Brown School

Washington University in St. Louis leaders and community leaders will gather Monday, March 7, to address the impact of gun violence on children during “Gun Violence and Childhood Trauma,” to be held from 2-5 p.m. in the Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall on the Danforth Campus.

In the years leading up to the unprecedented media coverage of transgender issues, Vanessa Fabbre, assistant professor at the Brown School, began researching the intersection of aging and gender transitions. The decisions people make about transition, Fabbre says, are a window into broader social forces: racism, sexism, classism and more.

Among Missouri’s poorest performing districts, the Jennings School District had lost accreditation and community support. But when a dynamic new superintendent arrived with a bold plan to turn around the district, Washington University stepped up with resources to serve children both inside and outside of the classroom.

As a social work practicum student, Keyria Jeffries will do anything to help the children of Fairview Primary. Some days that means finding a child a place to live. Other days, it means giving a hungry child something to eat.

Amanda Moore McBride, executive director of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis, says U.S. colleges and universities must do more to encourage students to vote. Yes, voter registration drives and accessible polling places matter. But what happens in the classroom may play an even bigger role.

South Dakota is poised to become the first state to require transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms of their birth sex. The proposed law is already impacting the health and well-being of transgender Americans and their loved ones, said Vanessa Fabbre, assistant professor at the Brown School and an expert on gender transitions, especially later in life.

More than 100 local community leaders will convene Feb. 19 at the Brown School to help lay the groundwork for implementing strategies put forth by For the Sake of All, the multi-disciplinary project on the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis.

Jason Purnell, assistant professor in the Brown School, has been named recipient of the 2016 FOCUS St. Louis Leadership Award for his work on the For the Sake of All project.

Mary McKernan McKay, the McSilver Professor of Poverty Studies and director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work, has been appointed dean of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, effective July 1, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

In the United States, there are more than 32,000 deaths per year from gun violence. More than 60 percent of those are from suicides. These issues and more will be discussed during “Guns, Suicide and Safety: A Community Forum,” at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, in Hillman Hall’s Clark-Fox Forum.