Author: Diane Toroian Keaggy

What happened on July 4, 1776? Not what you might think. On that historic day more than 200 years ago, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. But it would be weeks before the Founding Fathers actually signed the handwritten document now housed in the National Archives in Washington. In the meantime, official broadsides were printed and posted on courthouse doors across the colonies. One of those broadsides is now on view at Washington University.

Zishan (Simoner) Zhao, a rising junior in the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died June 2, 2018, from injuries after being hit by a car while attempting to cross a street in Wilmington, N.C. He was 19.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton presented the Gloria W. White Distinguished Service Award to mail courier Wes Allen Brooks at the annual Staff Day celebration May 21 at the Athletic Complex. The award was established in 1998 and celebrates the legacy of White, a campus leader for some 35 years until her death in 2003.

Read the text of senior class president William Feng’s remarks to the Class of 2018. Feng received a bachelor’s degree from Olin Business School.

Washington University in St. Louis has admitted 50 rising high school sophomores to its innovative College Prep Program, a multiyear initiative that prepares high-achieving students with limited financial resources for college. The students represent public, private and charter schools from across the region. They will live and study on campus for three summers,  participating in science labs, preparing their college essays and studying with top university faculty.

William Feng, senior class president and a degree candidate from Olin Business School, could not have anticipated the changes this nation, city and campus would undergo in the past four years. But he’s glad he was here to see it. Feng will address thousands of classmates, faculty and family members Friday, May 18, at Washington University in St. Louis’ 157th Commencement.

In an effort to better accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, Washington University in St. Louis will replace the Forest Park Parkway bridge with a new bridge that is wider, safer and easier to access. Demolition work on the current bridge will begin Monday, May 21. The new bridge is set to open in October.

How five Langsdorf Scholars in the School of Engineering & Applied Science kept searching for an answer to an urgent global problem: clean water for children. Their project, WOOTA, draws moisture from the air and re-condenses it into drinking water. The prototype was recognized as the winner of the 2016 Discovery Competition.

To prepare for a career treating and studying global malnutrition, Zach Linneman has completed the post-baccalaureate premedical program in University College in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. It’s another step toward his goal of alleviating childhood hunger and he’s another of our Class Acts of 2018.

Jessi Gray graduates this month with a degree in computer science from the School of Engineering & Applied Science and is one of four valedictorians. It’s an impressive achievement, but not the one that matters. After struggling with identity for years, Gray is proudly living her life as a transgender woman.