Snapshots: Ferguson, one year later
What we saw in the last year through the Washington University lens
Alumna receives national honor for civic leadership
Brittany Packnett, a 2007 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, has received the 2015 Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership from Teach For America.
A message from Chancellor Wrighton
Next week marks the one-year anniversary of events in Ferguson that have since reverberated across the entire St. Louis community and the nation. The tragedy in Ferguson and subsequent events across the country have affected all and raised consciousness to major challenges that must be met. This special issue of the Record includes perspectives and updates intended to give us the opportunity not only to look back, but also to learn, engage and think about the road ahead.
Center for Diversity and Inclusion announces strategic priorities
The Center for Diversity and Inclusion, which launched last fall, has given students and the broader university community a place to connect around the issues of diversity and inclusion both on and off campus. Director LaTanya N. Buck, PhD, outlines the center’s five strategic priorities and provides an update on some significant progress on these initiatives.
School of Medicine Executive Faculty and other leaders explore unconscious bias
During a retreat this summer on the Medical Campus, department heads, division directors and other senior leaders at Washington University School of Medicine explored unconscious bias and how to diminish its impact in medical environments.
Oral histories of a Divided City
The city is filled with stories and tells stories of its own. Last fall, the Center for the Humanities and the Sam Fox School — with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation — launched The Divided City, an urban humanities initiative exploring historical and contemporary segregation across the globe and in St. Louis. Funded projects include an oral history of the Ferguson movement, launched this summer by Jeffrey McCune, PhD, Clarissa Rile Hayward, PhD, and Meredith Evans, PhD.
Ferguson Commission interns seek lasting change for region
Two Washington University seniors and one 2015 alum (David Dwight, pictured) are assisting the Ferguson Commission to create and write its recommendations to improve education, municipal courts and governments, economic opportunities and the relationship between residents and law enforcement.
WashU Expert: DOJ report on St. Louis County Family Court raises new concerns about discrimination
The U.S. Department of Justice released July 31 a report critical of the St. Louis County Family Court, alleging racial bias and unfair treatment of black youth, among other accusations. Mae Quinn, JD, professor of law and director of the Juvenile Law and Justice Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis, is hopeful the report will lead to some measure of change and reform.
Brain’s ability to dispose of key Alzheimer’s protein drops dramatically with age
The greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease is advancing age. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified some of the key changes in the aging brain that lead to the increased risk. The changes center on amyloid beta 42,
a main ingredient of Alzheimer’s brain plaques.
$15 million funds research to help older adults prevent cognitive decline
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, led by Eric J. Lenze, MD, have received a $15 million grant to study strategies — including exercise, health education, meditation and yoga — aimed at helping older adults prevent or reverse typical age-related cognitive declines.
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