Campus & Community

Class Acts celebrates graduates who are working for health equity across the globe, in their neighborhoods and in examination rooms. Meet Gautam Adusumilli and Cory French, doctor of medicine candidates from the School of Medicine, and Keishi Foecke, who is set to earn an undergraduate degree from Arts & Sciences.

Fashion design majors from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will present their work at 4 p.m. May 15 as part of the 92nd Annual Fashion Design Show. Filled with sleek silhouettes, saturated palettes and crazy-quilt textures, the show — titled “The Collective” — is a full-throated rejection of pandemic-era dourness.

The university will award six honorary degrees during its 160th Commencement ceremonies, May 20-21. Among the recipients is NBA great and humanitarian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who will deliver the Commencement address.

Washington University in St. Louis announced details of its plan to adopt recommendations made in a recent Public Safety Committee report.

This week, Class Acts celebrates three leaders in research — Churchill Scholar Jessika Baral, Spencer T. Olin Fellow Chelsey Carter and U.S Army veteran Alex Reiter.

Washington University in St. Louis alumnus and emeritus trustee John Dains has made an $8 million commitment to support an undergraduate student success fund at his alma mater, announced Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. It dramatically increases funding available to help students with financial need cover emergency and educational enrichment expenses.

The Women’s Society of Washington University announced the winners of the Harriet K. Switzer Leadership Award and the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarships during the group’s annual membership meeting April 20. The group honored Ida Early with a fund and a named event.

Washington University in St. Louis has joined Universities Studying Slavery, a consortium of 80 universities and colleges examining and addressing how their institutional histories are entangled with slavery and its legacy. The initiative, based at the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, will support new research, classes and programs that leverage university collections and archives.

Welcome back to Class Acts, a celebration of the Class of 2021. This week, we spotlight advocates Leah Wren Hardgrove, Logan Phillips and Alexis Tinoco, three seniors working to make a difference.

Municipalities such as University City play a vital role in protecting the planet, and Washington University students are working hard to help the city meet its sustainability goals.