Author: Diane Toroian Keaggy

The 2020 U.S. census starts soon, and the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement wants to make sure every student at Washington University in St. Louis is counted. A new website explains how the census works and dispels some common myths. 

Develop an open-source nuclear detection system. That was the charge from the U.S. Department of Defense to members of its new internship program, the X-Force Fellowship. Washington University in St. Louis sophomore Andrew Bass had been selected to serve in the pilot cohort and arrived at Cape Canaveral in Florida convinced he would fail. 

The Spartan Light Metal Products Makerspace is not the first makerspace on campus, but it is the most accessible. Anyone — students, faculty and staff — can be a member, no experience required. The latest installation of WashU Spaces offers a tour of the makerspace’s features.

Fifty-five years ago, on March 7, 1965, the events of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Ala., forever changed the civil rights movement and the life of Rep. John Lewis. He recalled his experience in 1985 for the landmark documentary series “Eyes on the Prize.” Lewis’ interviews, along with those of Sheriff James Clark, Gov. George Wallace and others, are available online through Washington University Libraries’ Film and Media Archive.

Washington University has been named a top place for women to work in the third annual “Women in the Workplace: Employment Scorecard.” Sponsored by the Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis, the scorecard evaluates employment practices and their impact on gender diversity.

Iconic, awe-inspiring and, at last, more accessible. Washington University in St. Louis’ non-denominational Graham Chapel is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays for silent meditation, reflection and prayer. The initiative is one of many supported by the Rev. Callista Isabelle, the university’s first director for religious, spiritual and ethical life. She also helped organize Interfaith Week, which runs through Friday, Feb. 21.

Alec Becker, a first-year student in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died by suicide Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, in his hometown of Dallas. He was 18. Becker only attended Washington University for the fall semester, but friends and faculty who had the opportunity to know Becker say he was thoughtful, warm and spirited. 

Incomes in St. Louis are rising — for white residents. Development is booming — in the central corridor. And the population is rising — in select neighborhoods. “It really is a tale of two cities,” said Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor. At the Day of Dialogue & Action on Wednesday, Feb. 19, Webber and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin will ask participants for their ideas about ways to improve the region.

The annual Day of Dialogue & Action hosts “Mindfulness: Disrupting Biases With Compassion and Inspiring Positive Change,” unique sessions where participants will learn mindfulness skills and explore how mindfulness can lead to compassion.

To the 80,000 parents — um, make that students — who will compete in the upcoming St. Louis Science Fair, Washington University in St. Louis senior Sam Martorana offers this advice: Follow your passion, not the rubric.