New this year, the St. Louis Fellows Program will offer a specific opportunity to help address gun violence in the region.
The forthcoming Arnold Family Fellow — created through a vision and gift from Jane Arnold JD ’93 and her children — is part of the new class of St. Louis Fellows and will be granted to a student who applied for the program with an expressed interest in addressing gun violence.
“We are conscious of the fact that we are very fortunate to not feel threatened by guns, by police, by absence of opportunity,” Arnold said. “You can’t have that conversation as a family without thinking about the absence of privilege suffered by others.”
The expansion demonstrates both the trust that the Gephardt Institute has earned from community partners and supporters of the St. Louis Fellows Program, and that students are arriving at WashU already driven to impact societal issues.
“These two factors have fostered our drive to increase the number of Fellows in the program and dive deep into some of our society’s most challenging issues,” said Sam Babb, Associate Director for Community Engagement at the Gephardt Institute.
The Arnold Family Fellow will partner with a St. Louis-based organization to advance mission-critical work aimed at increasing gun safety and/or gun violence prevention throughout the region.
Arnold, an attorney at St. Louis law firm Polsinelli and Co-Chair of their Business Department, worked with Congressman Dick Gephardt as a staff member in multiple capacities — including as an advisor on crime policy. She is a member of the Gephardt Institute’s National Advisory Council.
“Most people grow up in relatively small bubbles, and the Fellows Program forces the participants out of their bubble and into this community, understanding its history, geography, challenges and its awesome accomplishments,” Arnold said. “I think that’s really exciting, because it broadens the lens for each of the participating students.”
But Arnold explained that the community sees mutual benefits.
“The reciprocal element of that is really specific and awesome,” she said. “This incredibly bright talent comes and is available to entities that are designed to make our community a better place.”
The creation of the Arnold Family Fellowship came after many conversations with her 15- and 17-year-old daughters, she explained, “about the scourge of gun violence and what it’s doing to our communities.”
“Now we can put our thumb on the scale in favor of something that we really view as an incredibly important issue to address,” said Arnold.
She explained their desire that the Arnold Family Fellow have the independence to work on gun violence in the way that they see fit.
“I don’t want to hinder creativity,” she said. “We tried to be not at all prescriptive about what we mean by combating gun violence. I am confident that organizations in the St. Louis community and the students at WashU will be smarter and more creative than the three of us might have been around the dinner table.”
Sarah Nash, Community Engagement Manager for Gephardt, added that the Arnold Family Fellow will have many opportunities to impact the issue at organizations that are eager for their talents.
“Addressing gun violence is a priority across the St. Louis region, and there are many local nonprofits and government entities that are working together to make our neighborhoods safer,” said Nash.
The St. Louis Fellows Program is supported by generous donations to the Gephardt Institute. If you would like to make a gift to support the program, please click here or contact Stephanie Kurtzman, Executive Director of the Gephardt Institute, at GephardtAdvancement@wustl.edu.