Updated “In the Lou” features students, alumni, and new interactive content

As part of the Gephardt Institute’s efforts to acclimate WashU students to St. Louis and encourage them to engage in the community, the institute’s “In the Lou” guide is updated for 2024 to feature more neighborhoods and include more tools to help WashU students engage in the region. “In the Lou” resources help WashU students learn […]

Washington University in St. Louis Announced as 2021 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Award Winner

Washington University in St. Louis received the Best Action Plan Award for Best in Class – 4-Year Private Institution at the virtual award ceremony. The award is presented to recognize WashU’s efforts to develop and implement a campus-wide voter engagement action plan to help students to improve nonpartisan civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation.

St. Louis Initiative Partners with Goldman Fellows

In 2021, the Goldman Fellows Program will support its largest cohort to date. Fourteen fellows have been selected to participate in the 14th cycle of the program. The expanded capacity for the program is thanks to a successful proposal to pilot fellowships with Washington University’s St. Louis Initiative in which fellows will work with the […]

Student Spotlight: Christian Baker, Goldman Fellows Program Class of 2019

Meet Class of 2019 Goldman Fellow Christian Baker, AB ’20, and learn more about his experiences in the program, his advice for future Goldman Fellows, and more in the interview below. Can you tell about your experience at WashU? What was your academic focus, and how did you make connections across the university? As a […]

Introducing Our Civic Scholars Class of 2023

Great civic leaders are not born, but made. The Civic Scholars Program gives bright young people the mentorship, experience, and know-how to do something truly significant to benefit society. Robert C. Virgil, MBA ’60, DBA ’67, Trustee Emeritus; Past Chair, Gephardt Institute National Council; Civic Scholars Program Founding Donor The Gephardt Institute is thrilled to […]

Staff Member Spotlight: Nick Zevely

Nick Zevely is the marketing and communications manager at the Gephardt Institute. Prior to joining the Gephardt Institute in November 2020, he served as the Senior Director of External Affairs at The Mission Continues, a national nonprofit organization serving military veterans. In this short interview, he shares his motivation to join the Gephardt Institute, podcast […]

Washington University is Designated a ‘Voter-Friendly Campus’ For a Third Straight Year

The Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement successfully led efforts to register voters and helped the university community vote safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington University ranks third in the nation for number of students — 2,600 — who registered to vote and receive voting alerts via digital voting platform TurboVote.

Course Spotlight: “Just Do It! Skills That Turn Passion Into Policy”

As part of the Gephardt Institute’s commitment to civic education and our Engage Democracy initiative, the institute and the Department of Political Science collaborate to offer one credit courses that teach students to leverage the political process to achieve a policy or advocacy goal.   In 2020, David Leipholtz balanced his full-time commitment as Executive Director for the Center of Civic Research and […]

“New in the Lou” Connects WashU to St. Louis, Even from Afar

The Gephardt Institute hosted a series of virtual conversations this fall designed to introduce St. Louis to new residents, and create dialogue about the region through the eyes of our local community. The conversations, titled “New in the Lou,” were created for WashU students, faculty, and staff new to the St. Louis region or with a desire […]

#MyFirstElection Social Media Campaign

This fall, the Gephardt Institute launched #MyFirstElection, a storytelling campaign that shares individuals’ experience engaging in the U.S. 2020 presidential election. Posting a series of short videos on our Facebook and Instagram social media accounts, we aimed to address any uncertainties that first-time voters may have been feeling toward the election. Featured stories shared other […]

US Elections 101: Partnership with the Office for International Students and Scholars

In preparation for Election Day, the Gephardt Institute and our campus partners mobilized efforts to register voters, educate voters, and ensure voters make their voices heard. Suffrage is at the core of U.S. democracy, but for the international student body of Washington University, civic engagement is still possible outside the ballot box. International students comprise […]

Census Summer: Behind the scenes with Sophomore Otto Brown

“As a college student, completing the census is a way for you to give back to St. Louis beyond the time you spent at WashU.” Sophomore Otto Brown spent part of his summer as a census worker. Knocking on doors in his own neighborhood gave him a new perspective and appreciation for the work that […]

Ying Ma on Why the Census Matters

Ying Ma is an international Master of Social Work student at Washington University’s Brown School with a concentration in Older Adults and Aging Societies. Currently, she is completing a practicum with the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, where her work revolves around the 2020 U.S. Census. Before starting at Washington University, Ying was […]

2019 Fall Break Immersion Trip Reflections

The St. Louis immersion trip introduced me to the city in a whole new way. By learning about both governmental forces and the nonprofit sector, I was able to gain a holistic understanding of what it means to build and participate in a thriving community. I have a clearer understanding of the historical and current […]

Dr. Laurie Punch: Preparing Others to Save Lives

Dr. Laurie Punch is a surgeon and teacher. She is a mother and neighbor. She is an advocate. “All of these things impact my community involvement and how I engage with others,” she shared. “I can’t really separate them.” Punch moved to St. Louis in early 2016 and works tirelessly as a trauma surgeon at […]

Elaine Sutton Shares Impact of Goldman Fellowship on ACLU-MO

Hannah Wheaton has a tremendous gaze. Right away, this let me know that she was taking things in both intellectually and at a heart level. She also has a unique understanding of nuanced legal issues and the justice system. I saw that she was profoundly serious about our work. This summer, Hannah joined the American […]

José Figueroa

In the summer of my sophomore year, I spent six weeks as a health care volunteer in hospitals, clinics, and ambulances in the municipalities of the Sacatepéquez Region in Guatemala. While there, I observed a lack of resources and education on first aid training and certification among pre-hospital providers and the broader public. The consequence was […]

Lauren Hucko

This summer, I have been working as a Sexual and Reproductive Health Intern with Uganda Development and Health Associates (UDHA)–a grassroots, community health outreach center in eastern Uganda. I have been involved with UDHA for the past three years through GlobeMed at WashU. GlobeMed is a student-run health justice organization that partners with UDHA to […]

Ishaan Shah

My specific civic interest is the social, emotional, physical, and mental burdens of pregnancy on mothers and families. I am particularly interested in the postpartum period given the lack of well-structured postpartum care. I became interested in this subject after reading about California’s Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and seeing if something similar existed in Missouri. […]

Attend Annika Rodriguez 20th Anniversary Mural Unveiling

The Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program is hosting a public event to unveil a new campus mural created to commemorate the program’s 20th anniversary. The mural is meant to speak to diversity in all forms at WashU. Join us to celebrate and increase the visibility of a unique piece of campus art. The unveiling will take […]

Reflections from Lucy Chin, AB ’17, Civic Scholar Class of 2017

After graduation in May, I was fortunate to spend two months living and working throughout Costa Rica with a company called Overland. Along with a co-leader, I facilitated an outdoor education and service experience for middle and high school students. We engaged in service projects, took Spanish classes, explored different outdoor attractions, and worked on […]

Reflections on 2018 Fall Break Experience

“DC showed me how civic engagement can exist on so many different levels, from international policy down to the local community level.” –Nathaniel Bernstein, Stern Family Civic Scholar, Class of 2019 “I view my semester in two distinct parts: before DC, and after DC. This was a very enlightening experience for me. It challenged the way […]