Author: Diane Toroian Keaggy

Washington University in St. Louis welcomed 54 students from the St. Louis region Feb. 25 for the first in-person St. Louis Area Brain Bee since the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanjay Adireddi of Ladue Horton Watkins High School won this year’s competition and will compete in the U.S. National Brain Bee in April.

Every night, members of WashU’s 400-plus student groups and nearly 500 intramural and club sport teams fill classrooms, studios, common spaces and fields to perform, practice, build and compete. Get a small glimpse of one week’s nocturnal action. 

In our highly polarized world, students often struggle to navigate tough conversations and engage with viewpoints that challenge their own, says Anna Gonzalez, vice chancellor for student affairs. That is why Washington University is introducing “Dialogue Across Difference,” an eight-week course that teaches undergraduate students how to explore difficult topics such as politics, religion, race, gender and socioeconomic identity in a positive and productive way. 

After a “ruff” start, rescue puppies Bear and Brookie have a new home at Washington University in St. Louis, where they are training to be therapy dogs. The pups reported for duty a week ago and already have hundreds of human friends and their own Instagram account, Comfort Dogs of WUPD.

The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators board of directors has elected Anna Gonzalez, vice chancellor for student affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, as its next board chair.

Harvey Fields, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named the inaugural dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at Harris-Stowe State University.

Outcomes of a two-year STEM learning pilot program that the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis completed in partnership with St. Louis Public Schools and The Little Bit Foundation are encouraging. 

Washington University seniors Sabrina Hu and Sam Norwitz are among the 23 U.S. students who have been selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which fully funds postgraduate study and research at the University of Cambridge.

Whether meeting one-on-one with a new student or modeling a bold initiative like the university’s new need-blind admissions policy, Mike Runiewicz, assistant vice provost and director of Student Financial Services, is committed to making Washington University more accessible to students.

This Is Not My Home is the first children’s book from Eugenia Yoh, BFA ’22, and Vivienne Chang, an economics and strategy student at Olin Business School. It’s a story of a young girl coming to grips with a family’s move from Taiwan.