Features

Campus life has changed a lot over the years. So we got together alums and current students who whittled down some of the best things to do on campus your first year here. Some of our greatest activities, classes, food and traditions are included.

In the fall of 1968, members of the Association of Black Collegians occupied Brookings Hall for eight days. The sit-in would permanently change Washington University.

Fifty years ago, students across the nation fiercely debated whether the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs belonged on college campuses. Today, Washington University in St. Louis Provost Holden Thorp says there is no better place.

In 2015, Washington University re-established the Department of Sociology in Arts & Sciences. Concentrating on the origins and impacts of inequality, faculty and students are investigating some of the nation’s most critical and urgent social challenges.

Two WashU alumni starred in a new off-Broadway production examining the dynamics of a Muslim immigrant family in contemporary England.

The transformed Olin Library at the heart of the Danforth Campus offers new, engaging spaces for the discovery, collaboration and instruction of the future.

In 2017, the Ervin Scholars Program celebrated its 30th anniversary. Known for its supportive, family-like atmosphere, the prestigious program continues to cultivate students who both excel academically and have a deep commitment to improving the world.

In the midst of what scientists consider to be a sixth mass extinction event, Washington University is joining forces with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Saint Louis Zoo to collaborate on ­life-saving research and conservation efforts.

One of the many skilled artisans behind the enchanting visuals in Pixar movies is alumnus Chris Bernardi. On the Oscar Award–winning “Coco,” Bernardi served as set supervisor, leading a team of designers who beautifully bring to life a boy’s dream against the backdrop of Mexico’s Day of the Dead.

The passing of Title IX in 1972 set the stage for the growth of women’s athletics across the country. Today, Washington University female student-athletes compete in 10 intercollegiate sports. And they hold 19 of WashU’s 22 NCAA Division III national championships, with the string of championships starting in 1989.