (or bioswale) next to Eads Hall.

Carl Phillips, professor of English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has won the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in poetry for Double Shadow, his most recent book of poetry. Phillips was one of 12 winners recognized during a ceremony April 20 at the University of Southern California.

WUSTL students: No room in the truck for the futon, extra boxes of macaroni or nearly new T-shirts during move-out? Instead of throwing those items away, donate them to Share Our Stuff (SOS). WUSTL’s SOS program seeks to reduce waste and share goods typically thrown away during on-campus and off-campus move-out with those in need in the St. Louis region. SOS hosts drop-off points at Danforth Campus residential areas and off-campus.

Undergraduate interns in the Office of Admissions begin preparing materials for Washington University’s Multicultural Celebration Weekend, which begins Thursday, April 19. During Celebration Weekend, the WUSTL community offers admitted students the opportunity to meet current students and faculty and attend classes and student group meetings.

Earth Day is Sunday, April 22, and Washington University’s Office of Sustainability is commemorating the day on the Danforth Campus by organizing several events during April, including a bioswale planting, panel discussion and more.

Paul Dowkontt (left) of the Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences is congratulated by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton April 11 as he receives a wrapped silver platter in recognition of his 25 years of service to Washington University at the 2012 25th Anniversary Reception.

Actress, writer and comedienne Ellie Kemper, best known for her supporting role as Kelly “Erin” Hannon in NBC’s The Office, will deliver the annual Women’s Society Adele Starbird Lecture at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 26, at Washington University in St. Louis. During her talk, titled “Journey of an American Actress,” Kemper will discuss her rise in Hollywood. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Graham Chapel on the university’s Danforth Campus.

If you were a wandering shepherd and suddenly the government began parceling out land your flock grazed to your fellow citizens, would you be better off as a landowner instead? That’s the question that Carolyn Lesorogol, PhD, associate professor of social work, pondered when Kenya began to distribute property in the land registration movement of the 1970s.