Author: Deb Parker

The Campus Y at Washington University is celebrating its 100th year on campus in 2011 and kicking off its “Strong Community Campaign” from 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at Whittemore House. The celebration is open to the public. The annual campaign helps support 28 community service programs. More than 900 students and 92 student leaders are involved with these programs.

The WashU Bhangra team performs at Edison Theatre this past weekend as part of the Diwali “Festival of Lights” celebration. Ashoka, the university’s South Asian student association, presents the annual event, one of the largest student-run productions on campus.

Graduate and professional students within the McDonnell International Scholars Academy are sharing their respective cultures with the general public in an interactive fair at the Saint Louis Science Center. The program, “Planet Passport: Your Journey to Our Multicultural World,” will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, in the center’s May Hall on the ground floor. Free and open to the public, the hands-on learning fair is suitable for children, teens and families.

LuAnn Oros, community consultant on hunger and homelessness in the Community Service Office, will lead a discussion about the challenges homeless individuals face during extreme temperatures. This open forum will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Danforth University Center Millstone Visitors Center on the first floor.

‘Give Thanks Give Back,’ WUSTL’s annual holiday gift drive in support of the 100 Neediest Cases, is under way. Members of the university community are encouraged to consider adopting an area family in need. The drive runs through Wednesday, Nov. 16.

A Locks of Love hair donation and haircut event will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, in the Danforth University Center Fun Room. Donate 10 inches of hair to receive a free professional haircut or get a professional cut for a $20 donation. Appointments are recommended for those with a tight schedule; walk-in appointments are accepted based on availability. To sign up for an appointment, visit wulol.wustl.edu.

“A ‘Science of Religions,’ So-Called”: The 19th-century Promises and Perils of a New Human Science” is the focus of the Nov. 14 Witherspoon Memorial Lecture in Religion and Science at Washington University in St. Louis. Leigh Eric Schmidt, PhD, the Edward Mallinckrodt University Professor, will deliver the lecture at 4 p.m. in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.

To increase appreciation of global diversity, a new program funds a weeklong study abroad program for staff and faculty. The program is open to all employees. Selected applicants will visit one of two WUSTL Overseas Programs locations: Shanghai, China, or Paris, France. Applications are due by Dec. 1.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and his wife, Risa Zwerling Wrighton, honorary event chair, and other faculty and staff members take the stage to lead students in “The Dancellor” during the Nov. 5 Dance Marathon of St. Louis in the Athletic Complex. A record number of student dancers — nearly 1,400 — participated in this year’s space-themed event, which raised $150,000 for Children’s Miracle Network.

Washington University in St. Louis recently was named one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright students, based on outcomes of the 2011-2012 competition. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, recently announced the complete list of top-producing colleges and universities in the Oct. 24 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.