Adis Terzic

Adis Terzic understands the importance of open conversation in promoting a welcoming environment that is conducive to constructive discussions about inequality and trauma. He actively engages in promoting dialogue and encouraging action. As his nominator and student peer Claire Quinlan writes, “Adis looks at the world with the eyes of someone who is deeply aware of its challenges, despairs, and shortcomings but optimistic about the work that can be done in systems to ensure that his family’s experience is not one which will be propagated through ignorance or improper social policy.”

A St. Louis native, Adis’ experience growing up in a Bosnian community informs the decisions he makes in his work inside and outside the classroom. He is a Civic Scholar with the Gephardt Institute, a lead tutor with City Faces in the Clinton-Peabody housing district, and president of Design for America (DFA), a student-led service organization that works with St. Louis communities to co-create solutions to social problems with its residents. Through DFA, Adis has worked to coordinate a gun violence workshop in the Clinton-Peabody housing district to give agency to the students to think critically about the violence they experience. He spent his past summer in Uganda with GlobeMed, working to provide safe access to contraception for young adults. Adis is passionate about refugee rights, and for his Civic Scholars project this summer, he plans to create a collection of objects from Bosnian refugees in the St. Louis area as a way to commemorate their trauma and struggle. In all of his endeavors, Adis prioritizes building and investing in relationships.

Exuding warmth with friends and strangers alike, Adis treats everyone with whom he interacts as a human first, someone with a nuanced background who deserves respect. Adis has no agenda as he interacts with community members – his motivations involve supporting local structures and bettering his understanding of the combination of factors which promote inequality. He brings vibrancy and passion to the WashU community in a genuine way, inspiring those around him to take initiative on the causes which matter most to them.