Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Washington University in St. Louis leaders joined with local and state officials, educators and students to dedicate KIPP Victory Academy last month. The university serves as a sponsor of the KIPP charter school organization. This is its second school in St. Louis.

Recent events in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo., call for careful reflection and important dialogue. Members of the Washington University in St. Louis community are weighing in with commentary and editorials, which are compiled here, along with expert comments offered in response to media inquiries.​​​​​​​​

Coach Larry Kindbom and 12 members of the Bears football team hiked up Pikes Peak this summer — just because it was there. What has become an annual summer ritual for the senior members of the squad also turns into a rich life experience.

Olin Business School and the Human Rights Campaign — the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans — will host an LGBT Workplace Inclusion Conference from 8:30 a.m.-noon Thursday, Aug. 14. The conference will take place in Bauer Hall, Room 240.​

The Brown School’s Michael Sherraden and the School of Law’s Marion G. Crain, co-authors of the new book “Working and Living in the Shadow of Economic Fragility,” were in Washington, D.C., May 28 at the New America Foundation for a webcast presentation that Crain called “a chance for scholars to talk to the world.” U.S. economic policies have failed to restore full employment and in some ways have made labor market conditions worse for many Americans, they said.

Most walking and running routes go to, through or around a public park — in higher-income neighborhoods. In a study conducted by the Brown School using the website Map My Run as a tool, researchers found most routes inputted by walkers or runners at least partially included parks. But in low-income neighborhoods, the odds of running in a park were 54 percent lower.

A half-century after the Civil Rights Act, unequal access to resources continues to afflict the St. Louis area, resulting in billions of dollars lost in health-care costs and wages. But a multidisciplinary, landmark study called “For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis,” led by the Brown School’s Jason Purnell and released May 30, proposes solutions informed by evidence and community input and includes a call to action to community members and stakeholders.

Media Advisory: A community conference that coincides with the release of a yearlong, groundbreaking study called “For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis.” At the conference, the final report will be released that includes policy recommendations for the region. The conference will also include panel discussion of report topics, and invite community feedback on implications and next steps.

Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa got personal with the Washington University in St. Louis Class of 2014 at its 153rd Commencement ceremony May 16. “The essence of personalization,” he told the more than 14,000 graduates, parents, friends and family members gathered in the Quad, “is that you personalize your feelings about yourself. … Care about what you represent and what you think of you. And then you translate this to the people that you work with: respect, trust and care.”

Amanda Moore McBride, PhD, associate dean for social work at the Brown School and director of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service, was named the Brown School’s first career development professor, the Bettie Bofinger Brown Career Development Associate Professor. The honor was bestowed in a ceremony May 6 in Brown Hall Lounge.