Gephardt, WashU go big on voter engagement throughout 2024 

The 2024 General Election is almost here, and as the nation focuses on the issues, the candidates, and the politics, the Gephardt Institute has also spent thousands of staff hours encouraging civic engagement, helping students get ready to vote, and preparing to host campus polling places.   When November ends, the Gephardt Institute will have hosted […]

WashU Votes co-chairs earn award, $5K grant for engagement efforts 

In September, WashU Votes leaders Amelia Letson ‘25 and Hannah Pignataro ‘26 received a $5,000 grant in honor of their campus leadership.   The grant came from the Student Union Leadership Award, which WashU Student Union gives annually in recognition and support of outstanding student leaders. Throughout their leadership, they have demonstrated creative problem solving and […]

Gephardt fall calendar packed with opportunities to engage and learn

The Gephardt Institute has a robust calendar of events and programming this fall to get students engaged.  These events help students learn how they can develop their civic skills, engage with the St. Louis community, and find ways to bring their civic passions and ideas to life. The institute’s programming brings people together and provides […]

Big turnout for Missouri Primary at WashU’s on-campus polling place

Though students had yet to return to campus, WashU’s on-campus polling place saw nearly double the voter turnout in the Missouri Primary Election this month, compared to April’s Municipal Election.   Though the two elections are very different in scope, races and initiatives, the steady turnout at the WashU polling place, hosted by the Gephardt Institute […]

Gephardt, university partners host WashU’s first Municipal Election polling place

The Gephardt Institute hosted WashU’s first-ever Municipal Election polling place this month, advancing the institute’s commitment to drive voter participation in every election.  With support from a growing number of university partners and voter engagement efforts from the WashU Votes student group, Missouri’s Municipal Elections were held on Tuesday, April 2, and WashU was able […]

Institute’s voter engagement plan lauded by higher ed voting experts

Some people thing about voting a few times a year, if that. For Civic Engagement Manager Otto Brown, however, not a day goes by that he isn’t thinking about voting issues like voter registration and voter education.   Since September 2023, Brown and the rest of Gephardt’s Engage Democracy team worked on the 2024 ALL IN […]

Voting activist Brown urges citizen engagement in WashU Votes event

Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown spoke at WashU this month at an event co-hosted by WashU Votes, the Association of Black Students and the Social Programming Board.   “Empowering Black and Brown Voters: Fireside Chat with Black Voters Matter Co-Founder LaTosha Brown” was held in Holmes Lounge on Wednesday evening, March 8. Her talk was […]

Institute to host “The Bill of Obligations” author Dr. Richard Haass on April 1

On April 1 at 4 p.m., Dr. Richard Haass will give an Elliot Stein Lecture in Ethics at the Emerson Auditorium in the Knight Center.  Please RSVP. Haass, a veteran diplomat and respected scholar of international relations, will speak on his book, The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens, and the question it […]

2024 election series launches with kick-off social

“Five, four, three, two, one”  At the Engage Democracy 2024 Kick-Off Social, Associate Director for Civic Engagement Alannah Glickman led a crowded room of students through a mindful exercise focusing on the five senses. Each person focused on their surroundings to practice self-care for the election year ahead.  On Jan. 25, the Gephardt Institute hosted […]

One year until 2024 election, Brown sets sights on voter engagement 

“I love this job. I have really enjoyed getting to know our staff as a colleague and getting to know them as people more so than I did when I was a student here.”  Otto Brown ‘23 may have a new title, but he is a familiar face at Stix House. From leading WashU Votes […]

Gephardt staff share institute’s best practices with colleagues around nation

This month, a group of Gephardt Institute staff and WashU Votes leadership traveled to Boston, Mass. for the annual Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting (CLDE).   The annual conference is hosted by NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and is designed to convene diverse stakeholders committed to advancing democracy through student preparedness for engaged […]