Author: Neil Schoenherr

Marshall Klimasewiski (far right), director of the Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, leads a lively discussion in Eliot Hall Aug. 30 of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the Freshman Reading Program book for this year.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton leads the procession into Convocation Aug. 26 in the Athletic Complex. Convocation marks the annual WUSTL welcome to all new students and their families and is the only time the Class of 2014 will be together as a group until its Commencement. Following Convocation, all in attendance were invited to join the chancellor’s procession to Brookings Quadrangle for entertainment and Ted Drewes frozen custard.

Service First, the university’s largest annual community service project, will be held Saturday, Sept. 4. More than 1,200 freshmen, along with a group of seniors, will help ready 12 St. Louis area schools for the upcoming year.

A delightfully pleasant 80-degree day set the tone for a smooth, efficient freshman move-in day Aug. 26. A record-number 1,633 freshmen moved into the residence halls on the South 40, assisted by students like sophomore Melany Lopez. Classes for the 2010 fall semester begin Tuesday, Aug. 31.

Members of the Class of 2014 and new transfer and exchange students are arriving on campus and will be welcomed with a variety of activities during New Student Orientation, Aug. 26-30. New students will have the opportunity to try the new Bear’s Den dining facility, attend open houses, see the football team in action and connect with other new students and with members of the university community.

More than 1,400 Washington University freshmen will move into the South 40 residence halls on Thursday, Aug. 26.

Cornerstone: The Center for Advanced Learning has received a $1.76 million five-year grant from the United States Department of Education to fund the TRiO Student Support Services program.

Genetic investigators, include Fiona Marshall, PhD, professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, say that the partnership between people and the ancestors of today’s donkeys was sealed not by monarchs trying to establish kingdoms, but by mobile, pastoral people who had to recruit animals to help them survive the harsh Saharan landscape in northern Africa more than 5,000 years ago.

Want your student to stay calm and focused as they begin the new school year this fall? Make sure they eat a quality breakfast including protein and quality carbohydrates, says a nutrition expert at Washington University in St. Louis. (Includes video)