Newsroom Stories

The Office of Human Resources has released the Fall 2006 edition of It’s Your Benefit, highlighting benefits information for all WUSTL employees.

Rhythms for Rebuilding is an a cappella benefit concert for Gulf Coast rebuilding, sponsored by Project SOS, the Office of Community Service and the WUSTL a cappella community. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in Graham Chapel. All proceeds will benefit Common Ground, a New Orleans organization working to rebuild minority and disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The Board of Trustees of Washington University in St. Louis met Oct. 6 to discuss strategic planning, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Three topics were considered: 1.) societal challenges that the University should address in the future, 2.) University constituencies and how well they are being served, and 3.) undergraduate enrollment issues.

Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer Steven Millhauser, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from his work at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 12. In addition, Millhauser will speak on the craft of fiction at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19.

Courtesy photoWilliam Jay SmithWilliam Jay Smith, a Washington University alumnus and former Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate), will read from his work at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Olin Library’s Ginkgo Reading Room. In addition, Smith will speak on “My Friend, Tom: Tennessee Williams in St. Louis” — recounting his time as a classmate of the great playwright and fellow Washington University alumnus — at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall.

The Danforth Lecture Series continues on Monday, October 16 with a program featuring John Danforth on “Faith and Politics,” the title of his new book. The event is free and open to the public. It will be held at 4 p.m. in Graham Chapel. In his book, the three-term former Republican senator from Missouri and ordained Episcopal priest calls for moderation and tolerance in religious and political life, and a return to the separation of church and state. Decrying the narrow interpretations of religious orthodoxy, he supports an inclusive philosophy that embraces conflicting opinions and beliefs. A booksigning/reception will follow in Holmes Lounge.

In October, the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences’ Dance Program will host a weeklong series of public events with Gary Galbraith and Bonnie Oda Homsey, both former principal dancers with the Martha Graham Dance Company.

With a competition to design a Career Center video advertisement available on the popular Web site YouTube.com, the center’s staff members discovered they could draw students into the process of connecting with good career advice.

The No. 19 women’s soccer team extended its winning streak to six with two victories last week.

Photo by David Kilper